Coinbase investor Fred Wilson said bitcoin could be a ‘fantasy’ when he first invested in 2013. His firm’s stake is now worth a whopping $4.6 billion, or 1,840 times its initial investment

Coinbase investor Fred Wilson said bitcoin could be a ‘fantasy’ when he first invested in 2013. His firm’s stake is now worth a whopping $4.6 billion, or 1,840 times its initial investment

Union Square Ventures co-founder Fred Wilson once described bitcoin as science fiction - then invested $2.5 million in Coinbase Global. Eight years after, the legendary venture capitalist became the company's most profitable exit investor.

While Coinbase, the largest cryptocurrency exchange in the US, had a volatile first trading day when it listed on the Nasdaq in April, it boasted a valuation on a fully diluted basis of about $86 billion by the end of the day.

The direct listing opened at $381 per share before hitting an intraday high of $429.54, which was 13% above its opening price. The stock then reversed course and traded as low as $310.

By the end of the first day, the stake of Wilson's venture capital firm skyrocketed 10-fold to $4.6 billion - or 1,840 times its initial investment.

Also at the end of Coinbase's first trading day, Union Square Ventures sold 4.7 million shares for $1.8 billion, according to a securities filing first viewed by Bloomberg.

But Wilson wasn't always so optimistic on bitcoin's prospects. At a May 2013 conference, Wilson referred to the then-rising cryptocurrency as a "fantasy," as first reported by Bloomberg.

"It's straight out of a sci-fi novel, but sci-fi novels are the best things you