Technology investor Peter Thiel has disclosed a 9.1% holding in Bitmine Immersion Technologies, according to a Schedule 13D filed with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission. The filing shows Thiel controls 5,094,000 common shares in the crypto-mining and hosting company through several affiliated entities, making the PayPal and Palantir co-founder Bitmine’s largest shareholder. The position sent Bitmine’s stock up about 15% to $46.07 in early trading on Wednesday, extending a five-fold rally since the start of the year as bitcoin trades near record highs and ether reaches a five-and-a-half-month peak. The Denver-based company, valued at roughly $2 billion, operates proprietary bitcoin mines and hosts third-party rigs. Bitmine has been expanding its balance-sheet exposure to digital assets. It held 154 bitcoins and 163,142 ether as of 14 July, worth about $535.5 million, and last month raised $250 million in a private placement to launch an ethereum treasury strategy, adding Fundstrat Global Advisors’ Thomas Lee to its board.