That’s because one of the Valley’s most important venture capitalist firms, Andressen Horowitz, made the biggest bet yet on a Bitcoin company, dropping $25 million on Coinbase — a company that’s trying to make it easier for consumers and merchants to use the digital currency.

It’s the largest-ever investment in a bitcoin company. And it’s a sign that bitcoin may be becoming a Silicon Valley phenomenon. “Bitcoin is going to be as big as the Internet,” Andressen Horowitz’s Chris Dixon told The New York Times today.