First, Andreessen Horowitz has recently invested $80 million in Twitter by buying stock on the private markets.

Second, Google and Facebook have held low level talks with Twitter in recent months about a possible acquisition. The price tag thrown out for Twitter was reportedly in the range of $8-$10 billion.

We haven’t confirmed either of these facts, but assuming they’re true, they raise some interesting questions.

Marc Andreessen is on the board of Facebook, notes Pat McCarthy, founder of startup GuideMe.com. If Facebook is thinking of buying Twitter, it’s possible Andreessen heard about the interest and spotted the opportunity to invest in Twitter at a lower valuation.

Then again, the Facebook-Twitter talks reportedly happened in recent months, which means Andreessen possibly knew about the $8-$10 billion asking price when Twitter was raising money at a $4 billion valuation. He could have told his investment firm to invest then.

Either way, the Andreessen Horowitz investment brings up a question for the world of private markets:

Is there such thing as insider trading?

If not, should Andreessen, one of the most plugged-in guys in the Valley, take advantage of his inside knowledge to score by betting on companies on the private markets more often?

We’ve asked Andreessen Horowitz PR for their take on the situation, and if they say anything interesting, we’ll update the post.

In the meanwhile, let us know what you think.

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