Regrets of a billionaire – Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal, allegedly intended to acquire additional bitcoins (BTC). The entrepreneur, on the other hand, had first questioned the latter’s ability before becoming a fan.
No More Bitcoin for Paypal Founder: Peter Thiel’s Regrets
On October 18, 2021, Peter Thiel stated at a Lincoln Network event in Miami that he wished he had purchased more bitcoins. The billionaire informed the audience that he was first cautious to invest further in Bitcoin because he believed “the secret has already been revealed to everyone.”
Thiel was positive on bitcoin’s long-term price. He cited the rising popularity of cryptocurrencies as proof of people’s loss of faith in centralized financial institutions, even claiming that “we are at a period of full insolvency for central banks” when speaking to bitcoin, which will “maybe” rise in value.
Bitcoin reached a new monthly high of $61,000 in November 2021.
Peter Thiel: From Bitcoin Skeptic to Nakamoto Challenge Participant
Thiel used to be dubious about Bitcoin, but he’s now altered his tune significantly. He stated in September 2017 that he believed in Bitcoin, even admitting that it had the potential to become the equivalent of digital gold. Thiel then invested in bitcoin through his Silicon Valley venture capital company, the Founders Fund, which currently has hundreds of millions of dollars in bitcoin.
Thiel was so invested in Bitcoin that he even attempted the Nakamoto challenge on occasion, delivering a hint that he felt may assist reveal Satoshi Nakamoto’s actual identity. According to him, he was one of 200 people who attended the initial meeting of the inventors of E-Gold, one of the first private digital currencies, in February 2000. As a result, Nakamoto’s feet would have been on the sand of a beach in Anguilla, Miami, where the event took place.
Although Peter Thiel takes on central banks, Bitcoin has progressed so much that we are now witnessing a steady merger of old and new finance. The president of the government agency in charge of the United States’ deposit guarantee fund even goes so far as to advocate for the integration of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies into the regular banking system.
Does Peter Thiel Support Bitcoin?
In Peter Thiel’s book, whether you’re a fellow billionaire or not, you either see Bitcoin as the future or you’re an “enemy.” “Enemy number one: the psychopathic grandfather from Omaha,” Thiel, the billionaire PayPal co-founder, and pro-Trump Republican megadonor, sneered at business titan and Nebraska native Warren Buffett in a talk at a cryptocurrency conference in Miami this week. Thiel, whose current business built a sizable Bitcoin fortune, also called JPMorgan Chase chairman Jamie Dimon and BlackRock CEO Larry Fink “adversaries” of Bitcoin, describing Dimon, Fink, and Buffett as a trio of elderly tyrants impeding development. Thiel’s remarks were his latest attempt to convert cryptocurrency into a right-wing cultural problem, touting Bitcoin as a revolutionary conservative movement against “woke” businesses and the financial system.
The conference speakers were a who’s who of those vying for control of the crypto economy—an industry that grew to popularity despite having no centralized or organizational authority. It included Super Bowl champion Odell Beckham Jr., tennis superstar Serena Williams, and football player and recently minted anti-vax celebrity Aaron Rodgers, all of whom are among the many celebrities who have embraced cryptocurrency, some of whom are paid to promote it to the general public. Journalist Glenn Greenwald and prominent men’s rights activist Jordan Peterson both attended the convention for ideological grounds.
Greenwald praised Bitcoin at a Thursday event for boosting “freedom of expression and anti-imperialism” throughout the world, adding that crypto technology is “so disruptive to the current system” that both Donald Trump and Hillary Clinton are united in fighting it. Meanwhile, Peterson used his conference speech to call Bitcoin the “next frontier of capitalism,” claiming that there are “two grounds for free markets and capitalism.” It offers warlike individuals something constructive to accomplish.”
Thiel promised to “expose” his fellow billionaires who are maybe more cautious of cryptocurrency—though even those on Thiel’s list of so-called foes plainly see money to be made. “The financial gerontocracy that rules the nation through whatever idiotic virtue-signaling-slash-hate-factory word like ESG [environmental, social, and governance] they have against what I would call a revolutionary young movement,” Thiel remarked. “When they choose not to allocate to Bitcoin, it is a very political decision, and we must fight back.”
Buffett has enraged cryptocurrency enthusiasts by dismissing Bitcoin as just speculative “rat poison” with “no distinctive value at all.” Buffett’s business, on the other hand, invested $1 billion in a Brazilian digital bank that specialized in bitcoin in February. Dimon has described Bitcoin as a “fraudulent” and “worthless” asset. Bitcoin, according to Fink, is a “index of money laundering.” But, like Buffett, Fink is gradually warming to Bitcoin, stating in a March letter to shareholders that a “thoughtfully built global digital payment system can accelerate the settlement of international transactions while lowering the danger of money laundering and corruption.” Even Dimon, who refuses to refer to digital coins as “currency,” recently complimented Bitcoin’s blockchain technology in a letter to JPMorgan Chase shareholders.
Thiel recommended investors abandon government-backed financial systems and get on the crypto bandwagon if they want to withstand the next wave of global inflation during his conference speech. Thiel argued that, although conceding that the future of cryptocurrencies is uncertain and impossible to forecast, Bitcoin is “always the most honest market in the world” and “the most efficient.”
