KEYTAKEAWAYS
- Peter Thiel doubts significant Bitcoin price increases, citing market saturation after ETF launch and predicting a volatile future for the cryptocurrency.
- Despite personal skepticism, Thiel's Founders Fund has a successful track record with Bitcoin, including a $1.8 billion profit and recent $100 million investment.
- Thiel expresses disillusionment with Bitcoin's cypherpunk ideology, noting its unexpected preference by law enforcement over cash for criminal transactions.
CONTENT
Peter Thiel expresses doubt about Bitcoin’s future growth, citing market saturation post-ETF launch. He also questions Bitcoin’s ideological foundations while acknowledging its investment potential.
Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and prominent tech investor, has recently voiced his reservations about Bitcoin’s potential for significant price appreciation from its current levels. In a recent interview with CNBC, Thiel, who admits to owning some Bitcoin but “not as much as he should have,” questioned the cryptocurrency’s future growth prospects.
“I’m not sure it’s going to go up that dramatically from here. We got the ETF edition and I don’t know who else buys it,” Thiel stated on June 28. He added, “It probably still can go up some but it’s going to be a volatile, bumpy ride.”
NEW‼️- Billionaire Peter Thiel:
I didn’t buy as much #Bitcoin as I should have. pic.twitter.com/AtklzIw9ME
— Swan (@Swan) June 28, 2024
This stance marks a shift from Thiel’s previous position in October 2021, when he described himself as “underinvested” in Bitcoin as it approached its all-time high of $69,000.
Despite his personal skepticism, Thiel’s Founders Fund has a notable track record with Bitcoin investments. The fund made its initial Bitcoin investment in 2014, realizing a profit of $1.8 billion before the 2022 market downturn. In 2023, the fund further invested $100 million in Bitcoin when it was trading below $30,000.
Interestingly, Thiel also expressed disillusionment with Bitcoin’s ideological underpinnings. He revealed, “Where I’m less convinced is this question of the ideological founding vision of Bitcoin as a cypherpunk, crypto-anarchist, libertarian, anti-centralized government thing.” Thiel elaborated, “That’s what I thought was terrific about it,” but now believes Bitcoin “doesn’t really work that way.”
Thiel’s perspective shift is partly influenced by unexpected feedback from law enforcement. He noted, “When people in the FBI tell me that they’d much rather have criminals use Bitcoin than $100 bills it suggests that maybe it’s not quite working the way it was supposed to.”
It’s worth noting that Bitcoin was designed as a public, permissionless, and decentralized ledger, not necessarily as an untraceable transaction system like some privacy-focused cryptocurrencies.
As of the latest update, Bitcoin is trading at $57,187, showing a 2.43% increase over the past 24 hours.
