Peter Thiel rues underinvestment in Bitcoin

The PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel regretted that he had not invested enough in the first cryptocurrency. At the Lincoln Network press conference he advised people to buy the asset, Bloomberg.

“You should just buy Bitcoin. I think I underinvested in it,” Thiel said.

According to the billionaire, he doubted the investment because he believed that “the secret was already known to everyone.” The businessman suggested that Bitcoin’s price could rise, but noted — “the answers still have to be found.”

Thiel stressed that Bitcoin reaching the $66,000 mark signals a “moment of the complete bankruptcy of central banks”.

At the conference he also expressed concerns about the development of artificial intelligence. In his view, cryptocurrencies are a product of libertarian thought and represent “the power of decentralization.” AI, by contrast, he called “communist” and “centralized”.

The PayPal cofounder explained that he does not advocate banning artificial intelligence, but urges developers “to consider what they are creating—a technology that could destroy the world”.

Thiel has long been an advocate of cryptocurrencies. As early as 2017 he said people underestimate Bitcoin’s potential — since then the asset’s price has risen by 5,300%.

The billionaire-founded venture firm Founders Fund has been actively investing in digital-asset-related businesses. In recent months it has put money into Paxos, NFT-platform Royal and the decentralized autonomous organization BitDAO.

In April, Thiel called Bitcoin “China’s financial weapon,” aimed at weakening the US dollar.