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Peter Thiel: Bitcoin at $60k a sure sign political system is about to implode
- eli 5y agoI would not take crypto -- and certainly not political -- advice from him
- rognjen 5y agoI remember people telling me before the 2016 US election how if Hillary wins it will go up to 500k.
- Bud 5y agoPeter Thiel is a dangerous seditionist.
- tinalumfoil 5y agoThis article is based on one quote from Peter Thiel, > “I don’t know that you should put all your money into bitcoin at $60,000 a bitcoin right now,” Thiel said. “But surely the fact that it is at $60,000 is an extremely hopeful sign. It’s the canary in the coal mine. It’s the most honest market we have in the country, and it’s telling us that this decrepit... regime is just about to blow up.” which they copy-pasted from https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/8c2365 https://www.theinformation.com/briefings/8c2365
- matthewdgreen 5y agoI'm going to charitably interpret "it's the most honest market we have in the entire country" as tongue-in-cheek, and not a literal claim about the honesty of the Bitcoin market. Because sheeeesh.
- not-elite 5y agoI think "honest market" is libertarian-speak for "no government". He's being serious.
- zamalek 5y ago"You could put money into BTC, but don't listen to me, wink wink" is a pretty good pump.
- coralreef 5y agoHe's pro crypto/bitcoin, but he also called it a Chinese weapon undermining America: “I do wonder whether at this point, Bitcoin should also be thought [of] in part as a Chinese financial weapon against the U.S.,” Thiel said during an appearance at a virtual event held for members of the Richard Nixon Foundation. “It threatens fiat money, but it especially threatens the U.S. dollar.” He added: “[If] China’s long Bitcoin, perhaps from a geopolitical perspective, the U.S. should be asking some tougher questions about exactly how that works.” https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-07/peter-thiel-calls-bitcoin-a-chinese-financial-weapon-at-virtual-roundtable https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2021-04-07/peter-thi...
- jcpham2 5y agobecause China just "ganked" at least four years of BTC block rewards, AFTER developing the billion dollar BTC mining "pick and shovel" industry, now mostly being sold to who? By most estimations China is sitting on / "HODLing" a fortune in BTC. Weaponized global finance. The petrodollar war rages on in crypto land
- la6471 5y ago
- aero-glide2 5y agoI am a huge Bitcoin fan but I don't trust the price. Tether is now $69B USDT. When it implodes, it will affect crypto prices in a huge way.
- ruffrey 5y agoIt does seem inevitable that Tether implodes. Whoever is holding those coins at the time will lose once crypto players decide to stop playing with tethers. Whether they lose all or partially is unclear. The loss may the total value locked or recently purchased in tether. Perhaps it is the same as the market cap due to the fast turnover in the coin. My conjecture is that Tether's collapse will result in temporary losses to crypto values overall. It will likely lead to regulation. But with regulation the legitimacy of DeFi in particular will be more solidified and raise the markets. This is my guess for the next 5 years or so.
- SkyMarshal 5y agoYes this is probably the biggest risk to current crypto market values. However I wonder if the other stablecoins will be able to quickly replace it with minimal market dislocations if/when Tether implodes.
- seibelj 5y agoI don't know anything about political systems imploding, but it's possible the era of USD global domination is closing or at least getting significantly weaker, along with its weaponization of the banking system.
- honkycat 5y agoWhile I agree the US political system is about to implode, I do not agree with Thiel why it is about to implode. Of course, he is not a trustworthy interlocutor. He has a vested interest in preventing any additional taxation, anit-war, or anti-climate change legislation being passed.
- sAbakumoff 5y agowhy do you think it's about to implode?
- k8sToGo 5y agoWhy do you think it will implode?
- 1cvmask 5y agoHe famously is anti-war. At least was.
- honkycat 5y agoHe owns Palantier, a name synonymous with weapons R&D, and which owns the contract to Project Maven along with many other defense contracts.
- purple_ferret 5y agoStrange that he hold such views about how tyrannical the US Government is yet is so willing to assist it with his company Palantir.
- FpUser 5y agoHe is just a regular do as I say hypocrite.
- MR4D 5y agoWhat’s that old saying - Keep your friends close and your enemies closer.
- glial 5y agoWhen I see things like this, I first ask myself "can this apparent inconsistency be explained by an underlying desire for increased power?" Helps explain a lot of hypocracy.
- spaetzleesser 5y agoHis number one ideology is money. As long as that keeps flowing, all is good.
- dogman144 5y agonothing ever died of a contradiction.
- jolux 5y agoNot only that but he hasn’t pulled his investment in it, has he? Doesn’t really suggest belief that the political system is about to implode.
- missinfo 5y agoMaybe he has a reason we're missing. What's his argument? What's the steelman argument here?
- la6471 5y agoHe is anti immigrant and that’s why he is out of SV.
- wly_cdgr 5y agoUnfortunately I think he's pretty likely to be right about the implosion part
- jollybean 5y agoThis is a really odd statement for a relatively smart person to make. BTC speculation has nothing to do with anything, and it definitely doesn't behave like Gold.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- runako 5y ago"About to"? Talk about closing the barn door after the horse has left.
- AnimalMuppet 5y agoIf you think the present state of affairs is a political implosion, I've got bad news about how much further there is to implode...
- jandrese 5y agoThis makes no sense. The price of Bitcoin is designed to inflate over time, so $60k is inevitable regardless of events in the real world. Edit: Clarified the wording.
- dogman144 5y agoThat's sort of the wrong definition of "inflate," but if you mean price appreciation because of the fixed supply and other design factors, your point makes more sense.
- mohanmcgeek 5y agoIt's inflation when dollar is the currency.
- jollybean 5y agoIt's neither inflation nor deflation. If it were used as a currency, we might start using this kind of language, but it's not a currency. It's a number that people people make speculative guesses on how much other people are willing to pay for it. That's it. It has no intrinsic drivers, just pure speculation on the whims of other major holders and how the crowds might react.
- cudgy 5y ago“It's neither inflation nor deflation.” True, it is speculation.
- bwanab 5y agoOther way around. It is designed to deflate over time like gold. Of course if you mean it’s price is designed to inflate you’re correct.
- bwanab 5y agoI think it has a lot more to do with the first US Bitcoin futures ETF: https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/20/bitcoin-jumps-to-new-record-high-above-65000-after-landmark-us-etf-launch.html https://www.cnbc.com/2021/10/20/bitcoin-jumps-to-new-record-.... I also suspect Thiel’s got money on you believing that the political system is about to implode.
- imglorp 5y agoThe old Pump and Dump?
- AnimalMuppet 5y ago> But surely the fact that it is at $60,000 is an extremely hopeful sign. It's the canary in the coal mine. It's the most honest market we have in the country, and it's telling us that this decrepit… regime is just about to blow up That's a hopeful sign? Political regime collapse tends to be a very bloody time. That might be "hopeful" if you're clueless about that aspect, or just shrug it off as "the price to get to a better state". Or maybe you intend to ride it out on your own private island or whatever, and expect the blood to all be other peoples' blood. But for most of us, there is reason to consider it with a certain amount of caution, even fear.
- Barrin92 5y agoOne thing that's certainly interesting is that Thiel did not seem to hold these views during the last administration when Bitcoin appreciated by a factor of about 10x-30x.
- xiphias2 5y agoThe honeybadger doesn't care about politics, and Peter Thiel knows it. Peter's a great tech and macro investor, but overthinks politics a bit too much.
- ryandvm 5y agoPeter Thiel is demonstrably a pretty machiavellian character. Since just about everything he does is either financially or politically motivated, I don't take too much from his comments other than he anticipates to gain from them.
- deleted 5y ago[deleted]
- systemvoltage 5y agoI disagree with Peter in a lot of ways but it is fascinating to hear an intellectual that completely goes against the grain. There is something valuable for everyone in what he has to say. We need more divergent people like Peter. The media has portrayed him as Satan unfortunately. You’re doing a disservice to yourself for not listening to him. Highly recommend Spotify playlist of all of his interviews, just search “Peter Thiel”.
- plaidfuji 5y agoI think there’s a camp of Bitcoin investors who are essentially USD skeptics, thinking that political brinksmanship will soon result in a catastrophic event that damages the US Treasury’s credibility, like say defaulting on our debt. In this sense Bitcoin is a safe haven from political instability, so he may be saying that a rise indicates more people are concerned by political instability.
- jonahbenton 5y agoNews alert: expert shyster (Thiel) gives talk to junior shysters (FedSoc) about shyst (BTC being the basis for a financial system, rather than one of many assets). In other news, dog bites man, details on TikTok. Nothing to see here, move along.
- motohagiography 5y agoLet's say someone agrees that bitcoin price is a reliable signal, what is the call to action? Imo, the price represents a kind of anti-demand for USD and it is a general fiat hedge, like a volatility index for capital flight by working people. "Pessimists sound smart, optimists make money." is a quip that has resonated with me a great deal lately, so while I have opinions about what implosion looks like, what is the strategy to benefit from it? Framed in that context, yes, I'd agree with Thiel if he were saying we're watching the "all at once" phase of a slow decline that started a decade or two ago. However, what could one be optimistic about in that situation?
- thereddaikon 5y agoI think Bitcoin specifically, crypto in general and some other recent events show a general lack of trust in the financial system. That is related to a lack of trust in the political system but I think there are far bigger examples of that as of late than Bitcoin.
- ldbooth 5y agoBitcoin is north of $60k due to buy volume and the newly released Crypto ETF receiving lots of positive news. Most asset prices are at all time highs, bitcoin being seen as an asset or store of value. currentmarketvaluation.com