He’s not as well-known as cryptocurrency skeptic and old-school stalwart Jamie Dimon, the chair and CEO of JPMorgan Chase & Co. (NYSE: JPM) and Wall Street’s de facto spokesman, or even Ray Dalio, the founder and co-CIO of Bridgewater Associates, the world’s largest hedge fund.
And his analysis is certainly more circumspect than the increasingly bullish takes from Jim Bianco of Bianco Research, who believes “crypto is going to be the most significant macro event of [his] career.”
But you should be aware of Peter Thiel. He’s the co-founder of PayPal Holdings, Inc. (Nasdaq: PYPL) and Palantir Technologies Inc. (NYSE: PLTR), and he’s the first outside investor in Facebook, Inc. (Nasdaq: FB).
Last week, Thiel said, “Even though I’m a pro-crypto, pro-Bitcoin (BTC, Tech/Adoption Grade “A-”) maximalist person, I do wonder whether if at this point Bitcoin should also be thought of in part as a Chinese financial weapon against the United States.”
There’s important context, of course, that can’t be served via headline. Click here to see and hear the clip from the virtual event yourself; note, in particular, that Thiel says the euro, too, could be considered a financial weapon against the United States.
Here’s how Bloomberg reported the story, with the following money quote:
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.
Now, Thiel’s a billionaire, and he’s smart. He’s also appearing at virtual events along with China hardliners from the Trump administration, including erstwhile Secretary of State and aspiring 2024 presidential candidate Mike Pompeo.
The implication of that last line — “the U.S. should be asking some tougher questions about exactly how that works” — is tighter regulation. So far, despite his proximity to power, Thiel’s view hasn’t impacted cryptocurrency markets.
Indeed, as Alex Benfield notes in the Monday edition of Weiss Crypto Alert, the long-term trend remains bullish:
Crypto’s blue-chips performed well over the weekend, and Bitcoin and Ethereum (ETH, Tech, Adoption Grade “A-”) both continue to trade above critical levels in their respective price charts. At the same time, altcoins are still enjoying what’s been an electric start to “altseason.”
It’s hard to overstate how healthy it is that both Bitcoin and Ethereum are running this well while the altcoin market is taking off. It’ll be interesting to see whether money continues to flow into both the blue-chips and smaller altcoins.
Both Bitcoin and Ethereum look poised for big jumps from there. The fundamentals are there, and news of mainstream adoption seems to pour in daily now.
The question to be answered is what will spark the next explosive stage of this long-term rally.
Click here to follow Weiss Crypto Alert for daily updates on Bitcoin, Ethereum, altseason and the rapidly unfolding decentralized finance revolution.
Best,
David Dittman
