Peter Thiel Says Bitcoin is a Chinese Weapon and That the US Needs to Crack Down on it Harder

Peter Thiel

Peter Thiel is “pro-crypto” and “pro-Bitcoin maximalist,” but he also thinks the cryptocurrency may be undermining America, reports Bloomberg.

Thiel urged on Tuesday that the U.S. government consider tighter regulations on cryptocurrencies.

“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.”

“Even though I'm a pro-crypto, pro-Bitcoin 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 U.S.” says @Paypal co-founder Peter Thiel.

More on cryptocurrencies from The #NixonSeminar: pic.twitter.com/sIUQTQEWgr

— Richard Nixon Foundation (@nixonfoundation) April 7, 2021

So  Palantir-man leads the advance against Bitcoin with an entirely new direction of attack. Interesting.

According to Bloomberg, Thiel was joined in the event by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former National Security Advisor Robert O’Brien. 

Thiel also suggested that the U.S. should follow India in banning TikTok, the social app owned by Chinese company ByteDance Ltd., and which he called “this sort of incredible exfiltration of data about people.” Thiel noted that if it were banned, TikTok would likely be replaced by similar apps, as has happened in India. “I don’t think it was like a tremendous, tremendous loss” in India, he said.

Thiel obviously has a very nationalistic (anti-China?) streak.

Also this from Bloomberg:

The appearance with Pompeo could have implications for the 2024 presidential race. The former secretary of state is widely seen as a possible candidate for the Republican nomination—and Thiel has signaled a willingness to back figures closely aligned with Trump. He was a major backer of Trump in 2016, and recently donated $10 million to a PAC supporting the potential Senate candidacy of J.D. Vance, an author and conservative political figure who previously worked at a Thiel-backed venture capital fund.

Back to China and Bitcoin: Has Thiel ever heard of a gold-backed dollar that would solve the fear of competing currencies?

 -RW