‘It’s going to be a volatile, bumpy ride’ – Ex-PayPal CEO on Bitcoin

• Peter Thiel’s evolving perspective on Bitcoin highlights skepticism despite past investments
• Michael Saylor has opposed Thiel’s view, advocating for Bitcoin as a transformative economic solution

After briefly showing signs of improvement following the first Presidential Debate of 2024, Bitcoin [BTC] has retreated once more. In fact, at the time of writing, the cryptocurrency was trading at $60,889 on the charts, following a 1% decline in 24 hours. 

Peter Thiel’s views on Bitcoin

This downturn has understandably fueled a lot of skepticism within the community. The same was highlighted by ex-PayPal CEO Peter Thiel in a recent interview with CNBC. Shedding light on the ongoing uncertainties regarding Bitcoin’s ability to achieve significant price growth, Thiel said, 

“It probably still can go up but, it’s going to be a volatile, bumpy ride.”

Peter Thiel’s comments reflect his evolving yet mixed perspective on Bitcoin. This may be because initially, he admired Bitcoin for its cypherpunk, crypto-anarchist, and libertarian ideals, seeing it as a decentralized alternative to traditional financial systems.

However, Thiel now believes that Bitcoin has not fully realized these ideals.

According to the exec, Bitcoin transactions are not as anonymous or untraceable as some other cryptocurrencies like Monero and law enforcement agencies can track and monitor Bitcoin transactions. He went on to say, 

“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.”

His comments indicate a more grounded view of the subject, one that is contrary to his earlier optimism about Bitcoin’s revolutionary potential. 

Thiel’s differing viewpoints

For context, back in February 2024, Reuters had reported that Thiel’s venture capital firm, Founders Fund, strategically invested $100 million in Bitcoin when BTC dropped below $30,000.

Founders Fund initially entered the Bitcoin market in 2014, a move that proved highly profitable with reported earnings of $1.8 billion from selling. This, before 2022’s market decline.

Despite these gains, however, Thiel expressed much regret during Bitcoin’s 2021 bull run. According to the exec, he didn’t capitalize enough on the digital asset.

When CNBC’s Andrew Ross Sorkin asked him about his current Bitcoin holdings, Thiel reiterated similar opinions by claiming,

“I still hold some. I didn’t buy as much as I should have.”

Despite his regret over not buying more Bitcoin, however, he remains pessimistic about the future of the cryptocurrency. 

“I am not sure that is going to go up that dramatically from here.”

Finally, it’s also worth noting here that Thiel’s prior views mirror Michael Saylor’s current views. For his part, the MicroStrategy exec was in the news a few days ago after he claimed that Bitcoin is the “cure” to economic ill.