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Peter Thiel, co-founder of PayPal and Palantir Technologies, did not mince words when he announced his “enemies list,” an attempt to call out anti-crypto investors during a keynote address Thursday at Bitcoin 2022 in Miami.
During the occasion, the lightning-rod venture investor referred to Berkshire Hathaway Chairman and CEO Warren Buffett as “a psychotic grandpa from Omaha.”
“We’re going to do everything we can to expose them,” Thiel stated. He then referred to Buffett as his “Enemy No. 1,” multiple reports said.
Thiel advocated that conventional investors should fund Bitcoin. “Their decision not to allocate to Bitcoin is a fundamentally political one, and we need to push back against them,” Thiel added.
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Attacking The Old People
Thiel refers to Buffett, BlackRock CEO Larry Fink, and JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon as a “gerontocracy” opposing a revolutionary cryptocurrency movement.
Thiel, who owns Bitcoin, has invested in blockchain-based firms and cryptocurrency exchanges through his venture capital firm Founders Fund. He has also reportedly been a member of a group that finances Republican campaigns.
Thiel accused the three banking moguls of enabling a system that has institutional and political prejudices against Bitcoin after he tossed a bundle of $100 bills to people in the building’s first row.
Thiel asserts:
“Central banks are bankrupt. We have reached the end of the fiat money regime.”
Thiel believes Bitcoin is the apex of the alternative financial system.
“Even owning a stock entails investing in something akin to a government-linked entity. Companies – woke companies — are quasi-government-controlled in a way that Bitcoin will never be,” he explained.
BTC total market cap at $825.46 billion on the daily chart | Source: TradingView.com
Upbeat On Bitcoin’s Future
Thiel asserted that bitcoin’s price might yet grow by a factor of 100. The cryptocurrency is currently trading at $43,665, down more than 30% from November’s highs.
However, before Bitcoin reaches a price of around $4.3 million per coin, it will need to see significant additional adoption led by huge institutions, Thiel said. That is where Buffett and the other “enemy” enter the picture. They wield sufficient authority to avert such a transformation.
Buffett, the “Oracle of Omaha,” did not respond to Fortune’s request for comment immediately. Jamie Dimon’s spokesman declined to comment.
… But Doubtful About Ethereum
Additionally, Thiel took a shot at Ethereum:
“Bitcoin is not Ethereum as a payment system or an e-gold; it is more akin to the S&P 500 or the stock market in general,” he explained.
Although Ethereum is the second-most valuable cryptocurrency by market capitalization, Thiel expressed doubts about its long-term viability.
Bitcoin 2022 is the world’s largest bitcoin conference, taking place in Miami, Florida. It’s happening at the Miami Beach Convention Center from April 6-9 and is currently attracting more than 35,000 attendees and over 7 million livestream viewers around the globe.
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Featured image from CNBC, chart from TradingView.com