German-American billionaire entrepreneur and venture capitalist Peter Thiel says that the “biggest mistake” he made in the last decade was “getting too late and too little into Bitcoin.”
According to Wikipedia, Thiel, who is co-founder of PayPal, Palantir Technologies, and Founders Fund, was the first outside investor in Facebook, and as of 28 March 2022, he was ranked 276th on the Bloomberg Billionaires Index with an estimated net worth of $8.36 billion.
While speaking in a panel discussion on the recently published book “The Founders: The Story of Paypal and the Entrepreneurs Who Shaped Silicon Valley“, which tracks the story of Paypal and its influence on Silicon Valley, Thiel commented on the rise of crypto. This discussion was on a recent episode (released on March 12) of “The Pull Request” podcast.
Thiel, who co-founded Paypal alongside Elon Musk, Max Levchin, Luke Nosek, Yu Pan and a host of others known collectively as the “Paypal Mafia,” has written and spoken about the influence of crypto on several occasions. Thiel was asked by the panel’s host what he thinks about contemporary payment systems and the impact of cryptoassets.
As reported by Bitcoin.com, Thiel said this about Bitcoin:
The biggest mistake I made in the last decade was getting too late and too little into bitcoin.
Thiel continued, saying that Bitcoin had been on his radar in 2010 and 2011. He admitted that he had seen “all these crazy cryptocurrency people,” during his time with Paypal, and that he was “super interested” and motivated by the new technology.
However, he claimed at the time that none of the models worked, causing him to have a blindspot towards the future of the industry:
With bitcoin, I was somehow programmed to not to see it as much as I should have.
Thiel has previously lamented on being late to Bitcoin and cryptoassets. Speaking at a crypto event in Miami last year, the billionaire told participants that he felt like was “underinvested in [Bitcoin],” and that BTC represented the “most honest market we have in the country.”
Disclaimer
The views and opinions expressed by the author, or any people mentioned in this article, are for informational purposes only, and they do not constitute financial, investment, or other advice. Investing in or trading cryptoassets comes with a risk of financial loss.
