Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota / Bloomberg
Photographer: Kiyoshi Ota / Bloomberg
Peter Thiel is “pro-crypto” and “maximalist pro-Bitcoin,” but he also believes cryptocurrency can undermine the United States.
Thiel, the conservative and venture capitalist political donor, urged the U.S. government to consider stricter regulation on cryptocurrencies in an appearance Tuesday. The statements seemed to represent a change of heart for Thiel, who is a major investor in virtual currency companies and in cryptocurrencies themselves.
“I wonder if at this point, Bitcoin should be thought about as well [of] partly 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 fiduciary money, but it especially threatens the US dollar.” Added: “[If] China’s long Bitcoin, perhaps from a geopolitical perspective, the US should ask tougher questions about exactly how this works. “
Thiel was joined by former Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and former National Security Adviser Robert O’Brien. The conversation between Thiel, who has frequently criticized U.S. companies doing business with Beijing, and two hawks ex-members of the Trump administration, focused largely on U.S.-China relations. It was moderated by Hugh Hewitt, the radio announcer and chief executive of the Nixon Foundation. Forbes previously reported some details of the event.
During the talk, Thiel expanded on previous criticism of Alphabet Inc. from Google, which he accused of working against American interests in a 2019 speech. On Tuesday, he added that he had pressured employees of the company’s artificial intelligence division over whether its technology was being used in the Chinese region of Xinjiang, where the United States claims the country has detained ethnic Uighurs in the fields. internment, which some American officials have said about the genocide. The answer, Thiel said, was, “Well, we really don’t know and we don’t ask any questions.” Thiel continued, “You have this almost magical thought that, pretending everything is fine, that’s how you hold a conversation.” China has denied the mistreatment of ethnic and religious minorities in Xinjiang and Google has said it does not work with the Chinese military.
Thiel, who left Silicon Valley dramatically in 2018, complaining that it had become a “one-party state,” didn’t just criticize Google. He suggested that U.S. control of U.S. technology companies should also include Apple Inc., noting that the company manufactures most of its devices in China, where labor standards are looser than in the US. USA and Europe. “Apple is probably the only one [tech company] this is structurally a real problem ”for the interests of the United States, he said. “Apple is the one that has real synergies with China.”
Thiel also suggested that the United States should follow India banning TikTok, the social app owned by Chinese company ByteDance Ltd., and that he called it “this kind of incredible leaking of data about people.” Thiel noted that if banned, TikTok would probably be replaced by similar applications, as has happened in India. “I don’t think it was a tremendous loss” to India, he said.
TikTok’s comments relate to Facebook Inc.’s messaging, where Thiel serves on the board. Facebook has portrayed TikTok as a threat to U.S. values. But Thiel also criticized Facebook itself for nurturing what it called an “awakening policy,” noting that the company had refused to take a firm stand on protests in Hong Kong last year. “There were more employees on Facebook who were born in China than in Hong Kong,” he said. “And the Chinese people said that, as you know, it was just Western arrogance and [the company] I shouldn’t take the Hong Kong party … And the rest of the Facebook employees were left out of it. ”
Thiel also criticized Facebook, along with other technology companies, for “displacing President Trump,” a reference to the company’s decision. ban President Donald Trump to incite the January 6 storm at the United States Capitol. “There has been direct censorship,” Thiel said. “And when you do it with the president of the United States, it looks like you’ve really crossed some sort of Rubicon.”
The appearance with Pompeo could have implications for the 2024 presidential race. The former secretary of state is widely seen as a possible Republican candidate, and Thiel has shown his willingness to support figures closely aligned with Trump. He was a big sponsor of Trump in 2016 and recently gave $ 10 million to a PAC that supported the potential Senate candidacy of JD Vance, a conservative political author who previously worked in a venture capital fund backed by Thiel.
(Updates are related to the context and add video.)