The tech investor presents himself as a representative of a “revolutionary youth movement”.
(Photo: AP)
Frankfurt Of course, one could simply shake one’s head at Peter Thiel’s speech at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami. About the fact that the tech investor berated 91-year-old Warren Buffett as a “sociopathic grandfather”, defamed him along with 66-year-old JP Morgan boss Jamie Dimon and 69-year-old Blackrock boss Larry Fink as “financial gerontocrats”. and thus aimed at their age.
Particularly bizarre: Thiel blames the three for the fact that Bitcoin has not yet broken the $100,000 mark. In his view, a result of the trend towards sustainability, because investors who pay attention to energy efficiency criticize Bitcoin because of the high power consumption during mining.
Content is nonsense. Because a bitcoin does not yet cost anywhere near $100,000 is simply because the majority of people on the planet are not keen on the coins. On the one hand, obviously due to a lack of conviction that Bitcoin would significantly improve life.
Many people don’t seem to see any tangible benefit or value – and are also afraid of the uncertainty that comes with the market. In the past year alone, scammers stole $14 billion worth of cryptocurrencies, according to analysis house Chainalysis.
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To simply dismiss Thiel’s verbal attack as an unsightly atmosphere would be too easy. Because his rhetoric is dangerous. Thiel speaks of “enemy lists”, he calls Buffett “enemy number one”, sustainability approaches are a “hate factory” which he equates with the Chinese Communist Party. In essence, he expresses it: Bitcoin means freedom, everything else is dictatorship.
The crypto community should distance themselves from Thiel
In order to legitimize this point of view, the 54-year-old, ironically an old white man himself depending on how you look at it, presents himself as a representative of a youth movement. First of all, the young generation in particular has a strong sense of responsibility towards the environment.
While Thiel would prefer to abolish the state, many young people in particular are in favor of restrictions in favor of greater sustainability.
The biggest difference between Thiel and those attacked is not their age, but their political views: in 2016 Thiel was one of the biggest donors to Donald Trump and later promoted right-wing hardliners, now he is back as a major financier of the “Make America Great Again” movement on.
Thiel is not primarily more youthful than Buffett, Dimon and Fink – but is politically further to the right. The crypto community should not be instrumentalized by him.
More: Peter Thiel calls Buffett, Dimon and Fink “financial gerontocrats”