Technology

Tech billionaire Peter Thiel says he ‘underinvested’ in bitcoin

Peter Thiel
Adam Jeffery | CNBC

Peter Thiel, the co-founder of PayPal and Palantir, has said he feels like he’s underinvested in bitcoin as the world’s most popular cryptocurrency climbed to an all time high of just over $66,000 per coin.

Speaking at an evening event in Miami on Wednesday, just hours after bitcoin hit a new record price, Thiel reportedly joked that “you’re supposed to just buy bitcoin” before adding “I feel like I’ve been underinvested in it.”

His comments, which were reported by Bloomberg, came after several other billionaires including Tesla CEO Elon Musk and Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey have shown support for the cryptocurrency. Bitcoin’s price has been incredibly volatile over the last few years and many have warned that it presents a big risk to investors.

Thiel went on to say that his only hesitation when it comes to investing in bitcoin was that he thought “the secret was already known by everybody,” according to Bloomberg. “I think the answers are still to go long” on bitcoin, Thiel added, before saying “maybe it still is enough of a secret.”

At a separate event on Monday, the billionaire said the stratospheric price of bitcoin is one of the clearest indicators that the current political system is unstable, according to The Information.

“I don’t know that you should put all your money into bitcoin at $60,000 a bitcoin right now,” Thiel said.

“But surely the fact that it is at $60,000 is an extremely hopeful sign. It’s the canary in the coal mine. It’s the most honest market we have in the country, and it’s telling us that this decrepit … regime is just about to blow up.”