Peter Thiel, CEO of PayPal, fears China could use Bitcoin as a financial weapon against the United States
Peter Thiel, CEO of PayPal, said yesterday that he fears China could use Bitcoin as a weapon against the United States. Thiel, a prominent Bitcoin proponent, argued that the Chinese could leverage the leading cryptocurrency to undermine the power of the U.S. dollar. Speaking at a roundtable hosted by the Richard Nixon Foundation, the well-known venture capitalist voiced his concerns and warned that China cannot be trusted in this context.
He said the country might exploit Bitcoin’s features to challenge the dollar.
“Even though I’m somewhat pro-crypto and pro-Bitcoin, I wonder whether at this stage Bitcoin should be regarded as a Chinese financial weapon against the United States,” he said.
Thiel argued that Bitcoin poses a threat to fiat currencies, especially the U.S. dollar. He added that American strategists must adopt a hard-nosed geopolitical approach to Bitcoin-related developments.
The PayPal chief also suggested that China could use the euro to counterbalance the dollar’s dominance and thereby gain greater control over the global economy.
“From China’s point of view, they don’t like that the United States has this reserve currency because it gives us a lot of influence […]. They don’t want the renminbi to become a reserve currency because that would require opening capital accounts and doing many things they really don’t want to do. I think the euro is partly a Chinese weapon against the dollar.”
Thiel discussed China’s digital renminbi, the electronic payment system, calling it a “totalitarian measurement device” unlike any cryptocurrency. His remarks about the digital RMB reflect strong disapproval, particularly as many countries, including the United States, are exploring similar digital currency initiatives.
He also expressed disappointment that many Silicon Valley companies do not treat China as a rival. The PayPal executive criticized U.S. tech giants for their close ties with China, accusing Apple of having “synergies” with the country and Google of maintaining friendly relationships.
This is not the first time Thiel has opposed China’s influence over Bitcoin. In October 2019, he invested $50 million in Bitcoin mining company Layer1 Technologies to help reduce China’s dominance in the mining sector.