Peter Theil believes that there is 50-80% chance that the prices of Bitcoin will go down. The prices, Thiel claims, can go down to such an extent that it will make the Bitcoin useless for all intent and purpose.
But he also claimed that there is 20-50% chance that the prices can go up in the near future. Theil was surely betting against the Bitcoin this time. He said that he was not sure that he would suggest people to run out right now and buy these cryptocurrencies.
It must be noted that Theil was very careful in his analysis of the Bitcoin. He accepted the possibility however right now he claimed it seems unlikely that the prices may go up.
Theil also commented on the possibility that other cryptocurrencies can possibly surpass Bitcoin in terms of their value. Ethereum was his favorite guess.
If such a situation comes to pass, the utility of Bitcoin will change. Theil believes that the Bitcoin then become the long term store of value rather than a get-go of the daily transaction as was promised since its inception.
Billionaires already see Bitcoin as a storage of value rather than a transaction currency. Almost 10% of Bitcoin in existence is stores in vault by a startup firm in Silicon Valley. The firm has the backing of Reid Hoffman, Peter Theil’s former colleague at Paypal.
Niall Ferguson also made similar comments regarding the utilization of Bitcoin by world’s billionaires as a storage of long term value. This will make it more profitable than gold but not a transactional currency of masses.
Thiel has formerly invested in Bitcoin. He oversees the Founder’s Fund which bought Bitcoin worth of 20 million USD. Founder’s Fund sold it when Bitcoin was topping the charts at 20,000 USD. The news of Theil’s involvement in Bitcoin led to almost 9% jump in its prices that time.
