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Bitcoin Believer Peter Thiel Donates $1.25 Million to Trump

Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:51 PM
Justin OConnell
Last Updated March 4, 2021 4:51 PM

Billionaire tech investor Peter Thiel, whose Founder’s Fund invested in Bitcoin payment’s startup BitPay, recently gave $1.25 million to Republican candidate for President, Donald Trump, “through a combination of super PAC donations and funds given directly to the campaign.”

As the New Yorker Magazine  writes,

Thiel’s willingness to show some seven-figure support for Trump at this late stage might signal that Thiel wants to stay in Trump’s circle even after the polls close and the votes are tallied. Widespread speculation holds that Trump (possibly with the help of his son-in-law Jared Kushner and Roger Ailes) is looking into launching a cable channel  following the election. 

The respected billionaire technologist, who attends meetings featuring main players in politics and business, has long been a proponent of right-wing politics. 

An early investor in Facebook and PayPal, Thiel’s Founder’s Fund led a capital raise of $2 million into BitPay in 2013. A C-Level executive at BitPay later sent a similar amount to a hacker who was phishing for the bitcoins . Thiel also helped found Palantir Technologies, which builds software that connects data, technologies, humans, and environments.

Thiel has served as a member of the steering committee for Bilderberg. Founders Fund has invested in the Bitcoin space for three years.

BitPay founder CEO at the time, Tony Gallippi, said of the Founder’s Fundraising: “We raised seed funding in January and February and still had some left so we weren’t looking for money. They approached us, which was a nice surprise because we’d heard that they’d got as far as due diligence with another company in this space. We were really impressed with their experience and energy.” The deal’s terms went undisclosed.

As Thiel spoke at the Thiel Foundation Under 20 Summit in 2013, he said that he’s noted the modern monetary system was coming to an end and encrypted money “would change the world.” 

“I do think bitcoin is the first one of these that has the potential to do something like that,” he concluded. “It is worth thinking about money as the bubble that never ends. There is this sort of potential that bitcoin could become this new phenomenon.”

He added: “The cautionary note I’d put on it is … that, as far as I can tell right now, it’s being used for speculation and illegal activity – illegal payments, and therefore it is possible that it will be scrutinized in an increasingly difficult way in the years ahead.”

Recent polls show Clinton only leads Trump by 8 points.

Images from Flickr/Heisenberg Media  and Shutterstock.