Bitcoin can undermine the U.S. dollar if the United States does not take a lead role in accepting it, argued Anthony Pompliano. Speaking to CNBC on April 8, the Morgan Creek Digital co-founder followed up on a warning from investor Peter Thiel that China could use Bitcoin (BTC) to destabilize U.S. dollar hegemony. Thiel cautions over Bitcoin threat "I do wonder at this point whether Bitcoin is to be thought of, in part, as a Chinese financial weapon against the U.S. It threatens fiat money, but it especially threatens the U.S. dollar," Thiel had said in an appearance at the …

PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist, Peter Thiel, has warned that the Chinese central government may be supporting Bitcoin as a means to undermine the foreign and monetary policy of the United States. But, he added, it has tried to use the Euro the same way. Speaking at a virtual event hosted by conservative non-profit, the Richard Nixon Foundation, Thiel was commenting on whether China’s central bank-issued digital currency, or CBDC, could threaten the U.S. dollar’s status as a global reserve currency. While Thiel, who is known to be pro-Bitcoin, suggested an “internal stablecoin in China” will amount to little more …

Austria-based cryptocurrency firm Bitpanda has closed a $170 million funding round to further the firm's international growth. The latest Series B funding round was led by Valar Ventures — a venture capital firm backed by PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel — Bitpanda announced on Tuesday, and featured partners from Yuri Milner’s investment firm DST Global, which is known as a major investor in United States-based crypto-friendly stock trading app Robinhood. While DST is a new investor in Bitpanda, Valar previously led a $52 million Series A round in September 2020. According to Bitpanda, the new funding round has made the firm …

In a lawsuit filed today in the U.S. District Court of New Jersey, Binance alleged that an article published by Forbes was defamatory and caused "millions of dollars" in damages. While there are already questions forming around the merits of the lawsuit, one thing is no longer in doubt: Binance is getting serious. Binance has retained the services of Charles Harder, the attorney best known for representing Hulk Hogan (Terry Gene Bollea) in a suit against Gawker Media. He procured an award of $115 million in compensatory damages and a further $25 million in punitive damages for his client in …

Crypto investment fund 1Confirmation, backed by tech billionaire Peter Thiel, has raised $45 million for its second fund. Following the raise, 1Confirmation has over $75 million in assets under management for investing in new projects in the crypto industry, the firm’s founder Nick Tomaino announced on Sept. 25. San Francisco-based 1Confirmation is one of the earliest crypto investment firms that have high-profile backers such as PayPal co-founder Thiel, billionaire investor Mark Cuban, Andreessen Horowitz’s co-founder Marc Andreessen, and global private equity fund-of-funds Horsley Bridge, the post notes. $60 million initially projected: report Tomaino, a former employee at major United States-based …

EOS developer Block.one is attempting a 10% buyback of its stock, offering backers a share repurchase price that will return as much as 6,567% on their initial investments. The news was reported by Bloomberg on May 22. According to Bloomberg, the buyback values the company at around $2.3 billion, up from about a $40 million valuation in the 2017 seed round. The repurchase price being offered is $1,500 per share — up 6,567% from the original price of $22.50. As Bloomberg notes, investors who ostensibly stand to benefit from this return include PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, Jihan Wu of crypto …

Venture capitalist and PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel has invested in cryptocurrency investment platform Layer1, according to a press release published Dec. 19. San Francisco-based Layer1 has concluded a $2.1 million seed funding round backed by such industry players as Thiel, crypto-focused venture capital company Digital Currency Group, and American investor and Protégé Partners founder Jeffrey Tarrant, among others. The company reportedly aims to direct the raised funds to the further development of programmable money and store-of-value applications. Per Layer1 co-founder Alexander Liegl, cryptocurrencies provide an “unprecedented opportunity” for companies to add value, which is “fundamentally different” from the possibilities offered …

EOS developer Block.one has secured investments from billionaire PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel and crypto mining hardware billionaire Jihan Wu of Bitmain, according to an official announcement today, July 16. Block.one is the creator of the EOSIO software, a blockchain protocol that aims to support decentralized apps (dApps) on an industrial scale. The protocol’s native cryptocurrency EOS is currently ranked fifth in the world with a market capitalization of $7.1 bln. Other notable co-investors of Block.one’s latest funding round –– of which the exact total is yet to be revealed –– include two major hedge fund billionaires, Moore Capital’s Louis Bacon …

Trump advisor and Bitcoin investor Peter Thiel has “secret spy links” to the New Zealand government, a new expose suggests. An investigation by local newspaper the New Zealand Herald reveals that the country’s government had contracts with Thiel’s Palantir Technologies, “controversial in the United States over its long links with National Security Agency surveillance operations.” According to the Herald, the collaboration between Palantir and the New Zealand Defence Force, the Security Intelligence Service and the Government Communications and Security Bureau runs back “to at least 2012.” Kennedy Graham, Green Party spokesman on intelligence and security matters, described the implications of …

PayPal co-founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel believes Bitcoin has succeeded as a currency, but still lacks as a payment system. On October 15, Peter Thiel was invited to the University of Chicago Booth School of Business to speak about entrepreneurship and business practices for an event organized by the Polsky Center for Entrepreneurship and Innovation. The event was hosted by Booth School of Business' Norman R. Bobins Professor of Economics Randall Kroszner, and gathered more than 1,000 members of the University community, reported the Chicago Maroon. Thiel started his talk with a critique of what he calls "a pervasive, …