Bitcoin investor Peter Thiel is skeptical about most cryptocurrencies

On March 15, 2018, PayPal and Palantir co-founder Peter Thiel shared his thoughts on investing in cryptocurrency. In an interview with the Economic Club of New York, he noted that he sees the potential value of bitcoin in the long term, but not as a payment system.

“I wouldn’t bet on bitcoin and wouldn’t seek to buy other types of cryptocurrency right now, with a few possible exceptions,” Thiel said.

But don’t take Thiel’s statements seriously because his company, Founders Fund, made a multimillion-dollar investment in bitcoin last year, according to the Wall Street Journal. Thiel will become very rich if bitcoin becomes the "online equivalent of gold." However, according to the businessman, the likelihood that bitcoin will eventually become worthless is between 50 and 80 percent. It is unclear whether Thiel or the Founders Fund would change their investment outlook if the price of bitcoin plummets.

In an interview on Fox Business on Thursday, Peter said that  “Bitcoin has all the hallmarks of a bubble. But there is also a significant difference - there are no “analysts” on Wall Street to push it, and that is why it is in such disfavor.”

“Even if bitcoin looks like a bubble, this does not prevent it from being a store of value,” Thiel added.