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Hi, it's Max. Peter Thiel made two surprising points while speaking at an event this week. But first... Today's top tech news: - Google will slash the [fee it takes]( from app subscriptions in half
- A [warning from Snap]( on ad rates pulled down social media stocks
- WeWorkâs second attempt at a public listing [went a lot better]( âJust about to blow upâ The venture capitalist Peter Thiel appeared in Miami on Oct. 20 at an event billed as a celebration of the future, a coming out party for a self-proclaimed tech hub, and, at least among Thielâs biggest admirers, something approaching a religious experience. Thiel isâas I write in my new book, [The Contrarian](âone of the most successful tech investors of his generation and commands a cult-like following of young, ambitious people who are attracted to his unapologetically pro-Trump conservativism and his belief in the supremacy of technology, and in particular technology billionaires like himself. âToday is a holy day,â Delian Asparouhov, a partner at Thielâs venture capital firm, Founders Fund, wrote on Twitter. Perhaps in jest (I hope?), he [photoshopped]( Thielâs face onto a painting of Saint Stephen, holding a skull labeled âGawker,â in reference to Thielâs secretive andâwithin right wing circles celebratedâcampaign to destroy the liberal media outlet. Appropriately, this weekâs Q&A with Thiel was billed explicitly as an exploration of âculture, religion, and technology.â The chat was a showcase for Thielâs current focus as an investor as well as illustration of just how extreme Thielâs politics have gotten in recent years. It began with a discourse on âfreedomâ in which moderator Bambi Francisco railed against vaccine mandates. Thiel responded by criticizing the âinsanityâ of Covid lockdowns and proclaimed himself âreally into freedom from taxation.â ([You donât say](.) Attendees were also treated to a sort of greatest hits of Thielism. He complained about âpolitical correctnessââthe No. 1 political problem in America, he saidâcalled public education a form of âbrain washing,â and sounded the alarm about the âdeep state.â Most of these riffs will be familiar to those who have followed Thiel over the past few years, but there were two interesting moments. First, as my [colleague Nathan Crooks reported](, Thiel heaped praise on Bitcoin, which [he criticized]( earlier this year as a potential âChinese financial weapon.â In Miami, he declared himself âunderinvestedâ in Bitcoin and said that he recommended âgoing long,â on the currency. Perhaps more intriguingly, Thiel declared that Bitcoinâs high price, $66,000 at the time, was an indication that the financial hegemony of the dollar might be close to an end. He put this even more strongly earlier in the week, at a meeting of the Federalist Society. âItâs the canary in the coal mine,â he said of Bitcoinâs high price, [according to The Information](. âItâs the most honest market we have in the country, and itâs telling us that this decrepit⦠regime is just about to blow up.â The comments are red meat for Bitcoinâs libertarian faithful, but they contain a slightly unsettling implicationâat least for those of us not keen on complete societal collapse. By suggesting that Bitcoin is undervalued and that record high prices portend imminent political upheaval, Thiel is saying that he expects such upheaval to come to pass and is welcoming it. That may go a long way to explaining why Thiel is currently backing politicians, such as J.D. Vance (running for Senate in Ohio) and Blake Masters (a Senate candidate from Arizona and a longtime Thiel employee), who have at times seemed to treat the [Jan. 6 insurrection as a peaceful protest]( and who have implied, falsely, that the [2020 election was stolen by Democrats](. The other interesting moment of the night involved Facebook Inc., where Thiel is the longest-serving outside board member and a key political ally to Chief Executive Officer Mark Zuckerberg. After acknowledging some disagreements with Facebook and its peers, Thiel offered what he called a âpartial defenseâ of Facebook, in which he claimed that social media was an important check on what he described as a consensus of elites in universities, media and government, praising âtech that really challenges the state.â Then he added, âI will take all the QAnon and Pizzagate conspiracy theories everyday over the Ministry of Truth,â a reference to the state propaganda arm in the novel 1984. It was, of course, a false choiceâand a disconcerting one. Lawmakers, as well as critics and whistleblowers, arenât calling for a Ministry of Truth; theyâre just asking the company to make it more difficult for violent ideologies to spread. But by defending QAnon groups, which were involved in the planning of the insurrection, Thiel was simultaneously offering an endorsement of Zuckerbergâs hands-off approach to regulation, and signaling a certain comfort with the most extreme parts of the American far right. On Jan. 6, Senator Josh Hawley, another longtime beneficiary of [Thielâs largesse]( walked into the U.S. capitol [holding a raised fist](âa show of solidarity that may have emboldened the rioters. Thielâs comments could be read as a similar, and equally chilling, signal. â[Max Chafkin](mailto:mchafkin@bloomberg.net)
If you read one thing Elon Muskâs sprawling tunneling project under Las Vegas could br[eak ground next year](. What else you need to know Lyft reported more than 4,000 claims of sexual assault from 2017 to 2019 in its [first published safety study](. Intelâs stock dived on Thursday after the company detailed some of the costs of its planned [return to dominance](. Robinhoodâs CEO said [meme-stock mania]( has helped companies battered by the pandemic. Follow Us More from Bloomberg Dig gadgets or video games? [Sign up for Power On]( to get Apple scoops, consumer tech news and more in your inbox on Sundays. [Sign up for Game On]( to go deep inside the video game business, delivered on Fridays. Why not try both?  Like Fully Charged? | [Get unlimited access to Bloomberg.com](, where you'll find trusted, data-based journalism in 120 countries around the world and expert analysis from exclusive daily newsletters. You received this message because you are subscribed to Bloomberg's Fully Charged newsletter. If a friend forwarded you this message, [sign up here]( to get it in your inbox.
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