Day two of Bitcoin 2022 in Miami was as colorful as we expected, with Pay-Pal co-founder and venture capitalist Peter Thiel unveiling his Bitcoin “enemy list,” while Mexico’s third richest man, Ricardo Salinas, revealed that he has 60% of his Portfolios in Bitcoin.
Thiel, one of the keynote speakers, took to the conference’s Nakamoto main stage in the early afternoon and opened the speech in style by tossing a wad of $100 bills into the crowd to explain the difference between crypto and government. secured fiat currency.
As the crowd quickly grabbed the money, Thiel joked, “I thought you guys were supposed to be Itcoin maximalists.”
He then delivered a stimulating pro-Bitcoin speech in which he predicted that Bitcoin would surge 100x from today’s price and that traditional financial markets would eventually collapse.
“Central banks are going bankrupt. We are at the end of the fiat money regime.”
Thiel also offered his list of enemies, in which he ranked legendary Berkshire Hathaway investor Warren Buffett first, calling him “Enemy #1.” Thiel called Buffett a “sociopathic grandfather” — who apparently took issue with the Berkshire Hathaway CEO’s anti-bitcoin comment.
Also on Thiel’s list were JPMorgan Chase CEO Jamie Dimon and Blackrock CEO Larry Fink, who denounced the billionaire group for running a “gerontocracy” — a society ruled by old people — against cryptocurrency.
Later in the day, Mexican billionaire Ricardo Salinas used his 15 minutes on the main stage to take aim at bonds and announce that he currently holds 60% of his total liquid investment portfolio in bitcoin – a substantial increase from the 10% he held Dec 2020.
“I definitely don’t have bonds…I have 60% in bitcoin and bitcoin stocks and then 40% in hard asset stocks like oil and gas and gold miners, and here I am.”
Salinas, whose net worth is estimated at around $12.8 billion, was an early investor in Bitcoin. In an interview with Cointelegraph, Salinas said he bought his first bitcoin in 2013, when the average price was around $200 a piece.
Earlier in the day Samson Mow, Blockstream’s former Chief Strategy Officer, announced that two new jurisdictions would adopt Bitcoin as legal tender. The Caribbean island of Roatán and Madeira, an autonomous region of Portugal, confirmed that they will adopt BTC as legal tender. Mexico is also reportedly considering the move.
Related: Mayor Unveils Laser-Eyed Miami Bull Statue to Kick Off Bitcoin 2022
El Salvadoran President Nayib Bukele was scheduled to officially speak next to last at the Bitcoin conference on Thursday announced his withdrawal on Twitter on April 7, citing “unforeseen circumstances”. Due to increasing gang violence, the country is currently in a state of emergency.
Day 3 of the Bitcoin 2022 conference will feature additional keynote speakers including a fireside chat by renowned psychologist Jordan Peterson, a keynote address by legendary investor Mike Novogratz, and a presentation by Eric Weinstein, director of Thiel Capital.