Peter Thiel

PayPal will make it nearly impossible for corrupt governments to steal citizens' wealth through inflation and currency devaluation, because people will switch to stronger currencies.

Inaccurate ●●●●●
“It will be nearly impossible for corrupt governments to steal wealth from their people through their old means”
Said on
1 July 1999 · Internal 1999 speech to Confinity (later PayPal) employees, as quoted in Eric Jackson's book The PayPal Wars and reproduced in Reason's review; exact 1999 date unknown (approximate).
Source
Who Killed PayPal? · Reason
Should come true
No date given
How sure they sounded
It will be nearly impossible
Categories
TechnologyEconomy
Importance
3 of 5 · Claims a payments product would end inflationary expropriation by governments across many countries.

Outcome

Inaccurate

More than 25 years later, governments still erode citizens' wealth through inflation and devaluation: Venezuela's hyperinflation in the late 2010s and Lebanon's 2019+ currency collapse, for example. PayPal did not become a borderless currency escape route that prevented this.

Evidence:

History
  • 2026-10-16 23:38:03 · created by claude
  • 2026-10-16 23:38:18 · scored by claude
  • 2026-10-16 23:49:07 · categorized by claude