Palantir accepts Bitcoin as co-founder Thiel backs $10B crypto exchange

Palantir founder Peter Thiel is going deeper into Bitcoin after he invested money into Block.one crypto exchange Bullish Global

Block.one — the company that raised $4 billion to build EOS — is launching a crypto exchange called Bullish Global backed by prominent billionaires, including Peter Thiel.

The Blacksburg firm collected $300 million from Thiel, Galaxy’s Mike Novogratz, British hedge funder Alan Howard, Moore Capital’s Louis Bacon, and Hong Kong stalwart Richard Li, among others.

Block.one itself fronted:

$100 million in cash.
20 million EOS ($215 million).
164,000 BTC ($8.2 billion).

Thiel, Howard, Li, and German moneymaker Christian Angermayer will also serve as senior advisors to Bullish Global.

A press release notes the exchange wants to offer market making and lending services to institutionals while catering to the retail crowd with an investment app.

Block.one’s last billion-dollar rodeo

Bullish Global — which boasts $10 billion in funding — marks the biggest venture for Block.one since crypto-powered cloud platform EOS.

Usability problems have plagued EOS since its launch in 2018. The project has also drawn steady criticism for enabling cartels to control and profit from the network.

In September 2019, Block.one paid $24 million to settle SEC claims it sold billions in unregistered securities during its years-long ICO for EOS.

Block.one then exchanged $30 million for a domain to support Voice (the company’s social media platform underpinned by blockchain tech) about 18 months later.

But Block.one witnessed the departure of lead EOS brain Dan Larimer in January this year “to pursue personal projects.”

Larimer served as the company’s chief technical officer and is credited with creating the Delegated Proof-of-Stake consensus method utilized by the EOS network and others since.

Larimer led — and left — other crypto projects in Steem and BitShares.

Thiel’s CIA-sponsored data stock embraces Bitcoin

For PayPal co-founder Thiel, backing a crypto exchange makes sense. The Silicon Valley legend is a self-proclaimed “pro-crypto, pro-Bitcoin maximalist” with a deep history of investing in the Bitcoin ecosystem.

In fact, Thiel’s CIA-backed data mining outfit Palantir said Thursday it accepts Bitcoin for its services. Palantir’s earnings came almost in unison with Bullish Global’s release.

“[Bitcoin] is definitely on the table from a treasury perspective, as well as other investments, as we look across our business and beyond,” said the company on its latest earnings call (via CNBC).

Thiel has plugged Bitcoin longer than most Wall Street billionaires.

Colorado-based Palantir began in 2008 but went public in September 2020. The company reported revenue increased 49% last quarter to $341 million, but warned this quarter mightn’t be so hot.

Palantir mostly does contract work for the defense and military, with about 60% of its revenue coming from governments.

Edit 17:55 UTC, May 13: Clarified dates in paragraph 10.