Author: Web3 Farmer Frank
After Trump's election, the connection between Crypto, Web3 and real-world politics has clearly entered a new stage.
In addition to the appointments of Crypto-friendly figures in key positions such as the U.S. Treasury Secretary, SEC Chair, and White House Crypto Czar, the "key figures" behind the scenes, including Peter Thiel, are also an undeniable decisive factor.
When it comes to Peter Thiel, many people may first think of the PayPal Mafia, venture capital giant, and Silicon Valley patriarch, but his low-key yet highly influential political involvement cannot be ignored.
If Elon Musk is the lead actor in this "Trump Trading" drama, then Peter Thiel is more like the strategist behind the scenes - his presence is ubiquitous and he is likely to influence the volume and decision-making participation of tech capital in American politics and even globally over the next 4 years and beyond.
Peter Thiel: The Capital and Political Backer of Elected Vice President J.D. Vance
In 2011, in a speech at Yale Law School, Peter Thiel criticized the blind pursuit of traditional career paths, emphasizing that technological innovation should solve real problems rather than pursue superficial prosperity, which deeply inspired the then-student J.D. Vance and prompted him to rethink his career planning.
Influenced by Peter Thiel, J.D. Vance abandoned the traditional legal profession and joined Thiel's venture capital firm Mithril Capital, entering the field of venture capital. During this period, J.D. Vance wrote the memoir "Hillbilly Elegy", which detailed his upbringing in a working-class family in Ohio.
The book was published in 2016 and quickly became a bestseller, and was seen as revealing the mindset of Trump supporters (rust belt workers, social conservatives, anti-globalization middle class, etc.).
Interestingly, as Trump's current running mate, J.D. Vance's work attracted widespread attention at the time and helped him emerge in the political arena, but he was initially critical of Trump. It was only through the introduction of Peter Thiel that J.D. Vance gradually established a connection with Trump:
Peter Thiel not only arranged a meeting between the two at Trump's Mar-a-Lago resort, but also provided important support for J.D. Vance's political career - he donated $15 million to the super PAC supporting J.D. Vance, which was once the largest donation to a single senatorial candidate.
It was with Peter Thiel's support that J.D. Vance was successfully elected as an Ohio senator in 2022, and that Trump announced J.D. Vance as his vice presidential running mate in 2024 (J.D. Vance becoming the vice president is a long-term strategy or even a backup plan), reflecting Peter Thiel's key role in shaping J.D. Vance's political career and the influence of some conservative forces in Silicon Valley in American politics.
Capital Power Reshuffle: The Showdown Between New Money and Old Money
Overall, this year's U.S. presidential election is more like the prelude to a power reshuffle within capitalism, with the "New Money" represented by Silicon Valley tech elites challenging the "Old Money" represented by Wall Street, or more accurately, competing for greater voice and distribution of interests.
The rise of Silicon Valley elites is not accidental. Over the past decade, emerging fields such as AI and Crypto have become the engines of economic growth, and these new industries emphasize efficiency, innovation and decentralization, advocating for "less regulation" as a common demand - from Web3 to AI, "decentralization" and "liberalization" have become their core narratives, a simple and attractive vision:
Higher technical efficiency, more capital flow, and even the potential to redefine the rules of wealth creation.
This easily reminds one of the contradictions between the BRICS countries and the existing international governance structure, but as the main beneficiaries of the international trade system, the BRICS countries are more seeking to achieve redistribution within the rules, rather than completely overthrowing the existing order, and this gradual "reform" path is to some extent a challenge to stability.
In contrast, the demands of Silicon Valley elites are quite different, as they do not want to strive for fairer resource allocation within the existing rules, but rather try to reshape the rules themselves, such as pushing for a "less regulated" capitalism with "efficiency" as the core, so for these emerging forces, regulation and rules mean constraints that hinder free innovation and the expansion of technological boundaries.
But the problem is that this path of liberalization and deregulation will inevitably further strengthen the advantageous position of tech giants and capital giants - AI, Crypto and other technologies will concentrate wealth more efficiently, accelerating the widening of the wealth gap, while also marginalizing the interests of traditional industry workers, the core base of Trump supporters.
This inherent contradiction may become the deep driving force for the future fragmentation of American society.
The Balance of New and Old Forces: The Key Choice for the Future
From a longer-term perspective, whether the U.S. political and economic system can find a balance point between "New Money" and "Old Money" in the next 4 years or even longer will directly determine the ultimate direction of this power reshuffle.
For "Old Money", they need to adapt more flexibly to the social changes brought by new technologies, but at the same time defend their core position in rule-making, while for "New Money", they need to convince a wider society to accept the cost of wealth redistribution brought by technological expansion.
The outcome of this struggle not only concerns the political and economic landscape of the U.S., but will also have a far-reaching impact on the future direction of global capitalism, which may also be a microcosm of the transformation of global capitalism. In short, a new era of more globalized and technology-driven capital is approaching, and the key lies in how to redefine the distribution of power, resources and rules.
Crypto and AI will undoubtedly be the main battlegrounds, in addition to Arkham, Infinex, Polymarket and other Crypto projects personally invested by Peter Thiel, the entire Crypto field is both a symbol of so-called decentralized finance and capital liberalization, and a key lever for Silicon Valley tech capital to counterattack traditional finance and reshape the rules.
It is precisely for this reason that the future is also full of opportunities, whether it is AI, Crypto, or other emerging fields, their core narratives of freedom, efficiency and innovation are still attractive: this process will also test whether the parties can find a compromise point in the conflicts of interest.
From "Trump Trading" to Peter Thiel's behind-the-scenes maneuvering, what we are seeing is not just an election, but a battle over the rules of the future, which is destined to be a profound struggle over resources, power and rules.
