EXCLUSIVE: Tim Draper On Artificial Intelligence, Bitcoin, His Best Investment Return

Perhaps best known for his price targets on Bitcoin BTC/USD, Tim Draper is a venture capital investor who was an early investor in many well-known technology companies.

In an exclusive interview, Draper shares his take on future technology, Bitcoin and more.

Draper on Artificial Intelligence: One of the biggest investment and technology themes of 2023 is the rise of artificial intelligence, a topic that gets Draper excited.

“I am very excited about artificial intelligence and all the cool things it can do for every industry out there, particularly education,” Draper told Benzinga CEO Jason Raznick on an episode of “The Raz Report.”

Draper said that there are really interesting things happening in education thanks to artificial intelligence.

The investor also shared the power of a company such as Otter.ai, which he invested in. The company transcribes video interviews and allows him to search for a particular topic he may have discussed while interviewing entrepreneurs.

Related Link: How To Buy Bitcoin 

Draper on Bitcoin: In 2014, Draper shocked many with a $10,000 price target for Bitcoin by 2017. The price of Bitcoin hit $10,000 three years later and led to Draper being often asked for new price targets. A price target of $250,000 for Bitcoin was announced by Draper in 2018 and has not been reached to date.

The investor still believes Bitcoin will reach $250,000 but has adjusted his time range several times.

On his famous price target, Draper said he thinks he thought he would hit it again.

Draper shared the bankruptcies of companies like FTX and Celsius happened because they were centralized. Under centralized control, one person can make a mistake on purpose or not and it can destroy the system. Draper said this can also happen with central banks and that they could destroy an economy.

“One of the great things about Bitcoin is that it’s decentralized,” Draper said. “That’s why I’m a big believer, it’s decentralized.”

Draper sees Bitcoin adoption increasing in the future, especially when retailers and e-tailers realize they can save 2% by using Bitcoin transactions.

“I’ve paid for many things with Bitcoin.”

Draper is looking forward to a future without fiat currency, but said it is taking longer than he thought due to regulation by enforcement and fear spreading by the SEC.

While Draper wouldn’t share a new price target on Bitcoin or give investment advice, he did make a prediction on where Bitcoin’s price will be two years from now: “Way up.”

Draper University: Draper launched a private, for-profit school in 2012. The investor said one of the reasons behind opening the school was hearing people saying entrepreneurship can’t be taught. Whenever someone says something can’t be done, Draper said he works to do it.

Draper said the university is harder to get into than Harvard and Stanford. While those two schools boast how hard they are to get into and the successful percent of people who get jobs out of school, Draper has another metric for his school.

The investor said the average student at Draper University comes for five weeks and creates seven jobs.

“I think we’ve changed the model.”

Draper’s Best Investments: Draper had many winning investments over the years, including being early to companies like Tesla, SpaceX, Skype, Twitter (now X) and Hotmail.

“Probably our best return on investment was Robinhood,” Draper said of Robinhood Markets Inc HOOD.

Draper said the investment return in Robinhood was a little over 1000x. He added the brokerage company was one that was two guys just looking to change the nature of a sector.

When asked what could make a good investment, Draper said one item that has done well for him is controversy, with that being the thing that has generated the best returns.

See Also: Exclusive: Trim Draper Stands By $250,000 BTC Prediction 

Draper Nation: Draper created a Bitcoin-native, digital nation called Draper Nation and shared more about the experiment he’s doing.

Draper said governance can be done virtually and more countries should be trying to get more done virtually.

“They haven’t really provided the services that I think could be done virtually,” Draper said.

Draper said he hopes to lead by example with Draper Nation and either it becomes a big deal or it improves on what governments can provide for services.

“There are some bad politicians out there.”

Draper said with virtual governments and governance, he hopes to get rid of weak politicians who are trying to control their people. 

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Photo: Benzinga