Thiel recently said something to the effect that it's possible bitcoin could be a tool for China to threaten the stability of the US dollar. Interestingly, he is an investor in a crypto startup[1] that (if its intents are read uncharitably) aims, with a stablecoin, to do something similar to the economy of Venezuela and other South American countries that have extremely inflation-prone currencies/have experienced hyperinflation. Mass adoption in Venezuela is the current goal of this project. At least as far as I can see, success for this project would mean some significant chunk of the Venezuelan population transacting in a currency controlled by a company based in California.

[1] https://reserve.org/