Jack Dorsey’s Square Crypto Poaches Dev Talent from Facebook’s Libra & Google
Bitcoin bull Jack Dorsey is bolstering Square's crypto business with a string of new hires. | Credit: AP/Francois Mori
As if Facebook’s Libra doesn’t have enough trouble, they just lost a developer to a rising crypto star. Square Crypto has poached a trio of blockchain developers from across the tech industry including Lightning Labs, Facebook’s Libra, and Google. Steve Lee, who was Square Crypto’s maiden hire in June, also hails from Google. According to a Twitter post, Square Crypto, which till now has been comprised of Lee and Bitcoin Core contributor Matt Corallo , has welcomed Valentine Wallace, Jeffrey Czyz, and Arik Sosman to fill out its team.
According to his Twitter profile, Arik Sosman was a software engineer at Facebook/Calibra, which incidentally is facing an uphill battle for its planned 2020 launch amid pushback from global regulators. Sosman’s account now says that he is “@Sqcrypto bound.” In response to Square’s Crypto new hire announcement, Arik tweeted:
“This is good for bitcoin. #bitcoinnotblockchain .”
Bitcoin developer and Blockstream co-founder Peter Wuille welcomed Arik “back to the light side.”
Google alum Jeffrey Czyz tweeted:
“Hello, #BitcoinTwitter! Excited for the opportunity to be a part of this amazing @sqcrypto team!”
Square Crypto’s Ambitious Plans
The Square Crypto team has made it their mission to bolster the profile and use case of bitcoin. It’s an ambitious goal, one whose next steps aren’t entirely clear with the exception of its focus on bitcoin. Square Crypto tweeted :
“In the spirit of open-sourcing, we want to hear from you. There’s no project we won’t consider, as long as it improves or proliferates bitcoin.”
While they are more interested in making bitcoin look good than anything else, Square Crypto has been feverishly busy behind the scenes, most recently directing a $100,000 grant to open-source bitcoin project BTCPay via the BTCPay Foundation.
The blockchain industry might want to keep a close eye on its talent, as Square Crypto isn’t done hiring yet and bitcoin bull Jack Dorsey is a rock star within the crypto community.
“Speaking of the team, we are still looking for a very senior designer. This position is bigger than a single product, and will play a major role in formalizing how the world interacts with bitcoin.”
