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Twitter CEO Dorsey: Square Crypto Begins ‘Inevitable’ Bitcoin Mass Adoption

Last Updated March 4, 2021 2:33 PM
Ben Brown
Last Updated March 4, 2021 2:33 PM

By CCN.com: Square , the $32.7 billion mobile payment company founded by Twitter’s Jack Dorsey, is one step closer to launching its long-awaited crypto project. The company claimed last night that bitcoin mass adoption is “inevitable” and it is close to making its first hire.

Everything we know about Square Crypto so far

In March 2019, Square CEO Jack Dorsey announced his company would hire three or four developers and a designer to work on the open-source Bitcoin ecosystem.

Many Bitcoin developers are volunteers, but Dorsey wants to fund the growth of Bitcoin directly through Square Crypto.

Square already has a stake in the cryptocurrency world. Its Cash App allows users to buy and sell bitcoin, a feature that pulled in $65 million revenue for the company last year. Square is the first and only publicly traded company to support bitcoin purchases.

Square Crypto will focus on what’s best for the crypto community

Dorsey claims the Square Crypto initiative is not a commercial pursuit, but an attempt to give back to the bitcoin community. 

“Last week I was considering my hack week project, and asked @brockm: “what is the most impactful thing we could do for the bitcoin community?” His answer was simple: “pay people to make the broader crypto ecosystem better.” This resonated with me immediately, so we’re doing it.”

Dorsey began meeting with potential developers in April after ‘Crypto Twitter’ threw out suggestions. Among the candidates suggested were various Bitcoin Core developers and members of the BTCPayServer. Although the new recruits will report directly to Dorsey, he maintains that their purpose is to improve the bitcoin ecosystem, not make money for Square.

“These folks will focus entirely on what’s best for the crypto community and individual economic empowerment, not on Square’s commercial interests. All resulting work will be open and free.”

Lightning Network integration?

The bitcoin community has speculated that Square Crypto will work on integrating the Lightning Network, a second-layer protocol designed for instantaneous bitcoin payments.

Dorsey invested $2.5 million in Lightning Labs , a startup developing on the Lightning Network. He also took part in the Lightning Network “torch” experiment, passing a micro-amount of bitcoin to Lightning Labs co-founder Elizabeth Stark. 

Better design and user experience for bitcoin?

Exact details of the Square Crypto project have been closely guarded, but one common theme is accelerating design and UX. Dorsey will hire one full-time designer to focus on UX and the official Square Crypto Twitter account said that “mass adoption is impossible without great design.”

Dorsey himself said that design is an underfunded part of the crypto ecosystem, and crucial introducing people to the technology.

Dorsey going all-in on bitcoin?

In the last year, Dorsey has ramped up his engagement with bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. He appeared on the Joe Rogan podcast saying that he’s a huge fan of bitcoin.

“The internet deserves a native currency; it will have a native currency. I don’t know if it will be Bitcoin or not. Hope it will be.”

Since then he revealed he was maxing out the Cash App bitcoin buying limit, effectively spending $10,000 a week on cryptocurrency . As for Square Crypto, the project’s Twitter account has reminded everyone to dial down their expectations. Big things are coming, it says, but it will take time.