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Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey attended “The B Word,” a virtual Bitcoin conference that took place online today.
Bitcoin Is the Native Currency of the Internet
Dorsey began by saying that he sees Bitcoin as having the potential to become the native currency of the Internet.
“If the Internet gets a native currency, what would that be? To me, it is Bitcoin because of [its] principles,” Dorsey said. The principles highlighted in the conference include the open nature of Bitcoin and its independence from traditional banking systems.
Later, Dorsey added: “That is what I want to see…a currency that is standard and sound for the internet that anyone can use.”
“What inspires me most is the community driving Bitcoin, [which] reminds me of the early internet,” Dorsey said. He also called the community “deeply principled, weird as hell, and always evolving.”
Dorsey has made similar comments before, calling Bitcoin the native currency of the internet several times in the past.
Square Is Committed to Open Source
Dorsey went on to discuss his payments company, Square, which is developing solutions for the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Though Square holds $255 million of Bitcoin and handles Bitcoin transactions on behalf of its users, Dorsey emphasized that the financial value of Bitcoin is only part of Square’s focus.
He stated that he is skeptical of corporations and wanted Square work with Bitcoin without disrupting the community. With this in mind, Square hired open-source developers to work on their projects of choice. Square also formed COPA and open-sourced its patents in an attempt to protect community developers from patent trolling.
Dorsey also mentioned Square’s upcoming hardware wallet, which unlike its main app will not maintain custody over user funds. “Everything we do in this space is going to be open source,” he said.
“As institutions and corporations like ours consider getting in this space, contribution back to the community is important,” Dorsey said. “We can’t just see this as an asset … and an investment vehicle. This is something that has the potential to change everything.”
Will Twitter Use Cryptocurrency?
Dorsey also responded to the possibility of allowing Twitter advertisers to pay in Bitcoin. He said that “any form of payment that [clients] want to use, we should be able to take.”
However, Dorsey also said he is more focused on creating “economic incentives within the network itself” as opposed to advertising. That statement implies that user content could create value sent via cryptocurrency transactions, though Dorsey did not say so explicitly.
Dorsey commented that today’s advertising and online business models would be entirely different if Bitcoin had existed before YouTube, Twitter, and Facebook came into existence.
He also mentioned Twitter’s social media decentralization protocol BlueSky, but said little beyond the fact that it is in its early stages.
Dorsey Wants to See World Peace
Dorsey concluded by stating that he hopes Bitcoin creates world peace, noting that the issues and inequalities in current financial systems distract and prevent people from solving larger issues.
“It may sound ridiculous, but if you fix that foundational level, everything above it improves,” Dorsey said.
Disclaimer: At the time of writing this author held less than $75 of Bitcoin, Ethereum, and altcoins.