Block’s Jack Dorsey Endorses Bitcoin’s Primary Purpose: Payments

Jack Dorsey, chairman and co‑founder of Block, reaffirmed his support for what he considers bitcoin’s primary function: payments. On social media, he liked a post that describes bitcoin as electronic cash for completing peer‑to‑peer payments.

Jack Dorsey Endorses Original Bitcoin Vision: Electronic Cash for Payments

While some have embraced bitcoin as a financial asset, others still believe payments must remain at the center of bitcoin’s purpose. Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter and chairman of Block, belongs to the latter.

On social media, Dorsey has reinforced his view of the medium-of-exchange element as part of bitcoin’s ethos, an element that has been overlooked as the leading cryptocurrency has entered the mainstream finance world

Dorsey answered affirmatively to a post written by BitVM creator Robin Linus, which described bitcoin’s original view, reminding of the contents of its whitepaper. “The cypherpunk vision was clearly electronic cash for private, peer-to-peer payments. The ‘digital asset’ narrative came later from others. Strange that this is even controversial,” the post argued.

Dorsey’s opinion drew both support and criticism, with some arguing that bitcoin can’t become a payment instrument unless it is adopted as a store of value. Others noted that in its current state, bitcoin lacks the capacity to handle worldwide payments.

This is not the first time that Dorsey has released strong statements on the relevance of payments for bitcoin’s existence. In an April interview, Dorsey stated that unless payments become one of its primary adoption sources, bitcoin could fail by becoming irrelevant, serving just as another asset.

Dorsey announced the inclusion of bitcoin payments in Square, Block’s payment platform, via the Lightning Network since May, reinforcing the need to open payment avenues featuring bitcoin as an option. He also advocated for implementing Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) 177, renaming sats for bitcoin, and aiding retail adoption in the process.