The CEO of both Twitter and payments firm Square is one of the world’s most prominent Bitcoin believers and backers, and Jack Dorsey keeps upping the ante on his professed devotion to the leading cryptocurrency.
On Wednesday, Dorsey—whose Twitter profile simply reads “#bitcoin”—appeared in a panel discussion as part of The B Word, a streaming event and resource for institutions considering entering the world of Bitcoin. Dorsey co-founded the event, and spoke on the panel alongside Tesla and SpaceX CEO Elon Musk and ARK Invest founder, CEO, and CIO Cathie Wood.
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Some crypto enthusiasts expected fireworks and a vigorous debate. The terminally online Musk was recently branded an enemy of the Bitcoin community when Tesla announced in May that it would stop accepting Bitcoin payments, due to the environmental impact of cryptocurrency mining. His persistent social media prodding and formation of the divisive Bitcoin Mining Council didn’t help matters. Dorsey, on the other hand, is a major Bitcoin promoter; amid the debate over Bitcoin’s energy use, Square published a report called “Bitcoin is Key to an Abundant, Clean Energy Future.”
But there was little conflict to be found within the hour-long conversation. A sometimes-rambling Musk explained and reinforced his stance that the mining community needs to embrace renewable energy, and suggested that the shift is trending in the right direction—particularly with some mining operations shuttering amidst China’s Bitcoin crackdown. Tesla will “most likely” resume transacting Bitcoin at some point if that continues, he said. Often, Musk seemed most interested in convincing Bitcoin fans that he’s still on their side.
“If the price of Bitcoin goes down, I lose money. I might pump, but I don’t dump,” said Musk. “I would like to see Bitcoin succeed.”
Instead, for those who weren’t already aware of it, Dorsey’s increasing dedication to Bitcoin was the most striking part of the conversation. Sporting a tie-dye shirt and a robust beard, Dorsey—who has an estimated net worth north of $14 billion—said that he got into Bitcoin because the community is “deeply principled, it’s weird as hell, it’s always evolving, and it reminded me of the internet when I was a kid.”
Asked how Bitcoin can impact the world, Dorsey responded, “My hope is that it creates world peace or helps create world peace.” He explained that the current monetary system comes with ample “cost and distraction,” and that it “takes away attention from the bigger problems” in the world. Dorsey believes that Bitcoin, which runs on a decentralized network free of corporate or government oversight, could address financial inequalities and challenges.
“It may sound a little bit ridiculous, but you fix that foundational level and everything else above it improves in such a dramatic way,” Dorsey added. “It’s going to be long-term, but my hope is definitely peace.”
Dorsey’s latest comments follow an appearance at June’s Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami, where he said he “would leave for Bitcoin” if the community needed him, and stated about Bitcoin, “I don’t think there’s anything more important in my lifetime to work on.” In February, Dorsey and rapper/entrepreneur Jay Z established a 500 Bitcoin trust (about $16 million USD today) to help spread Bitcoin development in Africa and India. Square also recently announced that it’s developing a hardware wallet for cryptocurrencies.
The only moment of even mild tension during the discussion came when Musk pressed Dorsey on whether Twitter would accept Bitcoin as payment from advertisers, given all of his lofty talk; he demurred.
