Twitter’s Jack Dorsey still sees Bitcoin as The Money of the Internet
September 26, 2020
For better or worse, 2020 is a year of many things. It is the first true and massive viral pandemic since the Spanish flu over one hundred years ago. The year so far is also a huge test to modern governance, both as a global entity and as individual states with their own political, economic, and social systems. It is a time of economic pressures, changing or disintegrating landscape of jobs, and insecurities for entire industries.
There are many more things that stem from the sheer pressures and changes that stem from the previous months, but among all of them are the cryptocurrencies as well. The crisis also thrust this domain, including its main representative, bitcoin, into the global limelight. These have been given a boost thanks to the practical elements of the pandemic – things like the US Federal Reserve’s fiscal stimulus and other measures around the globe have pumped in huge quantities of fiat currencies into the populations of these states.
Some of that abundant money went immediately into crypto, including the now-famous sum of 1,200 USD. Now, as the price continues to swing violently up and down, many are trying to figure out what this strong limelight means for the future of cryptocurrencies. In the mind of Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, the resolution of this process is still the same: bitcoin is on the road to becoming the money of the internet.
Summer Rebound
At the start of the pandemic, there was a massive crash of the traditional stock markets. The same crash took bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies with it, slashing BTC token price and plunging these digital currencies into negative territory. The traditional markets are still releasing, but the tech markets, including cryptocurrencies, took a different path. They rebounded quickly and climbed dramatically, only to come across a big hurdle between that price rise and a new full bull run.
This too follows the behavior of tech stocks, including things like Tesla Motors and other big technological powerhouses. Among these is also Twitter, the dominant microblogging platform which is run by its CEO Jack Dorsey. Twitter, like the connected sister company Square, is according to Dorsey at least, fully behind bitcoin as the best option for a native internet currency. Dorsey is not dismayed by the recent changes in the market capitalization or the price of individual tokens. Like previously, he is adamant that bitcoin has the basic technological backing which allows it to fulfill this specific role.
Consensus and Lineage
The two elements that are so important to the CEO of Twitter are consensus and bitcoin lineage. The consensus here means that the whole setup is consensus-driven. With it, no changes can be presented inside of the network without the agreement of the entire relevant user base. In cryptocurrency terminology, this is usually presented as full the centralization of the blockchain network which runs the bitcoin setup. The other element is bitcoins lineage, which means the history of its development and the present initiative for new features and functionalities. All of these are in a sense built by everyone.
There is no single entity that defines bitcoin development or that pushes forward any kind of. Just like consensus all of this is the job of the entire bitcoin community, mainly the miners, developers, and all others who run the network on a day-to-day basis. Both factors mimic the concept of the internet really well which also resides on these two factors. Even national initiatives that aimed to curb this universal equal playing field, like recent ones in the US, are coming across some serious resistance. Because of this Dorsey believes that bitcoin was both built by the internet and built for the internet.
Dorsey-backed Crypto Initiative
The CEO Twitter is not talking with when it comes to his support to the cryptocurrency and blockchain communities. He is a very-well known donor to different kinds of projects which aim to distribute and provide cryptocurrency to many struggling regions in the world. Recently, he and Square sent out an invitation to other cryptocurrency companies to join their alliance. Its aim is to create a pool of shared resources like individual patents, but also to preserve the open-source spirit of the entire movement as well as the industry that grew around it.
It is called COPA, which stands for Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance. Dorsey is underlined that COPA is a different entity from his company Square. It has an independent board of directors that should negate any potential conflict of interest and also protect that essential open-source mindset and development approach. There is little doubt that there are numerous companies of all sizes who would like to join this type of setup especially when they know that there is no risk of being taken over by a major corporate entity.
Demands of the internet
Dorsey is missing most of his approach to a very simple idea which states that the internet wants its own native currency. So far blockchain provides the best potential to make something like that, especially concepts like decentralization and consensus-driven development. However, despite his reassurances that COPS will be free of any influence from him, Twitter or Square, there are likely many who are skeptical about that.
After all, no matter how much Dorsey and his company tried to distance themselves from direct competition like that of Facebook, millions of users still tend to perceive them as very similar corporate businesses. 2020 again showcased examples where Twitter failed to do the right thing and instead moved to a position where it simply protects its investments. The more cynical would notice that the same is an approach that underlines any of the novel and modern industries including esports, app development, and so forth.
Ultimately, for them, Dorsey is a man who must think of the bottom line of his companies through thick or thin. But, even if there is that worry, a cautious startup or development business can still utilize its COPA membership and avoid risking any kind of corporate entanglement. Also, no matter what his flaws and ultimate goals might be, cryptocurrency is helped immensely by having Jack Dorsey on its side.