Former Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who recently left the social media giant he co-founded, has thrown his support behind bitcoin, saying that it could eventually replace the U.S dollar.
On Monday evening, Jack took to the social media platform to express his intense optimism about Bitcoin’s future against the US dollar in response to a question from rapper Cardi B who is curious about the future of cryptocurrency.
Cardi B asked Jack Dorsey on Twitter— “do you think crypto is going to replace the dollar?”— He replied: “Yes, bitcoin will.”
Jack is a long-time enthusiast of bitcoin and crypto technology, and his exuberance for cryptocurrency has sparked a firestorm of criticism and support over his Monday tweet.
Earlier this year at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in Miami Jack buttressed a notion that the crypto “changes everything” for him.
“And I don’t think there’s anything more important in my life to work on, and I don’t think there’s anything more enabling for people around the world,” he says.
In August, Jack also tweeted that “bitcoin will unite a deeply divided country,” and “eventually [the] world.”
In a similar tweet, Jack expressed his dissatisfaction with so-called Web3 technology and venture capital firms like Andreessen Horowitz’s involvement.
More than 16,000 people liked the tweet, and it was retweeted thousands of times. Many others responded with phrases like “strongly disagree” and “dead wrong,” while others expressed support.
Web3, a nebulous phrase for blockchain-based, decentralized systems and technology that are designed to replace Web 2.0, which is the internet today as we know it, has gotten a lot of attention and financing this year, with Andreessen Horowitz among its most vocal supporters.
“You don’t own ‘web3’,” tweeted Dorsey. “The VCs and their LPs do. It will never escape their incentives. It’s ultimately a centralized entity with a different label.”
Jack (@jack) December 21, 2021
The most visible manifestation has been the trading of non-fungible tokens, or NFTs, on the Ethereum and Solana blockchains, as well as the concept of Metaverse, which led to Mark Zuckerberg renaming Facebook to Meta.
Many companies are now investing in the development of Virtual Reality, Augmented Reality, decentralized apps, and games to support the development of Web3 in readiness— to oust Web 2.0.
“Just like NFTs, Web3, and metaverse platforms are the next natural progression in how we interact, relate, and communicate with each other.”
Meta chief executive Mark Zuckerberg said in an interview last month.
Elon Musk, the CEO of Tesla Inc., joined the conversation by asking if anyone had seen Web3, to which Dorsey replied, “it’s somewhere between a and z,” implying that it’s under the ownership of a16z, the venture capital firm founded by Marc Andreessen and Ben Horowitz.
The former Twitter CEO’s string of tweets and comments on Monday sparked controversy and dissent on the platform, with a16z General Partner Chris Dixon reaching out and saying he is “a huge fan” of Dorsey and “hopes we can eventually win him around to ETH and other blockchains.”
I believe in you and your ability to understand systems. It’s critical we focus our energy on truly secure and resilient technologies owned by the mass of people, not individuals or institutions. Only that foundation will provide for the applications you allude to.
Jack (@jack) December 21, 2021
Block (previously Square), where Dorsey remains CEO, has made significant Bitcoin investments. According to an article published in Bitcoin Magazine in October, the company controlled almost 8,027 Bitcoins.
Many people believe that Jack Dorsey stood down as Twitter’s CEO to focus on his Payments startup, Block, which was previously known as Square and Cash App but has since been renamed in an attempt to focus on the development of Bitcoin.