From Square to Twitter to Bitcoin to NFTs: Jack Dorsey’s Grand Vision Explained
Jack Dorsey’s Genuine Relationship with Bitcoin
Jack Dorsey’s Genuine Relationship with Bitcoin
Jack Dorsey is undoubtedly one of the greatest entrepreneurs of our time. We first got to know him as the founder of Twitter. Since then, he has ventured far and beyond from that.
He founded Square, fell in love with Bitcoin, and recently acquired Tidal, a streaming service.
With such a wide variety of businesses, have you ever wondered, is there a common thread to his ventures?
It turns out he does have an overarching vision with his venture, and I believe that is a strong reason why he is one of the most outstanding entrepreneurs of our time.
Vision: No One Should Be Left Out
Square’s first product was a mobile credit card reader that attaches to mobile devices through a headphone jack. It was an elegant integrated hardware-software solution that gave unregistered merchants the ability to accept credit card payments.
The dongle itself had excellent traction, and the company quickly reached a $3.25 billion valuation. Jack Dorsey could have stopped with the dongle and be content with the mild success. However, fast forward over eight years, Square now has the most talented employees working and building a myriad of products and services. Now Square is valued at over $107bn.
One of the reasons behind this continuous innovation was Jack Dorsey’s vision:
No one should be left out of the economy because the cost is too great or the technology too complex — Square Mission
In other words, everyone should be included with easy tools. With a clear overarching vision, Jack knew from the beginning that the reader is not enough to accomplish their mission.
A general trajectory of Square’s services reaffirms that they are aligned with its vision. Yes, even Bitcoin and their acquisition of Tidal. Square Suite supports SMBs as a whole with business intelligence dashboards, loans, loyalty programs, etc. Cash App allows consumers to spend and send, receive, invest, and store money quite easily. The purchase and acceptance of Bitcoin will allow for a similar ecosystem across borders. And the acquisition of Tidal will enable artists to get fairly compensated with NFTs.
The continuous strive to achieve the mission attracts and motivates engineers who align with the vision. It also keeps investors excited for what is to come next.
Genuine Relationship with Bitcoin
Currently, Jack believes Bitcoin is the most effective tool for him to achieve his vision, and he is allocating much of his resources and time to the cryptocurrency. His love for Bitcoin is genuine, unlike another tech entrepreneur who keeps changing his view (Elon Musk).
“[Regarding Bitcoin] I don’t think there is anything more important in my lifetime to work on and I don’t think there is anything more enabling for people around the world.” — Jack Dorsey
Jack’s involvement with Bitcoin has been long, and it is clear that he doesn’t just see it as an investment opportunity. He is doing everything to accelerate innovation and accessibility in the cryptocurrency.
2017/11 Allowing users to purchase Bitcoin on CashApp
2018/08 Square files for a patent for POS crypto payments
2019/07 Allowing users to deposit Bitcoin on CashApp
2020/01 Square wins patent for fiat-to-crypto payments
2020/09 Launches Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA), a non-profit focused on stopping patent hoarding
2020/10 Purchases $50m worth of Bitcoin
2021/06 Investing in building a bitcoin mine that runs on solar power
“Just that realization that we finally have a currency that can be traded to any single point on the planet is pretty incredible, and what that enables going forward is mind-blowing. And I’m going to do everything in my power to make sure that happens.” — Jack Dorsey
He fully utilizes the platforms he has built — Twitter and Square to utilize Bitcoin’s potential fully. I believe this is what differentiates Square from other payment platforms like Visa and Paypal.
On Twitter, there is a strong relationship between fans and creators. Twitter encourages communication, Square facilitates payments, and Bitcoin is the engine. Anyone on the planet can earn a fair amount of money for their art through NFTs.
I understand the qualms about Jack, especially with his erratic behavior at times and censoring people on his platform. However, his vision and actions are both admirable and inspirational.
What started as a simple dongle (Square Reader) is now an entire ecosystem connecting and enabling people worldwide. It will be exciting to see what else he has under his sleeves.