Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Twitter, has announced that he plans to hire a handful of developers to build new tools based on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. On Thursday, Dorsey indicated that he is looking for engineers and a designer, who will be paid to build projects in the crypto ecosystem.
#BitcoinTwitter and #CryptoTwitter! Square is hiring 3-4 crypto engineers and 1 designer to work full-time on open source contributions to the bitcoin/crypto ecosystem. Work from anywhere, report directly to me, and we can even pay you in bitcoin! Introducing @SqCrypto. Why?
— jack (@jack) March 20, 2019
Square, Not Twitter
There is a catch: the new crypto developers won’t be employed by Twitter, and the social network shows no sign that it will move into crypto. Instead, Dorsey plans to hire crypto developers through his other company, Square. Square produces a mobile payment app, and that app already supports Bitcoin in a major way.
This means that developers will be working on crypto projects that are separate from Square’s own interests. The resulting products will be open-source and will be freely available. Dorsey notes that Square has borrowed plenty of technology from the open-source community, and he explains that this is a way of giving back.
Dorsey also emphasizes that design will play an important role. He argues that design is a vital part of appealing to users and that it is underfunded in the crypto world. Dorsey’s passion for design is well-known, so this decision could elevate Square’s upcoming crypto projects above the rest.
Dorsey and Bitcoin
Dorsey has become recognized as a Bitcoin advocate since he appeared as a podcast guest on the Joe Rogan Experience earlier this year. Since then, he has also endorsed the Lightning Network, a Bitcoin payment protocol, by participating in the Lightning Torch campaign and by purchasing a Casa node.
To many, the new hiring campaign is a natural extension of Dorsey’s enthusiasm for crypto. However, critics argue that the announcement is mainly meant to help Dorsey build his own image. They note that four or five employees will not have very much influence. Nevertheless, Dorsey insists that small groups can accomplish big things.
Crypto and Twitter
Although Square’s new hiring initiative keeps its distance from Twitter, the question must be asked: will Twitter make use of the resulting products? Given that other social media companies, such as Facebook, are moving into crypto, it is conceivable that Twitter will eventually decide to join in as well.
Dorsey hasn’t made any comments suggesting this will happen. However, Dorsey has also indicated that he is interested in investing in other crypto companies as well, meaning that this hiring campaign may just be the first of Dorsey’s pro-crypto efforts. What this means for Twitter, only time will tell.
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