Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey says he has no plans to launch a cryptocurrency that’s similar to Facebook’s Libra. The longtime crypto supporter tells the Sydney Morning Herald that Bitcoin is the best suited digital asset for the internet.
Says Dorsey,
“I think open internet standards serve every person better than ones controlled or started by companies.”
The tech billionaire, whose social network Twitter and digital payments platform Square are worth $35.11 billion and $26.48 billion, respectively, arrived in Melbourne, Australia on September 3 to promote the latter, which sells Bitcoin through its CashApp.
“I think [Bitcoin’s] the best bet because it’s been the most resilient. It’s around for 10 years, it has a great brand and it’s been tested a bunch.
As I look at all cryptocurrencies that could fill that role of being the native currency for the internet, [Bitcoin has] a pretty high probability.”
Dorsey and his team were in Melbourne to unveil Square Terminal, an all-in-one card processing device, selecting the city because of Australia’s tech advancements and willingness to expand the digital economy.
Reports the Sydney Morning Herald,
“Australia’s uptake of cashless payments also factored in the company’s decision to roll out new tech locally, with Mr Dorsey saying Australia fared ‘much better’ than the US when it came to digital payments.”
Dorsey also believes that his digital-based Square, which generated $2 million in profits on $125 in revenue from customers’ Bitcoin transactions in the second quarter of this year, will have a distinct advantage over other, more traditional companies as geo-political tensions and economic dramas play out.
“Mr Dorsey said Square’s positioning in the software and payments space meant it could ‘weather storms’ including recessions and the US-China trade war, though he noted other companies may not be so lucky.”
Square Terminal is designed to beat the big Australian banks by eliminating setup, service and account fees. Dorsey plans to position the new payments device in everyday shops and cafes, delivering the biggest impact for consumers.
“In 2016 we started helping the smallest Australian businesses accept card payments easily with our original Square card reader, and we didn’t stop there.”
“We’re growing with our sellers, introducing new hardware that is still easy to access and quick to set up, but is also designed specifically to give bigger and more complex businesses better options when it comes to choosing a payments platform.”
Speaking to the Australian Financial Review, Dorsey, who supports the Lightning Network, a crypto scaling solution that will make small casual purchases feasible, says he expects Bitcoin to gain widespread adoption after more work is done.
“It’s not functional as a currency. The peaks and troughs are like an investment asset and are equivalent to gold. What we need to do is make it more usable and accessible as a currency, but it’s not there yet.”
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