Jack Dorsey Outlines Bitcoin’s Priorities for Becoming a Mainstream Currency

Jack Dorsey is a huge supporter of Bitcoin. The billionaire, who founded popular social networking site Twitter and top payment processor Square, maintains his belief in Bitcoin’s potential to become the world’s first “true” internet currency. 

Still the Frontrunner Internet Currency

Yesterday, Dorsey appeared in an interview with Reuters. In the interview, Dorsey explained that Bitcoin’s potential for being a native internet currency is superior to its competitors. 

“I think the internet warrants a native currency and Bitcoin is probably the best manifestation of that thus far. I can’t see that changing given all the people who want the same thing and build it for that potential,” he pointed out.

As he explained, Bitcoin’s founding principles are reminiscent of what the internet’s creators also had in mind for it. Principles like decentralization and consensus, he said, make Bitcoin the perfect internet currency.

Accessibility and Efficiency Issues

Despite his belief, however, Dorsey also explained that Bitcoin needs more work to go mainstream. The tech mogul explained that Bitcoin needs to be both cost and time-effective, highlighting that the asset needs to be cheaper and complete transactions faster. His arguments have some backing, with data from BitInfoCharts showing that an average Bitcoin transaction can cost up to $2.5. 

Statista also showed last month that it takes 9.4 minutes to complete a Bitcoin transaction on average. Along with speed and affordability, Dorsey advocated that Bitcoin be more intuitive to people. He pointed out that people will need to be comfortable with and understand the asset to use it. By becoming more like fiat currency, the asset can improve its adoption significantly.

This isn’t the first time that Dorsey would tout Bitcoin as the native currency for the internet. Last year, he was asked during a Twitter News Summit in New York what he felt about new digital assets — especially Libra, the crypto project launched by Twitter’s top rival, Facebook.

Dorsey emphatically explained that his company would have nothing to do with Libra, adding that the asset wasn’t consistent with the internet’s beliefs. “It was born out of a company’s intention, and it’s not consistent with what I personally believe, and what I want our company to stand for,” he said, adding that he believed Bitcoin was in a better position to fill the void of the “native internet currency.”

Dorsey has also been a vocal critic of Bitcoin on similar points to what he raised yesterday. Speaking to the Australian Financial Review last September, he pointed out that Bitcoin isn’t “functional” as a currency.

As with Reuters, he pointed out that Bitcoin’s most significant flaw is that it still isn’t usable and accessible to most people. While developments like the lightning Network and others can help significantly improve both cost and time-efficiency, the issue of Bitcoin’s accessibility might be its most significant hurdle.