Bitcoin Alternatives Aren’t Interesting To Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey

During the recent hysteria around Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey’s acceptance of the “lightning torch” on Twitter, many cryptocurrency enthusiasts couldn’t help but notice that Dorsey is not very interested in altcoins. The Twitter CEO sent out a few disparaging tweets in terms of some of Bitcoin’s alternatives (especially Bitcoin Cash) around the time he accepted the torch.

What if @jack is actually talking about Bitcoin Cash

— Meat (@MeatTC_) February 6, 2019

During a recording of the Stephan Livera podcast over the weekend, Dorsey was asked to clarify his position on altcoins and explain why he stays focused on Bitcoin.

Bitcoin Has a Strong Brand

Before being asked about his focus on Bitcoin, Dorsey initially pointed out that Bitcoin benefits from relatively strong brand recognition.

“The brand of Bitcoin is just really spectacular,” said Dorsey.

The Twitter CEO added that the Bitcoin brand has become stronger in the face of troubling events such as an initial association to Silk Road and the drama around the block size controversy. In Dorsey’s view, Bitcoin is a household name at this point — even if people may not completely understand everything about it.

Why Dorsey is Focused on Bitcoin

Bitcoin’s strong brand is part of the reason Dorsey does not spend too much time on altcoins.

“Most of it is just due to the principles that created it, the community around it, the ideals that it fosters, [and] the brand. But there’s an element of practicality to it as well,” said Dorsey when asked about his focus on Bitcoin.

In terms of the practical reasons for focusing on Bitcoin, Dorsey noted that it’s simply easier to focus Square’s resources and attention solely on the world’s oldest and most popular cryptocurrency project.

That is not to say Dorsey hasn’t seen some interesting projects outside of Bitcoin in the blockchain space.

“I think there’s interesting ideas elsewhere, but I think those ideas can be integrated into Bitcoin if they have the merit that is above some bar,” said Dorsey.

In his final comments on this point, Dorsey pointed out that Bitcoin has spawned a lot of new ideas, but he’s focused on the currency aspect of the technology for now.

“[Bitcoin] feels like it’s the one that wants to be currency the most versus others that are doing more general-purpose things or distributed computing and what not,” said Dorsey.