Twitter CEO In Love With Bitcoin: Grassroots Lightning Network App Lauded

While Jack Dorsey, the chief executive of Twitter and Square, only overtly pledged his allegiance to Bitcoin in early-2018, he has rapidly become a fabled character in the crypto community. Some may saw the Silicon Valley mainstay is clamoring for attention, but it has quickly become apparent that he truly is enamored with this space.

Twitter/Square CEO Enamored With Lightning Network

For the seemingly umpteenth time in weeks, Dorsey has surprised the cryptocurrency space. This time, the Bitcoin fanatic tweeted out the announcement of Tippin, a “game-changer application” that allows social media users on Twitter to get BTC tips for their quips. Alongside the posted link was a simple, yet strong message: “This is excellent.”

This sudden message of approval comes just weeks after the American entrepreneur noted that he “loves the idea,” in response to a tweet that outlined an idealistic system where people can tip BTC for tweets.

This is excellent ⁦@tippin_me⁩ ⚡️ https://t.co/FifrgwBOTp

— jack (@jack) February 20, 2019

According to the link that Dorsey broadcasted to his following of millions, Tippin is a Chrome and Firefox browser extension that allows for simple and effective Twitter tipping, giving content creators and personalities the ability to monetize their content further.

Tippin isn’t the only innovative so-called Lightning Network App (LApp) that has launched in recent memory. Launched by crypto services provider Fold last week, Lightning Pizza allows American clients to purchase Domino’s Pizza with minimal fees, urgency, and security. Fold intends to offer a similar product for Starbucks, Dunkin Donuts, among other retail outlets in the near future.

Dorsey & Lightning: An Ongoing Saga

While this ‘straight out of left field’ tweet is great news in and of itself, it’s only the Twitter chief’s latest optimistic comment regarding Lightning.

Just two weeks ago, Matt Odell, a prominent programmer that has centered his efforts around Bitcoin, surprisingly asked Jack Dorsey if he wanted to accept a Lightning Network transaction for the public to see.  After a day of deliberation, Dorsey agreed, quickly pasting a Lightning Network invoice in response to Odell’s sudden inquiry. Just like that, lightning struck, and Dorsey was sent 2.86 million satoshis (0.0286 BTC) for near-negligible fees and within seconds. Minutes after Odell issued a transaction, Dorsey, took to his personal Twitter page, the first-ever account issued (understandably so), to tout the merits of the scaling solution.

Cool example of #BitcoinTwitter experimenting on the Lightning Network.

🔥
⚡️Torch received, now passing along to @starkness! #LNtrustchain https://t.co/YVMAv62fCN

— jack (@jack) February 5, 2019

Days after his public display of affection for Lightning, Dorsey took to Stephen Livera‘s Bitcoin-centric podcast alongside Elizabeth Stark, the chief executive of Lightning Labs, to talk about his thoughts on cryptocurrencies. After discussing his broader thought on the space, the Silicon Valley guru surprisingly divulged that Square’s integration of the scaling protocol is a matter of “when,” not “if.” Speaking on the rationale of eventually making such a move, Dorsey explained that his firm’s raison d’etre is to serve customers best, with Lightning only accentuating this goal.

He added that Square sees Bitcoin’s underlying nature as a currency, rather than solely a speculative asset. And as it stands, the widespread adoption of the Lightning Network is the most promising means to get to that end.

Some have argued that Square fully integrating Lightning would be a game-changer, and could potentially spark brick & mortar adoption the world over. Alec Ziupsnys, better known as RhythmTrader on Twitter, remarked that from his point of view, whatever the form Dorsey’s planned offering takes, it will be bigger than a Bitcoin ETF and the Wall Street-backed Bakkt combined.

Bitcoin To Become The Internet’s Native Currency

Dorsey’s recent crusade for the development and adoption of the Lightning Network comes just weeks after he took to the “Joe Rogan Experience,” a world-renowned podcast, to laud Bitcoin’s merits, premise, and raison d’etre.

The long-standing social media giant simply noted that the “Internet will have a [single] native currency,” subsequently adding that it is most likely going to be Bitcoin. Dorsey explained that the cryptocurrency is the most battle-tested, and has the strongest principles and value propositions. Elaborating on his thought process, he stated:

“It is something that was born on the internet, that was developed on the internet, that was tested on the internet. It is of the internet. The reason why we enabled the purchasing of Bitcoin in the Cash App is that we wanted to learn about the technology, and put ourselves out there and take some risks.”

Photo by Con Karampelas on Unsplash