Twitter made two noteworthy cryptocurrency decisions today. Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey personally donated $1 million to the blockchain think tank Coin Center, while Twitter CFO Ned Segal discussed the possibility of a corporate Bitcoin investment.
Dorsey Donates $1 Million
Coin Center executive director Jerry Brito revealed Dorsey’s $1 million donation on Twitter earlier today.
Thank you for your incredible work! 🧡
— jack (@jack) February 10, 2021
Brito noted that the donation helped the group to surpass its fundraising goals. When crypto investment giant Grayscale gave $1 million to the group last month, the firm also pledged to match a further $1 million in donations. Crypto exchange Kraken additionally donated $100,000, adding to its previous $3 million donation.
Coin Center’s work is regarded by many as vital to the future of the cryptocurrency ecosystem. The group advocates for fair U.S. government policy towards the crypto space. It has weighed in on matters such as stablecoin regulations and wallet tracking rules.
Dorsey’s donation to Coin Center should not be surprising, as he has historically been vocal about his support for Bitcoin. Most recently, he acknowledged Bitcoin as a “foundational internet technology that is not controlled or influenced by any single individual or entity.”
Twitter Could Donate Invest In Bitcoin
Elsewhere, Twitter CFO Ned Segal has suggested that his team has been following Bitcoin. During a CNBC interview, he discussed the possibility of paying employees and vendors in Bitcoin, as well as the possibility of adding Bitcoin to the Twitter balance sheet.
The social media giant will consider adding Bitcoin to its balance sheet based on demand. The “tipping point” would come if a significant number of people asked to transact with Twitter in Bitcoin, Segal suggested. That sort of demand would raise the question of whether Twitter should convert between dollars and Bitcoin during transactions, or merely hold Bitcoin on its balance sheet.
“It’s something we continue to study and look at,” Segal concluded at the end of the interview. “We want to be thoughtful about it over time, but we haven’t made any changes yet.”
Other Companies Have Bought Bitcoin
Other have firms set a precedent for Bitcoin investments. Tesla has just converted $1.5 billion, roughly 7.8% of its cash balance, to Bitcoin. Microstrategy Inc. also made an investment earlier this month, adding $10 million of BTC to its $1 billion balance.
Most relevant to Twitter though is Square, a payments company founded by Dorsey. Square has been particularly open in supporting Bitcoin. Square generated $1.6 billion from retail Bitcoin sales in Q3 2020; it also made a $50 million institutional investment last October.
Naturally, Square’s close connection to Twitter makes an investment from the latter company quite plausible.
At the time of writing the authors held BTC, ETH, and other altcoins.