Twitter CEO: Bitcoin will be a “big part” of Twitter’s future

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey confirmed to investors that Bitcoin will be a “big part” of Twitter’s future as he sees opportunities to integrate the cryptocurrency into existing Twitter products and services, including commerce, subscriptions and other new additions like the Twitter Tip Jar and Super Follows.

Dorsey has been a staunch advocate for Bitcoin for years but has yet to detail how he would put his message into practice on the Twitter platform. However, he has often publicly touted the cryptocurrency, saying it reminds him of the “early days of the internet” and that there is “nothing more important” for him to work on in his lifetime.

Dorsey recently launched a $23.6 million Bitcoin fund with Jay Z and announced plans to take his other company, Square, into the decentralized financial services market through Bitcoin. Square also acquired a majority stake in Jay-Z’s TIDAL music service this year, looking at how blockchain technology and cryptocurrency can change the music business.

Today, Dorsey also named Bitcoin as one of the three main trends for Twitter’s future, along with artificial intelligence and decentralization — the latter of which Twitter is pursuing through its “Bluesky” initiative.

He touted Bitcoin to investors on Twitter’s second-quarter earnings call, saying it could help the company move faster on product expansion while explaining that Bitcoin is the “best candidate” to become the “native currency” of the internet. (By the way, the $50 million in Bitcoin Square bought in 2020 was worth $253 million as of February 2021, and another $170 million was purchased earlier this year.)

He explained:

“If the internet had a native currency, a global currency, we would be able to grow at a much faster pace with products like Super Follows, commerce, subscriptions, the Tip Jar, so we could reach every person on the planet rather than taking a market-by-market approach. I think that’s a big part of our future. I think there’s a lot of innovation beyond currency, especially as we think about decentralizing social media more and providing more economic incentives. So I think it’s really important for Twitter and Twitter shareholders that we continue to watch this space and invest actively.”

A Twitter spokesperson confirmed that this is the first time Dorsey has spoken publicly about how Twitter is integrating Bitcoin into its product lineup.

Dorsey also noted that Twitter is not alone in pursuing its cryptocurrency strategy, pointing to the Facebook-backed digital currency Diem.

“There’s clearly a demand for this, and I appreciate that. And I think open standards that are native to the internet are the right path, and that’s why my focus and our focus will ultimately be on Bitcoin.”

Overall, Twitter delivered strong earnings during the pandemic rebound, and according to CNBC, the company achieved its fastest revenue growth since 2014, which pushed Twitter shares up 9% in after-hours trading. The company had second-quarter revenue of $1.19 billion, compared to Wall Street expectations of $1.07 billion, with the majority of revenue ($1.05 billion) coming from its advertising business. It also saw earnings per share of 20 cents, compared to expectations of 7 cents.

However, monetizable daily active users (mDAUs) — a metric Twitter invented to boost its typically flat monthly user growth — were 206 million, up 11% year-over-year, compared with analysts’ expectations of 206.2 million. The company attributed the decline to a slower news cycle and the end of lockdowns in many U.S. communities, which may have impacted Twitter usage during the quarter.