It’s early days for Square Crypto. The bitcoin-focused arm of Jack Dorsey’s payments company Square has been extremely mysterious about their role in the crypto ecosystem, but the team has begun to tip their hand. In a step toward greater transparency, Square Crypto, which has so far hired Google alum, Steve Lee, engaged with social media, offering a glimpse into what’s on the horizon.
Square Crypto: What We Know
Jack Dorsey’s crypto business has no plans to launch its own cryptocurrency. This according to the ask-me-anything session held today. Instead, they are hyper-focused on bitcoin where they are determined to catapult the No. 1 cryptocurrency into the mainstream.
We are very, very pro-Bitcoin. There is more than enough work for us to do there. That said, we are open to emerging use cases and technologies that complement Bitcoin. – Steve https://t.co/THLGHFM9KR
— Square Crypto (@sqcrypto) July 29, 2019
This seemingly means paving the way for payment processors, including those that are not its parent company Square, to build on Bitcoin. Lee stated:
“We are focused on open-source Bitcoin development. We do hope our work improves as many products and businesses as possible, including Square and its competitors.”
Even though Square and Square Crypto are both Jack Dorsey-led businesses, don’t ask Square Crypto about the chances of merchants that use Square for payments also supporting bitcoin. They say:
“You would have to ask Square.”
Steve Lee has the bigger picture in mind –
“We think it is really important to grow the number of organizations supporting core development. We will open-source our “operational playbook” (as we develop it) to help lower the barriers to entry for other companies.”
He will have his work cut out for him, considering the crypto business has yet to hire an “anchor dev.”
“First step is to build the team. We are aiming for one anchor dev with extensive Bitcoin development experience. Beyond that, we would like to grow the talent base contributing to the ecosystem.”
8 if you include the cats. 9 if you include the thing in the basement. – Steve https://t.co/P0cMWcrTku
— Square Crypto (@sqcrypto) July 29, 2019
As for ushering bitcoin into the mainstream, Steve Lee has users both inside and outside of crypto in mind.
We agree with the self-sovereignty principles of Bitcoin. That said, we see the needs of current and future users overlapping. We want to make Bitcoin better for all. – Steve https://t.co/5IobumTYfN
— Square Crypto (@sqcrypto) July 29, 2019
While the Steve Lee-led contributions to bitcoin may take time and may not be obvious to all, this project appears to be less about brand recognition for Square and more for the overall good of the crypto ecosystem.
Maybe this means that Square Crypto won’t be moving into its parent company’s new digs in downtown St. Louis, MO. Big Square has reportedly inked a 15-year lease for new headquarters that will give Dorsey the capacity to double the staff if he wants to.
Direct quotes are from Square Crypto’s AMA session on Twitter.