The contradicting opinions surrounding Twitter’s Jack Dorsey

Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has been causing a bit of a stir recently and getting many Bitcoiners rather excited.

Firstly, he appeared on Joe Rogan’s podcast suggesting that Bitcoin will become the internet’s native currency. Then he went on to receive and pass on the Lightning torch currently doing the rounds on Twitter. Lastly, just yesterday, he highlighted a new piece of software that allows people to tip using satoshis through the Lightning Network, as reported by Coin Rivet.

Jack certainly has been busy. It is understandable why so many Bitcoiners are getting excited by Jack. Here is the CEO of one of the largest social media platforms in the world highlighting and portraying Bitcoin in a good light. Jack has an audience that most Bitcoiners could only ever dream of.

There are two issues that are present, though.

Jack Dorsey is obviously very interested in the Lightning Network. Fair enough, the technology is certainly interesting. But for Jack, the interest goes further as he was an early seed investor in the technology. Therefore, there is more than just a passing interest in the technology, there is a financial motive to see it succeed. Elon Musk recently announced his minimal Bitcoin holdings, but Jack himself has never disclosed how much he actually owns.

The other question raised by the idolising of Jack comes from the vast amount of criticism he has received from exactly the same people over Twitter censorship. Censorship is an extremely tricky issue, particularly as social media receives plenty of criticism for the way it has affected public discourse.

For Bitcoiners, censorship is almost blasphemous. They generally tend to get particularly irate as it is the right-wing, racist conspiracy theorists that are the first to be banned.

Jack has received plenty of criticism for this. But now, as he pushes forward with Lightning, he is the darling of the cryptocurrency industry once more (apart from the BCH and BSV crowd). Whether this will continue as Twitter continues to censor accounts is unlikely. The Bitcoin crowd can be a fickle bunch at times.