Jack Dorsey, a well-known proponent of Bitcoin with a history of supporting its value at $26,434, has engaged in a heated dispute on Twitter with various experts in the crypto industry. This was sparked by his response of “yes” to a query regarding whether Ether, currently valued at $1,840, is considered a security.
The aforementioned statement drew the notice of Udi Wertheimer, a Taproot Wizards Bitcoin Ordinals developer, who, in a tweet on June 6, referred to Dorsey as a “clown.”
Dorsey, in turn, responded with a tweet asking Wertheimer to educate him on the matter by stating, “ETH is not a security? Teach me a wizard.” This led Wertheimer to share an old video, dating back five years, featuring Gary Gensler, the then-chair of the United States Securities Exchange Commission, where he stated that Ether was “sufficiently decentralized” and did not qualify as a security.
Gabor Gurbacs, a strategy adviser to Tether, a stablecoin issuer, and VanEck, an investment management firm, added his thoughts to the conversation by suggesting that the recent shift to proof-of-stake by Ethereum could have potentially reignited securities laws.
This online altercation occurred in the wake of the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filing lawsuits against cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and oinbase">Coinbase on June 5 and 6, accusing them of offering tokens that were deemed to be unregistered securities.
Dorsey also shared a tweet that seemingly expressed his endorsement of a screenshot of a post made by Brian Armstrong, the CEO of oinbase">Coinbase, back in 2015. In the post, Armstrong referred to altcoins as a “distraction” and suggested that oinbase">Coinbase should prioritize its focus on Bitcoin instead.
Dorsey persisted with his pro-Bitcoin tweets and went on to retweet a video featuring Jack Mallers, the CEO of Strike, a Bitcoin Lightning application. In the video, Mallers criticized Armstrong for opting to prioritize altcoins over investing in Bitcoin and the Lightning Network.
During Dorsey’s tenure as the CEO of Twitter in 2021, the company sold 140 nonfungible tokens (NFTs) based on the Ethereum blockchain. However, Dorsey declined to invest in Ether at that time. In August 2021, Dorsey also made remarks that belittled Ethereum’s progress by stating that it alone would not be capable of disrupting big tech.
In a recent development, Dorsey has provided funding and has become a proponent of Nostr, a decentralized network that aims to rival Twitter. The platform, called “Damus,” integrates Bitcoin Lightning-based payments.
