Jack Dorsey Warns Bitcoin (BTC) Could Lose Its Open Ethos as Institutional Investment Grows

In a “21 and 21” rapid-fire interview with Haley Berkoe at San Francisco's Presidio Bitcoin workspace, Jack Dorsey—CEO of Block and former Twitter chief—cautioned that BTC's growing popularity among major financial institutions could threaten the open ethos that gave rise to the world's largest cryptocurrency.

Jack Dorsey, former CEO of Twitter and current head of Block (NYSE:SQ), sees the growing involvement of major financial institutions in Bitcoin (BTC) as a factor that could diminish the cryptocurrency’s open ethos, even though he acknowledges the inevitability of such participation.

Dorsey expressed his view on the matter during a “21 and 21” rapid-fire interview with Haley Berkoe at Presidio Bitcoin in San Francisco.

Dorsey, a noted Bitcoin advocate, discussed his early interest in “the old cypherpunks” and the projects Block is undertaking to strengthen the core infrastructure, including an “open source mining rig and chipset,” Bitkey for self-custodial wallets, and Block’s integration of BTC into Cash App.

One of Dorsey’s main concerns is that Bitcoin could become sidelined if it focuses too narrowly on serving as a store of value.

“I think it fails through irreverence—like it just fails to be relevant to people on a daily basis,” Dorsey remarked. According to him, ensuring widespread use for payments is key to making BTC indispensable.

“If it just ends up being store of value and nothing more, I don’t think it gains relevance at all. I think it has to be payments for it to be relevant on the everyday,” Dorsey said, adding that otherwise Bitcoin risks “just not showing up in people’s lives” and slipping into obscurity.

Dorsey also noted that while he believes focusing solely on the Lightning Network is a mistake, he feels it’s one people keep making.

“I think we can do better than Lightning,” he said, clarifying that while Lightning “isn’t bad,” it’s merely one option. “I don’t think we just want to settle with having one Layer 2,” he explained, emphasizing that Bitcoin benefits most from experimentation in payments and other applications.

Dorsey consistently returned to the importance of open-source development, urging companies to fund Bitcoin Core and other community-driven projects without exerting control.

“Having some sort of granting ability to open-source developers is important,” he said, praising initiatives such as Spiral—a BTC-focused division of Block—along with independent grant programs like Brink and OpenSats.

Dorsey also mentioned the emerging role of artificial intelligence and its interplay with BTC, envisioning a future where agents could seamlessly transact on behalf of users.

“It’s all about who you’re asking permission from,” Dorsey said. “Development goes faster if you have to ask for less permission.”

The setting for the interview, Presidio Bitcoin, underscores Dorsey’s belief in bringing real-world communities together to foster deeper engagement.

“I think this is great because it is a bridge between Silicon Valley and all the energy down there, and Bitcoin,” Dorsey noted, highlighting the need for physical spaces where ideas can germinate into tangible projects.

From building more accessible wallets to reinforcing the permissionless nature of Bitcoin, Dorsey sees plenty of work ahead. When asked what single thought he would leave with newcomers, he insisted that nobody should rely on one person’s word—his included—before diving into the space.

“Don’t listen to anyone’s single thought about Bitcoin,” he said. “What makes Bitcoin special is it’s permissionless. You don’t need anyone’s permission to build what you want to see.”

At press time, BTC traded at $83,523.