Jack Dorsey has reoriented Block entirely around Bitcoin — Cash App Lightning, the Bitkey wallet, Spiral developer grants, and TBD. Here's a complete picture of his Bitcoin work in 2026.
Jack Dorsey is the most prominent tech CEO who has publicly committed his company's resources to Bitcoin. While Elon Musk tweets about Dogecoin and other tech leaders hedge on crypto broadly, Dorsey has been Bitcoin-only and has built an entire business unit around it.
Here's a complete picture of Jack Dorsey's Bitcoin work in 2026: his personal beliefs, the companies he's built around Bitcoin, and why he matters to the ecosystem.
Jack Dorsey co-founded Twitter in 2006 and Square (now Block) in 2009. He served as CEO of both simultaneously, stepped back from Twitter (which was later acquired by Elon Musk and rebranded X), and has since focused entirely on Block.
Dorsey publicly embraced Bitcoin around 2018-2019. By 2021, he was telling anyone who would listen that "Bitcoin changes everything" and that it would be the internet's native currency. He's been consistent — no altcoin endorsements, no hedging with Ethereum, just Bitcoin.
Block is Dorsey's flagship company — a payments and financial services platform. Block's Bitcoin activity runs across several product lines.
Cash App — Block's consumer payments app — was one of the earliest mainstream platforms to let users buy, hold, and send Bitcoin. As of 2025, Cash App has processed billions in Bitcoin transactions.
Key Cash App Bitcoin features:
Cash App's Bitcoin business has become material to Block's revenue. In recent quarters, Bitcoin gross profit has represented a meaningful portion of overall Block earnings.
Bitkey is Block's hardware Bitcoin wallet, launched in late 2023 and now in its second iteration. It's a 2-of-3 multisig system designed to be simple enough for non-technical users:
Bitkey is sold at /cold-storage/bitkey for $150 and ships worldwide. It's Block's bet that self-custody can be made accessible to mainstream users.
Block has invested in Bitcoin mining chip development, announcing a custom Bitcoin mining chip in 2021. The goal was to make mining more accessible and decentralized — reducing dependence on a handful of ASIC manufacturers (primarily Bitmain and MicroBT).
The mining chip project has been in development for several years. As of 2026, Block has partnered with mining companies to develop and test chips, though mass-market products have not yet shipped.
Spiral is Block's Bitcoin developer grants program. Renamed from Square Crypto in 2021, Spiral funds open-source Bitcoin development with no strings attached.
Spiral's grants have supported some of the most important work in the Bitcoin ecosystem:
Spiral's philosophy is simple: Bitcoin needs good infrastructure, and Block can afford to fund it without expecting a return. This has earned significant goodwill in the Bitcoin developer community.
Notable Spiral grantees:
TBD is Block's Web5 and decentralized identity division. While "Web5" is a somewhat contested term, TBD's actual technical work focuses on:
TBD's thesis: Bitcoin provides a neutral settlement layer; decentralized identity can build financial services that don't require permission from banks or governments.
The practical output has been developer tools and protocols, not consumer products — TBD is infrastructure-layer work.
Dorsey has been unusually specific and consistent about his Bitcoin views:
"Bitcoin is the internet's native currency." Dorsey has repeated this line since at least 2019. His argument: the internet needed a native currency but got credit cards (legacy rails pretending to be internet-native). Bitcoin fixes this.
Bitcoin-only, not crypto broadly. Dorsey has been dismissive of Ethereum, DeFi, and most altcoins. He's said he believes there will be one winner and it will be Bitcoin. He's notably anti-NFT and anti-Web3-VC-hype.
Lightning Network as the key. Dorsey has specifically called out Lightning as the critical infrastructure for Bitcoin to work as a payment network. Block's investment in LDK and Cash App Lightning support reflects this.
Open source and decentralization. Dorsey's critique of crypto broadly is that most projects recentralize around VC funding, company control, and rent-seeking. His commitment to Spiral and open-source grants reflects a belief that Bitcoin's value comes from having no owner.
| Person | Bitcoin Role | Company Commitment |
|---|---|---|
| Jack Dorsey | Bitcoin-only, funds development | Block entirely reoriented around Bitcoin |
| Michael Saylor | Bitcoin treasury strategy | MicroStrategy holds 450,000+ BTC |
| Elon Musk | Inconsistent (Doge, BTC, back to Doge) | Tesla holds some BTC but sold most |
| Peter Thiel | Early supporter, investor | No corporate commitment |
| Jack Mallers | Strike CEO, Lightning payments | Company built on Lightning |
Dorsey is unique: he's neither a pure investor/HODLer (like Saylor) nor a pure builder/entrepreneur (like Mallers). He runs a major public company and has directed significant corporate resources toward Bitcoin infrastructure.
Not everyone in the Bitcoin community is enthusiastic about Dorsey's involvement:
Twitter/X censorship history. During Dorsey's tenure, Twitter banned certain Bitcoin accounts and topics. The @bitcoin handle controversies predate his Bitcoin advocacy.
Centralization risk. Some Bitcoiners argue that Block's involvement in Bitcoin — especially Bitkey's server key and Cash App's custody — creates centralization risks that contradict Bitcoin's ethos.
Web5 skepticism. TBD's Web5 work has been criticized as technically murky and commercially unproven.
Corporate Bitcoin. The broader concern: when large corporations fund Bitcoin development, they inevitably gain influence over its direction, even through "no-strings-attached" grants.
These critiques are worth taking seriously. Dorsey himself would likely acknowledge some of them — his philosophy has always emphasized decentralization over corporate control.
Dorsey has not publicly disclosed the size of his personal Bitcoin holdings. He has confirmed he holds Bitcoin personally and that it represents a significant portion of his net worth outside of Block equity.
Block's corporate treasury does not hold Bitcoin on its balance sheet in the way MicroStrategy does. Block's Bitcoin exposure is through its business operations (Cash App Bitcoin revenue) rather than treasury allocation.
Dorsey is not infallible and Block is not a charity. But his track record of funding Bitcoin infrastructure, shipping Bitcoin products, and maintaining a Bitcoin-only position through multiple market cycles is credible and substantive.
Does Jack Dorsey still run Twitter? No. Twitter was acquired by Elon Musk in 2022 and rebranded to X. Dorsey is CEO of Block exclusively.
How much Bitcoin does Jack Dorsey own? Not publicly disclosed. He has confirmed significant personal holdings.
What is Bitkey? Bitkey is Block's 2-of-3 multisig hardware Bitcoin wallet. The three keys are: your phone, your hardware device, and Block's server. Any two keys can sign a transaction.
What is Spiral's budget for Bitcoin grants? Spiral has not disclosed its total annual grant budget. Individual grants range from $100,000 to multi-year commitments exceeding $500,000 for key contributors.
Is Cash App a good way to buy Bitcoin? For small purchases, yes. Cash App has simple UX and Lightning support. For larger holdings, withdraw to self-custody — Cash App is custodial.
Jack Dorsey is the most consequential corporate Bitcoin advocate currently active. While Michael Saylor gets more press for his treasury strategy, Dorsey has done more to fund the actual infrastructure that makes Bitcoin work: the wallets, the Lightning libraries, the developer grants, the on-ramps.
For anyone tracking where Bitcoin's infrastructure is coming from and who's funding it, Block/Spiral/TBD is a critical part of the picture.
Get our free Beginners Guide to Buying Bitcoin plus weekly insights for long-term holders.
Satoshi Nakamoto created Bitcoin in 2008, mined the genesis block in 2009, and disappeared in 2011 — leaving behind ~1 million BTC worth $85B that have never moved. The complete story.
Ross Ulbricht bitcoin story 2026: Silk Road creator, double life sentence, and Trump's presidential pardon in January 2025. Bitcoin's most controversial figure explained.
Wei Dai's 1998 b-money proposal described proof-of-work currency creation, pseudonymous accounts, and decentralized contract enforcement — cited by name in the Bitcoin whitepaper. This profile covers b-money, what Satoshi took from it, the wei/Ethereum connection, and Dai's AI safety work.