Square to launch Bitcoin-focused platform

Square will launch a business aimed at building an open platform for developers of non-custodial, inclusive, and decentralised financial services, according to Jack Dorsey, head of the payments company.

Square is creating a new business (joining Seller, Cash App, & Tidal) focused on building an open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permissionless, and decentralized financial services. Our primary focus is #Bitcoin. Its name is TBD.

— jack (@jack) July 15, 2021

According to Dorsey, the unnamed unit will focus on Bitcoin.

The initiative will be led by Mike Brock, head of Square’s strategic initiatives. He has already begun assembling a team and has introduced a number of developers working on the project.

I want to introduce TBD’s amazing founding team! @emilycchiu @HetongLi @feather_flyer and Rebecca (Becca) Corcillo! https://t.co/KEpzHkvNkg

— Mike Brock (@brockm) July 15, 2021

Dorsey noted that the platform intends to adhere to the principle of ‘full openness’ — including the roadmap, development, and source code. Unlike the Square Crypto division, which makes its own decisions, the new business unit will be led directly by the payments company.

Like our new #Bitcoin hardware wallet, we’re going to do this completely in the open. Open roadmap, open development, and open source. @brockm is leading and building this team, and we have some ideas around the initial platform primitives we want to build.

— jack (@jack) July 15, 2021

The head of Square also said that the company would create separate Twitter and GitHub pages for the project.

In turn, Brock emphasised that ‘technology has always been a story of decentralisation’.

«От печатного станка до интернета и биткоина — технология способна распределять власть среди масс и раскрывать человеческий потенциал во благо, и я убежден, что это следующий шаг», — написал он.

Brock added that in the ‘coming days and weeks’ Square will provide further details about its project. The company is exploring various ways to ‘involve the community in planning’.

As @jack said, we’re going to be biasing towards being open and transparent. So we’ll be sharing a lot more about our plans in the coming days and weeks. We’re also going to be thinking of ways to include the community in our planning. So stay tuned!

— Mike Brock (@brockm) July 15, 2021

Earlier Square announced that will create a hardware wallet and a service for storing bitcoin. The development team is led by Max Giz, the head of the company’s device security division.

In Q1 2021, Bitcoin sales via the Cash App brought Square $3.51 billion.

Follow ForkLog’s Bitcoin news on our Telegram — cryptocurrency news, rates and analysis.