Open Source Crypto Frameworks from Jack Dorsey

Jack Dorsey wants to expand Open Source Crypto Frameworks

Square CEO Jack Dorsey wants to hire engineers, and he wants to pay them in Bitcoin and work remotely. These will be full-time positions, and the payment in Bitcoin is optional.

Dorsey, known best for starting and running Twitter, wants this new team of engineers and one designer to work directly under his guidance under SquareCrypto. SquareCrypto will be a team that focuses on working full time to improve Bitcoin and general cryptocurrency ecosystems.

What caught most industry observers by surprise was that this team operates both remotely and directly reports to Dorsey, yet will be doing work that is independent of the company's objectives as a payment provider.

Why has Dorsey come out with this now?

Dorsey has long been a proponent of cryptocurrencies, so while this decision does make sense in that light, there is more to the story. Last week while considering his hackweek project, Dorsey spoke to Mike Brock, who is the Head of Cash App development at Square.

Brocks's answer was simple:

"Pay people to make the broader ecosystem better."

While other companies have contributed to open source projects in the past, this marks the first time that a company is creating an independent team to work for the betterment of the general cryptocurrency ecosystem. Dorsey admits that Square has taken a lot from open source but has not put enough back in.

Square already allows users of its Cash App to trade Bitcoins. The Cash App is looking to compete as a mobile payment platform in an increasingly crowded marketplace, so for an upstart to be willing to go the extra mile might also draw in some customers. Particularly those who are proponents of cryptocurrency in general.

Dorset feels crypto is like the early internet

Interestingly, Dorsey wanted a designer to work alongside the engineers, which shows a change in open source thought from the past. Open source crypto should not only be excellent technically, it should also be easy to use – and having a designer working with engineers from the beginning is a good way to ensure that.

Dorsey seemed to be very excited at the prospect of directly running a team that would be helping out the larger community as a whole. He likens it to the energy of the early internet and the startups of that era.

So if you are, or know someone who is, proficient in cryptocurrency, then you can DM @SqCrypto on Twitter and follow their updates there.

This news marks the latest in a trend of companies getting behind different payment systems, alternatives to the VISA/Mastercard duopoly that has ruled over finance for the last half-century. The European Union is looking to create a payment system that is independent of SWIFT and the financial landscape is changing at breakneck pace.

The more open source crypto is pushed, the quicker this current market can mature and lead a revolution in modern life similar to how the internet and mobile phones have brought us to where we are today.