Buterin & Musk Back Bitcoin Bull Jack Dorsey as Twitter Chief

Activist investors are trying to depose Jack Dorsey as CEO of Twitter, but prominent figures are voicing their opposition to the move. [CNBC] After Elon Musk said that Dorsey should stay, Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin has backed him up.

Buterin and Musk Stand with Jack

Jack Dorsey (commonly known as just ‘Jack’ on Twitter) has been embroiled in an attempted takeover of Twitter by activist investors. Paul Singer, the billionaire founder of hedge fund Elliott Management, has more than a $1 billion stake in Twitter and wants to rework the entire company.

Singer is a known Republican mega-donor who sees Twitter as discriminating against conservatives. He wishes to use his stake to remodel Twitter’s governance model—and also replace Jack himself.

However, prominent voices in the tech world have voiced their support for Jack and denounced the attempted takeover. Vitalik Buterin, co-founder of Ethereum, recently retweeted Elon Musk’s support of Jack. “I also #StandWithJack” he said. Although Twitter has flaws, Buterin goes on to write, “Jack has done a vastly better job” than any hedge fund-appointed CEO could ever do.

I also #StandWithJack. Twitter certainly has flaws but @jack has done a vastly better job than what I expect/fear from a hedge fund appointed CEO swooping in to replace him.

Context: https://t.co/GuuWBGLmoj https://t.co/EFUZpYr4b8

— vitalik.eth (@VitalikButerin) March 5, 2020

Jack Dorsey’s Long-Time Support of Cryptocurrencies

The controversy has attracted significant attention in the cryptocurrency world due to Jack’s established reputation as a ‘Bitcoin believer.’ Even his Twitter bio simply says “#Bitcoin.’ Twitter recently added the Bitcoin emoji. In October of last year, he was “looking for a designer” to give Bitcoin a new face. 

Jack also eventually plans to transition Twitter toward a decentralized model, which he hopes will become the ‘new standard.’ He’s also been an advocate for privacy and admits to eschewing Google in favor of the more anonymous DuckDuckGo search engine. In April of last year, he met with President Donald Trump to discuss censorship concerns on the internet.

So, it’s no surprise that Jack Dorsey is a core part of the cryptocurrency community and among its most outspoken advocates. If he is replaced, Twitter could easily devolve into a place hostile to blockchain-like ingenuity. This is why Vitalik Buterin, Elon Musk, and others are speaking out—if Jack is removed, it could have grave ramifications for the cryptocurrency industry more generally.

As of now, the story is still developing and it remains to be seen whether the activist investors like Singer will ultimately be successful.