Jack Dorsey, a long-time Bitcoin advocate, has found himself in a Twitter war with several crypto industry pundits after he responded with a “yes” to a question asking if Ether was a security. Udi Wertheimer, a Bitcoin Ordinals developer at Taproot Wizards, inferred Dorsey was a “clown” in a tweet on June 6.
The Online Spat
In response to Wertheimer’s tweet, Dorsey tweeted, “ETH is not a security? Teach me wizard,” which prompted Wertheimer to share a five-year-old video of the United States Securities Exchange Commission Chair Gary Gensler stating that ETH was now “sufficiently decentralized” and wasn’t a security. However, Gabor Gurbacs, a strategy adviser to stablecoin issuer Tether and investment management firm VanEck, weighed in on Wertheimer’s comment, stating that Ethereum’s recent transition to proof-of-stake may have re-triggered securities laws.
The online scuffle comes in light of the SEC filing lawsuits against cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Coinbase on June 5 and 6 for allegedly offering tokens considered to be unregistered securities.
Dorsey’s Pro-Bitcoin Tweets
Dorsey also tweeted and implied approval of a screenshot of a post by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong in 2015, where he referred to altcoins as a “distraction” and that Coinbase should instead “be focused” on Bitcoin. Dorsey continued on his pro-Bitcoin tweeting streak and retweeted a video of Jack Mallers — CEO of Bitcoin Lightning application Strike — calling out Armstrong for choosing to prioritize altcoins over building on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network.
Dorsey’s Views on Ethereum
When Dorsey was in charge of Twitter in 2021, the company sold 140 Ethereum-based nonfungible tokens (NFTs), but he rejected investing in Ether at the time. Dorsey also downplayed Ethereum’s development in August 2021 when he claimed that Ethereum alone wouldn’t be able to disrupt big tech. Dorsey recently provided funding and became an advocate for Nostr, a decentralized “Twitter killer” network that integrates Bitcoin Lightning-based payments on the “Damus” platform.
The Twitter war between Dorsey and crypto industry pundits over Ether’s status as a security highlights the ongoing debate surrounding the regulatory status of cryptocurrencies. The SEC’s recent lawsuits against Binance and Coinbase have further intensified this debate, with experts on both sides weighing in on the issue. While Dorsey’s pro-Bitcoin tweets may reflect his personal views, they also highlight the growing importance of Bitcoin in the cryptocurrency market and its potential to disrupt traditional financial systems.