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> Seems like a move to pander to Jack's new obsession (maybe he has no interest in running what Square actually works on now). I suspect this has something to

by kelp 5y ago

> Seems like a move to pander to Jack's new obsession (maybe he has no interest in running what Square actually works on now). I suspect this has something to do with it. I had a co-worker once describe Jack as a magpie. He's usually much more interested in the new shiny thing. That was Cash App for a while. Now the blockchain stuff I guess. I haven't worked there in many years so I don't know for sure. Jack tends to hire good executives to run the boring parts of the business. Those are also the parts that tend to bankroll all the new and shiny stuff. I had a big WTF with this move, and have a similar feeling about the blockchain efforts. But I also tend towards the new and shiny, so I have a harder time faulting that.

tdeck 5y ago
Square had been trying to do Bitcoin stuff for years. When I left in 2016 they had built accepting Bitcoin into Square's Online Store product a few years ago, because it was shiny. I was told that they got about one Bitcoin payment a week and were thinking of turning it off. I guess the popularity of BTC speculation among retail investors brought the whole thing back.
- PragmaticPulp 5y ago
  > I was told that they got about one Bitcoin payment a week and were thinking of turning it off. Accepting Bitcoin as payments has never been about facilitating payments. It's not rational to go through all the trouble of transferring Bitcoin, paying transaction fees, waiting for the transaction to clear (took over an hour when I tried it a few months ago), and then surrendering all of the protections you'd normally get when using a credit card. Accepting Bitcoin is about propelling the Bitcoin narrative: The more you can put "Bitcoin accepted here" on everyone's website, the more you can convince other people that Bitcoin is going mainstream and therefore they should be putting their money into Bitcoin as an investment (not to spend).
  - selfhoster11 5y ago
    > and therefore they should be putting their money into Bitcoin as an investment (not to spend). I disagree with this part of the paragraph. Maybe legitimising Bitcoin was hijacked by cryptobros later on to push their own narrative, but the people who originally got into Bitcoin simply wanted to be an accepted currency for goods and services, nothing more and nothing less.
    - spookthesunset 5y ago
      > Maybe legitimising Bitcoin was hijacked by cryptobros later on to push their own narrative, but the people who originally got into Bitcoin simply wanted to be an accepted currency for goods and services, nothing more and nothing less. I mean the "pay for starbucks using bitcoin" ship sailed, what, 10 years ago? Bitcoin is absolutely nothing more than a giant pump & dump scam. Of course pedants will say "technically it isn't a pump & dump" just like "technically it isn't a pyramid scheme"... Bitcoin might not meet the technical definition of any of those... but it is a scam none the less.
      - tata71 5y ago
        Then why aren't the majority of the miners or large wallets selling at all-time highs?
        divs1210 5y ago
        I used to hold similar views before life-changing events that now have me firmly on the side of BTC and crypto in general. You can't convince them - in their mind, you are part of the "scam", and hence not trustworthy. No point in debating, they will buy in when it clicks for them.
        suriyaG 5y ago
        I'd love to hear the life-changing events, if possible. Because I've been trying to convince myself that BTC might be good. But I really couldn't find a reason. The "pump and dump" thing is the one that makes most sense right now. I'm open to contrarian ideas.
- PascLeRasc 5y ago
  All their hardware engineering positions say they’re working on a mining ASIC, but it just seems like a huge stretch how that’s part of their business.
  - wmf 5y ago
    The purpose of the ASIC is to make Bitcoin (look) more decentralized and thus more legit.
manojlds 5y ago
> Jack tends to hire good executives to run the boring parts of the business. Those are also the parts that tend to bankroll all the new and shiny stuff. That sounds good, then? Hope you are not implying that it's a negative thing.

by kelp 5y ago

tdeck 5y ago

Square had been trying to do Bitcoin stuff for years. When I left in 2016 they had built accepting Bitcoin into Square's Online Store product a few years ago, because it was shiny. I was told that they got about one Bitcoin payment a week and were thinking of turning it off. I guess the popularity of BTC speculation among retail investors brought the whole thing back.

PragmaticPulp 5y ago
> I was told that they got about one Bitcoin payment a week and were thinking of turning it off. Accepting Bitcoin as payments has never been about facilitating payments. It's not rational to go through all the trouble of transferring Bitcoin, paying transaction fees, waiting for the transaction to clear (took over an hour when I tried it a few months ago), and then surrendering all of the protections you'd normally get when using a credit card. Accepting Bitcoin is about propelling the Bitcoin narrative: The more you can put "Bitcoin accepted here" on everyone's website, the more you can convince other people that Bitcoin is going mainstream and therefore they should be putting their money into Bitcoin as an investment (not to spend).
- selfhoster11 5y ago
  > and therefore they should be putting their money into Bitcoin as an investment (not to spend). I disagree with this part of the paragraph. Maybe legitimising Bitcoin was hijacked by cryptobros later on to push their own narrative, but the people who originally got into Bitcoin simply wanted to be an accepted currency for goods and services, nothing more and nothing less.
  - spookthesunset 5y ago
    > Maybe legitimising Bitcoin was hijacked by cryptobros later on to push their own narrative, but the people who originally got into Bitcoin simply wanted to be an accepted currency for goods and services, nothing more and nothing less. I mean the "pay for starbucks using bitcoin" ship sailed, what, 10 years ago? Bitcoin is absolutely nothing more than a giant pump & dump scam. Of course pedants will say "technically it isn't a pump & dump" just like "technically it isn't a pyramid scheme"... Bitcoin might not meet the technical definition of any of those... but it is a scam none the less.
    - tata71 5y ago
      Then why aren't the majority of the miners or large wallets selling at all-time highs?
      - divs1210 5y ago
        I used to hold similar views before life-changing events that now have me firmly on the side of BTC and crypto in general. You can't convince them - in their mind, you are part of the "scam", and hence not trustworthy. No point in debating, they will buy in when it clicks for them.
        suriyaG 5y ago
        I'd love to hear the life-changing events, if possible. Because I've been trying to convince myself that BTC might be good. But I really couldn't find a reason. The "pump and dump" thing is the one that makes most sense right now. I'm open to contrarian ideas.
PascLeRasc 5y ago
All their hardware engineering positions say they’re working on a mining ASIC, but it just seems like a huge stretch how that’s part of their business.
- wmf 5y ago
  The purpose of the ASIC is to make Bitcoin (look) more decentralized and thus more legit.

manojlds 5y ago

> Jack tends to hire good executives to run the boring parts of the business. Those are also the parts that tend to bankroll all the new and shiny stuff. That sounds good, then? Hope you are not implying that it's a negative thing.