Block CEO Jack Dorsey said his company will support stablecoins despite long-standing views that Bitcoin should serve as the internet’s native currency protocol.
In an interview with Wired, Dorsey acknowledged the change while making it clear that it reflected customer demand rather than a shift in personal beliefs.
“I don’t like that we support stablecoins, but our customers want to use them,” he said. “I don’t think it’s wise to go from one gatekeeper to another.”
The move marks a pragmatic shift for one of Silicon Valley’s most outspoken Bitcoin advocates. Over the years, Dorsey has built Block’s crypto strategy solely around Bitcoin, supporting mining hardware development and integrating assets into products like Cash App.
The company first launched the option for users to buy and sell Bitcoin on Cash App and received a BitLicense from New York regulators the following year.
Block established a Bitcoin development department in 2019 and provides funding to Bitcoin and Lightning Network developers, and began accumulating Bitcoin for its corporate finances in 2020. The company currently holds 8,888.3 BTC, worth over $600 million.
At the same time, stablecoin prices surged. According to data from CoinMarketCap, tokens linked to fiat currencies are currently widely circulated in the cryptocurrency market and cross-border payments, with a total market value of $318 billion.
Competition is also increasing. Payments companies like Stripe and PayPal have integrated stablecoin infrastructure, putting more pressure on Block to offer similar options to avoid losing users, although Dorsey did not mention these in the interview.
This isn’t the first time Dorsey’s Block has reluctantly supported stablecoins.
Last November, Block’s Cash App announced it was adding support for stablecoins, making them “interoperable with customers’ USD cash balances.” The company said stablecoin deposits will be instantly converted into U.S. dollars in user balances.
In a development that was notable back in 2024, when Facebook was developing the later-abandoned Libra stablecoin and the Libra Association behind it, Dorsey made it clear that “no” he would not join the crypto payment scheme.
At the time, Dorsey specifically said the project “was born out of the company’s intentions and it was inconsistent with my personal beliefs and what I want our company to stand for.”
In true Bitcoin purist style, he continues to believe that Bitcoin’s decentralized design makes it the best candidate for an open financial protocol.
This comes after the company laid off about 40% of its workforce, citing structural changes driven by artificial intelligence. While the layoffs have sparked controversy over whether the company is overhiring, Dorsey sidestepped the question in the Wired interview and doubled down on the artificial intelligence angle.
“These [AI] Tools are presenting a future that completely changes the structure of companies. ” Dorsey said in the interview, noting that the layoffs were not intended to address the company’s costs and revenue per employee because his company was “already ahead” of all competitors on those metrics.
“I don’t know what the end result is, but I do know it’s going to have a huge impact,” Dorsey added.