Get the weekly summary of crypto market analysis, news, and forecasts! This Week’s Summary The crypto market ends the week at a total market capitalization of $2,17 trillion. Bitcoin continues to trade at around $62,300. Ethereum experiences no changes and stagnates at around $2,400. XRP is down by 2%, Solana by 1%, and Dogecoin by 3%. Almost all altcoins are trading in the red, with very few exceptions. The DeFi sector decreased the total value of protocols (TVL) to around…
Musk Piles Into Tech CEO Twitter Fight Over Crypto
Multiple billionaires engaging in Twitter drama is not something you see every day. Yet that’s just what happened – a Twitter fight featuring multiple tech CEOs, from Jack Dorsey to Elon Musk.
The reason for the fight? Crypto and Web3. And with so much money in the space, it is no wonder discussions can turn heated.
It all started when Jack Dorsey, CEO of Block and former CEO of Twitter, called out Web3. This drew ire from Web3 investors, leading to a rather intense Twitter exchange.
Not one to miss a good Twitter fight, Elon Musk, CEO of SpaceX and Tesla joined in. Predictably, Musk used the fight to tout Doge.
BTC vs Ethereum
Following up on a heated Twitter fight, in which Dorsey dissed Web3, a collection of projects that aim to bring about a new version of the internet.
A tech CEO invited Dorsey to look more closely into Web3. Farokh Sarmad, CEO of Goodlife Media, promised Dorsey that he would see more if he looked outside his “bubble of rich dudes.”
Yo @Jack I promise if you look outside of your bubble of rich dudes you’ll see that there are creators actually building web3 and a whole revolution in the form of digital renaissance. Come say hi or listen in on our conversations, the NFT space is filled with geniuses.
— Farokh.ethᵍᵐ (@farokh) December 23, 2021
Dorsey responded that he is fighting “rich dudes” who are taking money from Web3 supporters. The conversation then shifted to individual cryptos, becoming even more heated.
Dorsey is a well-known Bitcoin maximalist. That means that he favours Bitcoin over any other crypto. This opinion, naturally, brings him in conflict with supporters of other cryptos.
Sam Kazemian, the founder of Frax Finance, said that Dorsey’s real issue was with Ethereum. Ethereum features heavily in Web3 apps, and many believe that the second-largest crypto will take the lead from Bitcoin.
Dorsey disagrees with that. He even called Ethereum centralized, badly designed and promoted by venture capitalist lies.
If your goal is anti-establishment, I promise you it isn’t Ethereum
I’m not anti ETH. I’m anti-centralized, VC-owned, single point of failure, and corporate controlled lies. If your goal is anti establishment, I promise you it isn’t ethereum. Don’t believe or trust me! Just look at the fundamentals.
— jack⚡️ (@jack) December 23, 2021
Dorsey claims that, unlike Ethereum, Bitcoin is much more decentralized. As such, it is better for the people, he argues.
Musk’s Contribution
Billy Markus, the founder of a meme coin Doge, took issue with that view. In his opinion, Bitcoin is not a meaningful break from the establishment. Bitcoin, he said, just gives money to “new rich people.”
Elon Musk, the richest person on Earth, agreed. “That’s why I’m pro Doge,” he said.
Gm. This thread has got me ? tbh and I’m enjoying reading the conversation. Oh, hi Elon, wen Spaces?! ?? pic.twitter.com/iDOAW3drUv
— Farokh.ethᵍᵐ (@farokh) December 23, 2021
Other participants mostly laughed off Musk’s take. The tech CEO is a notorious Twitter troll, and it’s usually best to take his hot takes with a grain of salt.
Doge, at its core, is a joke crypto. Its founder developed it to make fun of all the low-quality coins that drop every day.
Still, Doge reached a spectacular valuation thanks to Musk’s incessant tweets about the crypto.
Web3 Fight
That was just the latest bit of the drama. The fight goes a few days back, Dorsey took its first shot at “Web3.” He attacked these projects as “too centralized” and in the pockets of venture capitalists.
His attacks are a big deal. Dorsey, in addition to being a high-profile tech entrepreneur, and a former CEO of Twitter, is also a CEO of one of the largest fintech firms in the world.
His company Block (formerly Square) is one of the largest fintech companies in the world. Block, which has a market cap of $121 billion invests heavily into Bitcoin projects. The company even changed its name to reflect its focus on the blockchain.
Dorsey holds a deep interest in the idea of the blockchain, and the promises it makes. That is why he focuses his criticism of Web3 on the key points – decentralization and user control.
Currently, a series of giant corporations control the web. These include Meta (Facebook), Alphabet (Google) and Twitter. That is exactly the problem with the current state of the internet – or Web2. In particular, the centralization, which leads to a few giant corporations making all the decisions. That can lead to several problems, including censorship.
‘You’re A Fund – Not Gandhi’
On the other hand, Web3 will be decentralized, its proponents say. That means that it will give all the power to its users. Dorsey, however, does not think that the projects live up to these claims.
Instead of giving control to the users, they are in the hands of venture capitalists. That’s why Dorsey calls Web3 a “centralized entity with a different label.”
His attacks, however, met with a lot of pushback. For instance, Balaji Srinivasan, the former CTO at Coinbase, said that Twitter too started with noble intentions.
Twitter started as a protocol, the free speech wing of the free-speech party. Then corporate & political incentives led to deplatforming & censorship. Web3 offers the possibility, not guarantee, of something better.
Dorsey pushed back against these statements, stating that Twitter was a corporation from day one. Therefore, it was flawed from day one. He added that he will fix this with BlueSky, a decentralized social network.
You don’t own “web3.”
The VCs and their LPs do. It will never escape their incentives. It’s ultimately a centralized entity with a different label.
Know what you’re getting into…
— jack⚡️ (@jack) December 21, 2021
Others joined in the argument as well. Notably, this includes Chris Dixon, one of the leading voices in Web3. Curiously, Dixon is a partner at a venture capital firm Andreessen Horowitz, which invests heavily in Web3. This prompted some to speculate that the firm is in fact the target of Dorsey’s attacks.
Web3 Bans Dorsey
Dixon suggested that Dorsey’s attack means that Web3 is on track to win. On the other hand, Dorsey retorted by suggesting that Dixon should be honest about what he represents – a venture capital firm. In essence, he suggested that Dixon, and others, were in it just for the money.
You’re a fund determined to be a media empire that can’t be ignored…not Gandhi.
— jack⚡️ (@jack) December 21, 2021
For some, the banter became too hot to handle. Marc Andreessen, another partner at Andreessen Horowitz, blocked Dorsey on Twitter.
This prompted Dorsey to poke even more fun at the investors, joking that he will now be banned from Web3. In fact, most consider blocking someone quite drastic as far as online arguments go.
What is Web3 and when is it coming out?
Cryptocurrency Bear vs Bull Market – What’s the difference?
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