Jack Dorsey, the founder of Twitter and one of Bitcoin’s loudest supporters, has once again stirred conversation in the crypto world — this time with just four words: “Bitcoin is not crypto.”
His short post on X (formerly Twitter) quickly blew up, attracting thousands of replies and reigniting old arguments about how Bitcoin fits into the larger digital asset space.
Many in the community pointed out that Bitcoin’s mysterious creator, Satoshi Nakamoto, described it as a “peer-to-peer cryptocurrency” back in 2010. But Dorsey emphasized the word currency, suggesting Bitcoin was designed to be money first, not just another “crypto” token.
Interestingly, Dorsey has often been rumored to be Satoshi himself. Earlier this year, Seán Murray of deBanked listed several pieces of “circumstantial evidence” hinting at the connection — though nothing has ever been proven. When asked about it in a 2020 interview, Dorsey laughed it off, saying, “No, and if I were, would I tell you?”
“Crypto” Never Appears in the Bitcoin White Paper
To back his claim, Dorsey pointed out that the Bitcoin white paper, published in 2008, never actually uses the word crypto. Instead, it describes Bitcoin as a “peer-to-peer electronic cash system” built on “cryptographic proof instead of trust.”
Even Satoshi himself, in early forum posts, referred to Bitcoin as a “digital currency using cryptography” — but not as “crypto” the way the industry uses the term today.
So What Does Dorsey Think Bitcoin Is?
Just an hour before his “not crypto” post, Dorsey wrote another short message: “Bitcoin is money.”
That’s the heart of his argument. Dorsey believes Bitcoin’s true purpose is to be used for payments, not just held as a speculative asset. He’s been working toward that goal through his company Block (formerly Square), which is developing zero-fee Bitcoin payments through its Square payment network.
He even shared a story from a user who said they’d convinced every local Square seller at a market to start accepting Bitcoin, thanks to the promise of zero processing fees coming in 2026.
This ties into Dorsey’s long-standing vision that Bitcoin must remain functional as real money — not just a “digital gold” or an investment.
The Community Pushes Back
Of course, not everyone agrees with Dorsey. Critics argue that Bitcoin’s scalability limits — slower transactions and higher fees during network congestion — make it impractical as an everyday currency.
Others see his “Bitcoin is not crypto” stance as part of the ongoing divide between Bitcoin maximalists (who believe BTC is the only true decentralized money) and those who support the broader crypto ecosystem, including altcoins and newer blockchain projects.
Even David Schwartz, Ripple’s outgoing CTO, joined the debate, saying he wasn’t sure what Dorsey meant exactly. “I think he’s trying to say that Bitcoin should be seen as a payment system rather than a speculative asset,” Schwartz said. “But I don’t really know.”
In the end, Dorsey’s comment did what he’s best at — sparking a massive online discussion. Whether you agree with him or not, his message challenges everyone in the space to think about what Bitcoin truly represents: a piece of technology, a store of value, or actual money for the future.