Jack Dorsey Says Square May Build Open-Source Bitcoin Mining System

Square CEO Jack Dorsey says the company is starting a 'deep technical investigation' to create an open-source Bitcoin mining system. It comes as the price of Bitcoin passed $62,000 while threatening to pass the all-time high of $65,000. The Independent reports: Mr Dorsey said Bitcoin mining isn't currently accessible to everyone, but it should be as easy as plugging into a power source. 'Silicon design is too concentrated into a few companies. This means supply is likely overly constrained. Silicon development is very expensive, requires long term investment, and is best coupled tightly with software and system design,' Mr Dorsey said in a tweet. 'If we do this, we'd follow our hardware wallet model: build in the open in collaboration with the community,' he added.

The company's hardware lead building the wallet, Jesse Dorogusker, is also starting the technical investigation required to take on the mining project, Mr Dorsey said. While announcing Square is considering getting into the mining business, Mr Dorsey said the process needs to be more energy-efficient and more distributed. 'The core job of a miner is to securely settle transactions without the need for trusted 3rd parties. This is critical well after the last bitcoin is mined. The more decentralized this is, the more resilient the Bitcoin network becomes,' he said. 'There isn't enough incentive today for individuals to overcome the complexity of running a miner for themselves,' he added.

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