Why Did Jack Dorsey Step Down As CEO Of Twitter? Social Media Exec Speaks Fondly Of Bitcoin

Jack Dorsey announced Monday that he would step down as CEO of Twitter, stating that the company is “ready to move on from its founders.”

The 45-year-old had been with Twitter since its inception in 2006. In an email to company employees that he posted on Twitter, Dorsey noted that a "founder-led" company is "severely limiting and a single point of failure."

He has not expressed any interest in leaving fintech giant Square, and his departure from the social media outlet could give him more time to focus on bitcoin, which he has not been shy about touting.

“The reason I have so much passion for #Bitcoin is largely because of the model it demonstrates,” he said in a tweet on Jan. 13. “A foundational internet technology that is not controlled or influenced by any single individual or entity.”

Dorsey's exit from Twitter has intrigued many about how Square will move forward with cryptocurrency. In 2018, the financial services company debuted bitcoin trading with the Cash App, allowing users to buy and sell bitcoin.

Dorsey said at a bitcoin conference in June that “If I were not at Square or Twitter, I’d be working on bitcoin.”

Bitcoin can get an extra boost of attention and credibility with Dorsey no longer at Twitter.

“One thing to keep in mind is that crypto is the intersection of financial services and technology. That’s literally 60% of the economy. Really, financial services is the other half of GDP, so it’s a huge market,” Tom Lee, managing partner and head of research at Fundstrat Global Advisors, said Monday on CNBC. “And there isn’t enough capital allocated towards crypto innovation, so it takes people like Jack Dorsey to really marshal focus and I don’t think the space is overinvested yet.”

Parag Agrawal, Twitter's chief technology officer, will replace Dorsey as CEO.