Twitter founder: Developing a brand new decentralized exchange with fiat onramp/offramp

Jack Dorsey, CEO of the well-known U.S. payment system company Square and also the founder of Twitter, announced last month the establishment of a new division centered around Bitcoin — TBD. Today (28), Jack Dorsey revealed on his Twitter that this division will build an open and decentralized exchange (DEX) specifically designed for Bitcoin.

A Decentralized Bitcoin Exchange with Fiat On-Ramp

Compared to other decentralized exchanges on the blockchain like Uniswap and SushiSwap on Ethereum, or PancakeSwap on Binance Smart Chain, they lack the necessary entry points from traditional financial institutions and compliance with KYC (know-your-customer) procedures, making it impossible to use fiat currencies on these decentralized exchanges. The goal of TBD is to construct a decentralized exchange centered around Bitcoin that is completely permissionless and allows users to convert various fiat currencies into BTC.

Mike Brock, General Manager of Square, mentioned in his Twitter post: "We believe Bitcoin will become the native currency of the internet. While there are many projects that can help decentralize the internet further, our focus is on creating a robust global monetary system for the masses."

Opening up New Channels for People to Buy Bitcoin

Mike Brock also shared his thoughts on the current channels for acquiring Bitcoin: "Currently, to obtain Bitcoin, one typically has to go through centralized exchanges that offer custody services, like 'Cash App' or 'Coinbase,' but these channels have many issues and operate inconsistently around the world."

TBD is a division established to address these issues, aiming to easily provide funding for non-custodial wallets worldwide through a platform to establish entry and exit points for Bitcoin. Conceptually, it can be viewed as a decentralized exchange for fiat currencies. The platform will also be developed in an open, transparent, and open-source manner.

Square has not announced when they will launch their decentralized exchange, and there are still some issues to resolve, such as cost and scalability concerns in payments. However, at least we now have a glimpse of what Jack Dorsey sold last month, and it seems quite promising!