Jack Dorsey’s Block Is Bringing Back Bitcoin’s Old-School 'Faucet' Playbook

• Jack Dorsey's Block announced that it will launch a Bitcoin ‘faucet’ on Monday.
• This will be reviving a distribution model first used in Bitcoin’s early days in 2010.
• Jack Dorsey has been a long-time supporter of Bitcoin, believing in the cryptocurrency’s ability to serve as money rather than a store of value.

Jack Dorsey-led Block (XYZ) announced on Friday that it will launch a Bitcoin (BTC) "faucet" on Monday, offering users a way to access and use the cryptocurrency without an upfront cost.

Block announced, "The Bitcoin faucet is back," along with a link to btc.day, a countdown page for the launch on Monday. Dorsey, the CEO of Block and co-founder of Twitter, reshared the post, indicating support for the rollout.

A Bitcoin faucet is a service that distributes small amounts of Bitcoin to users who complete simple tasks, such as solving a captcha. The model was first created by early Bitcoin developer Gavin Andresen in 2010 to help new users experiment with wallets and transactions for free. “I want the Bitcoin project to succeed, and I think it is more likely to be a success if people can get a handful of coins to try it out,” he had said.

Bitcoin had limited adoption at the time, and the faucet served as a tool to expand usage and awareness. Based on current prices, 5 Bitcoin would be worth around $334,890. According to reports, over the roughly two years it operated before shutting down in 2012, the project distributed roughly 19,700 Bitcoin, now worth over $2 billion. 

Dorsey's Long-Standing Stance On Bitcoin 

The launch fits a consistent theme in Dorsey's public positioning towards Bitcoin. He has long argued that Bitcoin's primary purpose is to function as money, a peer-to-peer payment system accessible to anyone, and not merely as a store of value. Block already operates Bitcoin buying and custody services through Cash App. 

Additionally, last Monday, Square's Bitcoin product lead announced that eligible U.S. Square sellers would begin having Bitcoin payments automatically enabled, with merchants receiving dollars by default while customers pay in Bitcoin. Square is owned by Block. 

Block’s stock was trading up by 0.17% in the after-hours trading. The stock had closed at $59.78 on Friday. On Stocktwits, the retail sentiment around XYZ remained in the ‘bullish’ zone, while chatter levels around it moved from ‘normal’ to ‘high’ over the past day.

Read also: IRS Taps Palantir To Find 'Highest Value' Audits – Crypto Bros Could Be Next, Says ZeroHedge

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