In his first social media post since a year of silence, Roger Ver is backing Elon Musk’s takeover of Twitter. Ver, who helped popularize crypto on Twitter during the early years of cyberpunk and libertarianism, says in an interview that he’s confident Musk will end “censorship” on the social platform.
Ver, 43, no longer supports bitcoin because it has strayed from its intended purpose as an alternative currency, despite his nickname (Bitcoin Jesus). Neither is he a fan of many of the current supporters, including MicroStrategy CEO Michael Saylor.
Ver said:
“He talks about how Bitcoin is encrypted packets — it’s techno-bubble nonsense,”
What’s the Best Coin?
Dogecoin, Musk’s favorite cryptocurrency, is now Ver’s favorite. Musk called Dogecoin “the people’s crypto,” and Ver said it’s also faster and cheaper to use than Bitcoin.
Ver’s sentiments have changed a lot. In 2011, when Bitcoin was worth less than $1, Ver would talk about it at MeetUps and backyard barbeques before moving on to conferences.
In March, Blockchain.com raised $15 billion in funding, giving it a $14 billion valuation. In the early days of BitPay and Ripple, he was an investor.
In 2017, when the Bitcoin network had a fork he didn’t like, he switched to Bitcoin Cash, which he supports as true to Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision. Ver owns a bunch of cryptocurrencies now, including Ether, Monero, and XRP.
The value of Bitcoin has increased more than threefold since the split in late 2017, while Bitcoin Cash has underperformed. Around $5.8 billion is the market value of Bitcoin Cash, compared to around $760 billion for Bitcoin. Bitcoin Cash’s value peaked after the split and never recovered. Since last May, it has dropped more than 80%.
Originally from the States, Roger Ver is now a citizen of St. Kitts and Nevis. On PassportsForCrypto.com, he helps people get citizenship in the Caribbean using Bitcoin Cash.
The other startup from Ver is Bitcoin.com. It doesn’t just promote bitcoin. It promotes Bitcoin Cash. Over 30 million digital wallets are registered on the site, Ver said. Bitcoin.com, which has long offered crypto trading on its centralized exchange, will launch a decentralized exchange this summer, allowing people to trade without middlemen.
Verse, a token for use on Bitcoin.com, has just ended a sale, with another set to start next month. Once the token starts trading, Ver expects its market value to be in the billions. Anyhow, many exchange tokens have shown explosive value earned while losing it significantly in the short term.
