Square is building a hardware crypto wallet and service with the goal of making bitcoin 'more mainstream'

CEO Jack Dorsey said the Square team "will listen and continue the conversation, confirming new product plans it first hinted at in June.

• Square plans to build a hardware cryptocurrency wallet and software service, company execs said Thursday.
• Square's goal is to "make bitcoin custody more mainstream," said hardware lead Jesse Dorogusker.
• CEO Jack Dorsey in June outlined the company's initial thinking about the product.
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Square executives confirmed on Thursday the company plans to develop new tools for bitcoin.

"We have decided to build a hardware wallet and service to make bitcoin custody more mainstream. We'll continue to ask and answer questions in the open," Square hardware lead Jesse Dorogusker said on Twitter.

"With that, @jessedorogusker, I, and team will listen and continue the conversation. And we'll set up a dedicated Twitter and github account if we decide to build. We'll update this thread with that information when we're ready. Thanks!" Square and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey said in response.

In June, Dorsey announced in a lengthy Twitter thread that his fintech company was "considering" making an open-source hardware wallet, outlining how the company was thinking about developing the product and asking for input from the cryptocurrency developer community.

Dorogusker said Thursday those responses had "resonated" and convinced the company to initially build a globally distributed, mobile-friendly, multi-signature wallet, confirming the security- and inclusivity-focused product Dorsey described in June.

Square is forming a "small, cross-functional team," led by Max Guise, to oversee product development, and plans to hire for roles in "hardware, software, security, and business," Dorogusker said.

Bitcoin has long been a passion project for Dorsey, who recently said at the Bitcoin 2021 conference in June he would leave Square and Twitter to work on bitcoin projects if they "needed more help" than the two companies he currently runs.