Diem stablecoin co-founder praises Bitcoin for censorship resistance

Published at: Feb. 2, 2022

Shortly after Meta, formerly Facebook, officially gave up on its stablecoin Diem, some of the key people in the project have become increasingly vocal about the uncensorable nature of Bitcoin (BTC).

David Marcus, a co-founder of Diem, originally known as Libra, took to Twitter on Tuesday to predict that Bitcoin will be the number one asset in the next two decades.

It’s become clear to me that #Bitcoin will be the one asset and L1 still around in 20+ years with increased compounding relevance over time. The #2 slot (for a different use case) is still tbd. #Ethereum is in the lead for now, but #Solana and others nipping at their heels. 1/2

— David Marcus - dmarcus.eth (@davidmarcus) February 1, 2022

“It’s become clear to me that Bitcoin will be the one asset and L1 still around in 20+ years with increased compounding relevance over time,” Marcus wrote, adding that BTC is “truly leaderless” and “censorship resistant.”

“In essence, it’s unique and cannot ever be replicated,” he added.

Marcus also went on to say that the second-biggest cryptocurrency is yet “to be determined” and will be related to a different use case. He suggested that Ether (ETH) is “in the lead for now,” but other cryptocurrencies like Solana (SOL) are “nipping at their heels.”

Marcus is former head of Meta’s cryptocurrency and fintech unit Novi, stepping down from his position in late 2021. He co-founded the Diem stablecoin with Morgan Beller and Kevin Weil.

Despite his hard work on Meta’s stablecoin, Marcus has been a known fan of Bitcoin. According to some industry observers, Marcus is considered “one of the first top Silicon Valley executives to adopt and support Bitcoin.” In 2019, Marcus said that he was a “big fan of Bitcoin,” calling it “digital gold.”

Does the creator of Libra own Bitcoin? "I'm a big fan of bitcoin and what I see as digital gold," says @DavidMarcus on #btc pic.twitter.com/Zbkfw1elHy

— Squawk Box (@SquawkCNBC) October 16, 2019

Marcus is not the only Facebook exec who is a fan of Bitcoin. Facebook co-founder and CEO Mark Zuckerberg hinted at being a Bitcoin bull in May 2021 by calling his pet goats Max and Bitcoin.

Marcus’ latest remarks came shortly after Meta announced the closure of its digital currency project Diem after initiating the stablecoin project in 2019.

Some prominent Bitcoin bulls like Twitter founder Jack Dorsey subsequently argued that Diem was a waste of time and effort, stressing that the tech giant should have focused on Bitcoin instead.