Following the news, Square stock went up. It closed at $183.50 per share on Thursday, or 1.84% up, and is further rising in the pre-market today.
San Francisco-based financial services and mobile payment company Square Inc (NYSE: SQ) has bought 4,709 Bitcoin (BTC). The company has spent $50 million, which represents 1% of its total assets as of the end of Q2 2020. According to Square press release, the company considers crypto an instrument of economic empowerment. Besides, Square believes digital currencies provide a way for the world to take part in a global monetary system, which ‘aligns with the company’s purpose’.
Square Chief Financial Officer Amrita Ahuja stated:
“We believe that bitcoin has the potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the future. As it grows in adoption, we intend to learn and participate in a disciplined way. For a company that is building products based on a more inclusive future, this investment is a step on that journey”.
Square and Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey has long been famous for his crypto enthusiasm. Calling Bitcoin the native currency of the internet, Dorsey said that Bitcoin’s potential still outshines all other developments that happened in the crypto market.
Recently, Jack Dorsey criticized Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong for discouraging his employees from engaging in activism in the workplace. According to Armstrong, under the conditions given, companies need to stay focused as they cannot be a jack of all trades. But as Dorsey has said, the fact that the companies are already involved in Bitcoin and have endorsed the blockchain technology is activism against unverifiable and exclusionary financial systems.
Square Investments in Bitcoin
Square has been dealing with Bitcoin since 2018. Back then, Square introduced bitcoin trading with the Cash App, which allows users to buy and sell Bitcoin. Last year, the company established Square Crypto, an independent team that focuses on contributing to Bitcoin’s open-source work for the benefit of all. Besides, last month, Square also launched the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA), a non-profit organization that encourages crypto innovation and opens access to patented crypto inventions.
In May this year, Square reported $306 million bitcoin revenue on total revenue of $1.38 billion for the first quarter. According to the company, that’s a 367 percent increase compared with the year-ago quarter. As Square has explained, the rise was “due to growth in the number of active bitcoin customers, as well as growth in customer demand.”
Square Stock Up
Following the news, Square stock went up. It closed at $183.50 per share on Thursday, or 1.84% up, and is further rising in the pre-market today. As of the press moment, Square stock is trading at $184.34. Its market cap is $79.92 billion. Year-to-date, Square stock has gained 193.32%.
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