Square Buys $170 Million Worth Of Bitcoins: Embracing The 'Native Currency Of The Internet'

23/02/2021

Square, Inc. is a U.S.-based financial services, merchant services aggregator, and a mobile payment company.

Headquartered in San Francisco, California, the company was co-founded by Twitter founder and CEO Jack Dorsey back in 2009. And since November 2015, the company has been traded as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE).

Back in October 2020, Square spent approximately 1% of its total assets ($50 million) to buy Bitcoins, citing the "potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the future" as the company's main reasoning.

According to the company, it believes that cryptocurrency is "an instrument of economic empowerment and provides a way for the world to participate in a global monetary system, which aligns with the company's purpose."

This time, Square bought more Bitcoins.

The company spent $170 million to buy 3,318 Bitcoins, with its Chief Financial Officer Amrita Ahuja saying that the cryptocurrency has the potential to become the "native currency of the internet."

Square.

In Square's earnings release:

"Square also announced today that it has purchased approximately 3,318 bitcoins at an aggregate purchase price of $170 million. Combined with Square’s previous purchase of $50 million in bitcoin, this represents approximately five percent of Square’s total cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of December 31, 2020."

"Aligned with the company’s purpose, Square believes that cryptocurrency is an instrument of economic empowerment, providing a way for individuals to participate in a global monetary system and secure their own financial future. The investment is part of Square’s ongoing commitment to bitcoin, and the company plans to assess its aggregate investment in bitcoin relative to its other investments on an ongoing basis."

It should be noted that Square has been actively involved with Bitcoin-focused initiatives, and with its Cash App, the company has been allowing its users to trade Bitcoin since 2018.

The Cash App reportedly had around 3 million active Bitcoin users in 2020, with around a million new customers purchasing the digital asset for the first time in January 2021.

Square's interest in the cryptocurrency reflects Dorsey's, who has been an advocate of the digital currency.

Dorsey said that Bitcoin is "one of the most seminal works" in decades, praising the whitepaper for the cryptocurrency like a "poetry." He also connected Bitcoin’s founding principles and its decentralized approach to be one of the the driving spirit behind the internet in general:

"Bitcoin is probably the best manifestation of that thus far. I can’t see that changing given all the people who want the same thing and build it for that potential," Dorsey also said.

Dorsey is also a fan of blockchain, the technology behind Bitcoin, saying that it can "point to a world where content exists forever."

Previously, other companies are also increasingly leaning into Bitcoin as the cryptocurrency becomes more mainstream.

The most notable, was Tesla. The electric vehicle manufacturer and clean energy company announced that it bought $1.5 billion worth of Bitcoins for “more flexibility to further diversify and maximize returns on our cash.”

Tesla's and its CEO's interest in the cryptocurrency was the main driver that sent the price of the volatile digital coin to beyond $50,000 per coin, and to heights previously unreached.