Less than two weeks after sharing Square’s cryptocurrency profits had doubled in the second quarter, the payments company made the long-awaited announcement on Twitter: users can now use Cash App to buy bitcoin in all fifty states.
The announcement appears to be effective immediately, with users reporting wide availability in tweets.
The move is yet another in a string of moves and statements by Square CEO Jack Dorsey, who has long expressed a bullish view of the cryptocurrency.
“The internet will have a single currency. I personally believe that it will be bitcoin,” Dorsey said.
Square, which added bitcoin purchase and sale functionality to its payments app in late 2017, had slowly expanded bitcoin functionality in the time since. The simple mobile interface was made available to users in select states before the payments company acquired a bitlicense from the New York Department of Financial Services and added support in New York state in June.
Brian Grassadonia, Head of Cash App, noted the significance of the approval in New York state, teasing more to come: “We are thrilled to now provide New Yorkers with Cash App’s quick and simple way to buy and sell bitcoin. Square and the New York State DFS share a vision of empowering people with greater access to the financial system and today’s news is an important step in realizing that goal.”
During the roll-out, Square reported it generated more than $70 million in bitcoin-related activity in the first half of 2018, earning less than a half-million dollars in trading fees. During this period, bitcoin fluctuated wildly, trading in a range between $6,000.00 BTC and more than $19,000.00.
Availability in all fifty states positions Square’s Cash App to compete more directly with Coinbase, the leading consumer application for cryptocurrency purchases in the United States. Coinbase claims to have enabled the trade of more than $150 billion cryptocurrencies since its launch in 2012, generating more than $1 billion in revenue in 2017 from a reported 20 million registered users.
At the end of 2017, Square reported more than 7 million monthly active users, many who joined for the peer-to-peer USD sending service.
Coinbase and competitor Abra offer support for multiple cryptocurrencies, an area where Square has yet to venture.
Featured image from Shutterstock.
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