Square's Cash App allows users to buy and sell bitcoin.
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Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies may have continued to endure a bear market during the second quarter of 2018, but that did not stop digital payments firm Square from recording a 100 percent increase in BTC profit over Q1.
Square, which added bitcoin trading to its peer-to-peer payments app toward the end of last year, reported in its unaudited quarterly financial statement that it brought in $37 million in bitcoin revenue over the three month period ending June 30.
Most of that revenue was used to purchase the flagship cryptocurrency on behalf of customers, however, and Square reported that its cryptocurrency brokerage service made a net quarterly profit of $420,000 on those commission-free trades.
Nevertheless, that profit figure is double what the firm made from its cryptocurrency trading service in Q1. As CCN.com reported, Square brought in $34 million in bitcoin revenue during the first quarter, netting a profit of approximately $200,000.
Cash App users can buy and sell bitcoin from within the app.
Square CEO Jack Dorsey has said that he believes bitcoin is a “transformational technology” that could become a one-world currency within a decade.
However, discussing Square’s quarterly performance in an earnings call on Wednesday, CFO Sarah Friar downplayed the role of cryptocurrency in the firm’s suite of products and services.
“It’s not a major monetization engine, she said. “The goal is to continue to drive utility in the Cash App.”
“We have some spread in there to allow for the fact that bitcoin is volatile,” Friar added. “We’re not trying to push on the monetization of bitcoin today.”
Nevertheless, Dorsey has suggested that the firm may integrate cryptocurrency into more of its products in the future.
“Bitcoin, for us, is not stopping at buying and selling,” he said during a conference call earlier this year. “We do believe that this is a transformational technology for our industry, and we want to learn as quickly as possible.”
Earlier this year, Square received a BitLicense from New York’s Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), becoming one of a small but growing number of companies allowed to facilitate cryptocurrency trading in the state.
Josiah is the former U.S. Editor at CCN.com, where he focused on financial markets. He lives in rural Virginia. Connect with him on LinkedIn or email him directly at josiah.wilmoth(at)www.ccn.com.
