Bitcoin
Block says Bitcoin holdings allow studying the technology’s potential
A motivation for BlockBitcoin investing in Bitcoin is about learning about the technology and how to use it.
The company invests 10% of its gross profit from bitcoin products each month into buying more bitcoin; allocates less than 3% of its funds to bitcoin-related projects; and holds bitcoin on its own balance sheet, Bloomberg reported Thursday (June 27).
“This helps us understand what it means to hold bitcoins, what it means for our treasury teams in the market to buy bitcoins,” Amrita AhujaBlock’s chief financial officer and chief operating officer, told Bloomberg Television on Thursday, according to the report.
Ahuja said during the interview that bitcoin could save consumers from the fees they currently pay to access and move money, and the Block founder Jack Dorsey recently said the technology could “level the playing field” for Block and global consumers, according to the report.
During Thursday’s interview, Ahuja said: “We believe bitcoin is the most likely competitor to enable this vision because it is resilient, it is battle-tested and it is secure.”
In May, Block’s first-quarter results showed that its $200 million investment in bitcoin grew by about 160% and stood at US$573 million at the end of the quarter.
In a letter to shareholders released at the time, Dorsey said: “We believe the world needs an open protocol for money, one that is not owned or controlled by any single entity. We believe bitcoin is the best and only candidate to be that protocol and ultimately become the native currency of the internet.”
In April, blockchain ecosystems Square It is Money App began rolling out a feature that allows qualified Square sellers convert automatically a portion of your daily sales for bitcoin with Cash App.
“Block believes that bitcoin is an instrument of economic empowerment and provides a way for people around the world, including entrepreneurs, to participate in a global monetary system,” the company said in announcing this new feature.
The company added that Square sellers have expressed interest in bitcoin and said it presents a variety of use cases, such as long-term savings and diversifying their business assets.