It’s now been six years that one of the largest financial players in payments has been supporting Bitcoin.
Indeed, November 14, 2017, marks the date that Jack Dorsey’s Square, now rebranded as Block, began letting customers buy and sell Bitcoin. The move came at a time when Bitcoin’s price was surging in the wake of the Block Size wars, with the price topping $7,000 on its way to a peak of $20,000 that year.
Fast forward to today, and Bitcoin’s price has surged by an astonishing 400% since Block’s inaugural foray into facilitating cryptocurrency transactions, marking a notable chapter in the evolving landscape of Bitcoin finance.
Still, more notable is this event seemingly played a role in convincing Jack Dorsey, then the co-founder and CEO of Twitter, to become a fervent advocate for Bitcoin. His public endorsements and active involvement in Bitcoin now showcase a deep belief in the transformative power of the technology.
Today, Block is building a commercial Bitcoin hardware wallet, as well as a decentralized exchange, among other Bitcoin projects.
Yet, this all began in 2017, when Square Cash quietly tested the waters of Bitcoin support, allowing a select few users to buy and sell Bitcoin directly within the app. The move was confirmed by the company, acknowledging the trial phase with a basic interface that displayed USD and BTC balances.
“We’re exploring how Square can make this experience faster and easier, and have rolled out this feature to a small number of Cash app customers. We believe cryptocurrency can greatly impact the ability of individuals to participate in the global financial system and we’re excited to learn more here,” a Square representative said at the time.
Interestingly, the focus during the trial was primarily on buying and selling, deviating from Square Cash’s conventional emphasis on money transfers.
Today, Block conducts billions of dollars worth of Bitcoin sales per quarter, with Bitcoin making up a large percentage of the financial company’s revenue.