Square Inc. (NYSE:SQ) has just allowed users of its Square Cash app to buy and sell Bitcoin, but this isn’t the company’s first move with the cryptocurrency.
Square first became involved with Bitcoin in 2014. At that time, the move was to let vendors on the company’s Square Market e-commerce site accept bitcoin from customers as payment. Shoppers would pay with Bitcoin, and the seller would receive their payment in dollars. This move was so that Square could ensure its online marketplace sellers wouldn’t miss a single just because a buyer wanted to use a different payment method.
At the time, this move didn’t really pan out for Square. The company saw little success coming from its early Bitcoin adoption. Jack Dorsey, Chief Executive of Square, later said of their attempt, “Bitcoin: we tried this with our ecommerce store [Square Market] years back. Didn’t see much. Would love to see a digital currency thrive.”
This time, though, Square is hoping things will be different. Dorsey claims that the timing of the company’s initial involvement with bitcoin wasn’t the best, but that this time, Bitcoin is more generally accepted. The company is hoping that the allowance of bitcoin payments on its Square Cash app will be a successful venture into the crypto world this time.
Featured Image: twitter
