Square Sold Over $166 Million in Bitcoin in 2018, $52 Million in Q4 Alone

Because of the ongoing bear market, the crypto space has had a rather gloomy atmosphere. Fear of low profits and ROI were sounded by companies across the market. However, as companies reveal the stats of their Q4 2018 run, the results have shown that the market was not as brutal as everyone was expecting it to be. The belief has been supported especially after the US-based payment platform Square reported $166 million in Bitcoin sold in the year of 2018.

The data was revealed in their annual earnings report of 2018. The company achieved over $52 million in Bitcoin sales for Q4 of 2018. The amount is $9 million more than the earnings of Q3 and $15 million more than the earnings of Q2. Steady growth in the revenue earned by the company was a surprise to the market as everyone was expecting a much more gloomy annual report. In fact, Square’s share prices dropped after the Q1 2019 profit warnings and earnings report.

The report shows that revenue generation from Bitcoin operations was low. The majority of the profit came from the purchasing costs. The CEO of Square, Jack Dorsey, said in a statement:

“For the year ahead we continue to focus on three things […] add strength to in-person payments, to mobile payments and also to online. We’re really excited about everything we’re doing in financial services.”

Dorsey also confirmed in another interview that Square is planning to add the Lightning framework’s near-zero-fee transaction processing in the Square’s Cash app. He said in the interview, “I think there’s a lot more we can do…in terms of making (Bitcoin) more transactional…making it simple enough that I could justify buying a cup of coffee in the morning.”

The Cash app by Square started serving Bitcoin transactions early last year and the service has been popular among its users. The firm was able to obtain the “Bit License” from the New York Department of Financial Services last June. The license enabled them to offer the crypto services in the state (and in 50 US states overall).

The annual report shows that the carrying value of Bitcoin that Square held up until Dec. 31, has been around $200,000. The revenue report by the firm has been well received by the industry’s big players, indicating that even as the naysayers claim the end of Bitcoin and cryptocurrencies in general, the digital currency is already denying the lowered expectations of the market.