Bitcoin: Square is testing App payments for digital currency

6 years ago - Published in Finance, Fintech Land, Technical Analysis

Square is testing cryptocurrency support in their Cash app, according to TechCrunch reader Zach Miles on Twitter and confirmed by the company. The trial, which seems to only be available right now to a small number of users, lets you buy and sell bitcoin directly in the app.

The interface is very basic. Users who have access to the beta can swipe right from the Cash Card page to access bitcoin functionality. Once there users will see a balance in USD and BTC, a graph showing performance over the last day, month or year and buy / sell buttons.

"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," a Square spokesperson said via email to CNBC. "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."

The digital currency briefly surged more than 11 percent Wednesday to a high of $7,336.80 , according to CoinDesk. That's within 10 percent of its record high of $7,879.06 hit last Wednesday. Bitcoin had fallen 30 percent below that record over the weekend amid controversy over the digital currency's future.
Wednesday's gains in bitcoin came after news that Jack Dorsey's company Square is testing support for bitcoin through its payments app Cash. Early on Wednesday, Credit Suisse analysts published a report on the Square news describing how the "bitcoin buying option could help stock."

"We believe it could place SQ in an early-mover position as a mainstream fin-tech company providing crypto-currency services," Credit Suisse analysts Paul Condra and Mrinalini Bhutoria wrote on Wednesday. "SQ is also well positioned to enable crypto transactions at the physical point of sale."

However, Square's test of bitcoin is still small; but there are other risks for working with a digital currency that governments have watched warily.

"We believe the largest risk is regulation, which could limit its ability to provide the service or outright ban it. SQ is also exposed to liquidity and counterparty risk as it must source bitcoin for users either by pre-buying or using an exchange," the Credit Suisse analysts said. "Despite these risks, the upside could be significant if crypto currencies become more mainstream. We believe PayPal (PYPL) is also well positioned to provide such services."