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Within a decade since its launch in 2009, Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey’s fintech company Square has transformed into a $29 billion digital payments giant and the go-to platform for users to send and receive money and buy Bitcoin.
On February 3, Dorsey revealed that Square Cash (also known as Cash App), one of the most widely utilized mobile payment applications in the U.S. market, became the 2nd most popular free mobile application on the Apple App Store.
How Did Square Grow so Quickly?
Like any fast-growing startup, it targeted a niche market in merchants without access to point-of-sale (PoS) terminals and credit card payments.
Previously, it was reportedly illegal for non-registered merchants to accept credit card payments and it was difficult for small businesses to obtain access to financial services.
After its successful start as a merchant-focused payment processor, the company expanded to peer-to-peer mobile payments, releasing Square Cash.
Although some analysts claim that the Bitcoin integration of Square Cash has been overplayed by the media, it has played a vital role in attracting new generation and millennial users.
In November 2017, when Square Cash initially enabled users to buy Bitcoin on the mobile app, the company was valued at $16 billion.
Fast forward 13 months, even after the correction of the U.S. market in late 2018, the firm is valued at $29 billion, $13 billion higher than in 2017.
Square Cash’s core business model relies on its mobile payment application that allows users to send and receive payments instantly with low costs.
But, the integration of Bitcoin by the company strengthened the image of the platform as a forward-looking and innovative mobile application.
Earlier this week, on the Joe Rogan Podcast, Twitter and Square CEO Jack Dorsey said that while he does not know whether Bitcoin will definitively become the currency of the internet, he believes it could be Bitcoin given its performance to date.
Dorsey said:
“I believe the Internet will have a native currency and I don’t know if it’s Bitcoin. I think it will be [Bitcoin] given all the tests it has been through and the principles behind it, how it was created. It was something that was born on the Internet, was developed on the Internet, was tested on the Internet, [and] it is of the Internet.”
In previous interviews, Jack Dorsey stated that Bitcoin has the potential to become the world’s single currency in ten years, projecting optimism towards its long-term growth.
Can Bitcoin-Friendly Square Sustain its Growth Rate?
Go @CashApp pic.twitter.com/f342bQXpHc
— jack (@jack) February 2, 2019
Wall Street analysts foresee Square performing strongly throughout the years to come with the company’s focus on innovation.
Its most recent product, the Square Card, a Mastercard for merchants, has been described as “genius” as it allows merchants to withdraw or use funds as soon as they arrive through the app.
In consideration of the reception of the new product, Citigroup analyst Peter Christiansen told Barron’s that new products would continue to help the company move forward and experience rapid growth.
“[New products]such as Debit Card for Business and Installments, as well as continued cash app/card growth and overall ecosystem expansion help to mitigate the anticipated deceleration in mid-2019,” Christiansen said.
Source: Squareup.com
On January 3, the digital payments giant hired Amrita Ahuja as the company’s new chief financial officer, a former CFO of Blizzard Entertainment, to assist the company in building and scaling.
“Amrita brings the ability to consider and balance opportunities across our entire business, and she will help strengthen our discipline as we invest, build, and scale,” Dorsey said at the time.
As the company strengthens its dominance in the merchant and mobile payments sector, analysts expect the firm to continue seeing growth in multiple areas of the business, including its Bitcoin venture and the newly released debit card.
Jack Dorsey Image from REUTERS / Anushree Fadnavis / File Photo
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