Macauley Peterson

Block, maker of the Cash App, recorded an increase in revenue from sales of bitcoin of $660.8 million in the third quarter, according to a regulatory filing Thursday.



The 37% increase over the company’s second quarter results reflects its customer’s appetite for buying bitcoin, even though the asset&#8217;s price fell by 11% during that period. These results have not yet accounted for the price surge experienced in October.&nbsp;



Total bitcoin revenue was reported to be $2.42 billion in the third quarter, up from $1.76 billion in the same period last year. After deducting costs of acquiring that bitcoin on behalf of customers, profit from sales came in around $45 million, similar to Block’s reported second quarter results.



“The increase in the three months ended Sept. 30, 2023 was driven by an increase in both the average market price of bitcoin and the quantity of bitcoin sold to customers compared to the three months ended Sept. 30, 2022,” Block stated.



Read more: <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/cash-app">Bitcoin sold to Cash App users rises to nearly $2.4B in Q2</a>



Bitcoin (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/btc">BTC</a>) finished September about 30% higher than its price to close out September 2022.



<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/block">Block</a>, formerly known as Square, launched bitcoin trading on <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/cash-app">Cash App</a> in 2018. Block currently provides custody services for all 25,083 bitcoins, valued at around $858 million at time of publication, held on behalf of its customers.



In 2023, it ceased lending any bitcoin and is not making use of any third-party custodians, the filing said.



“The Company does not use any of the bitcoin custodied for customers or trading partners as collateral for any of the Company’s loans or other financing arrangements; nor does it lend or pledge bitcoin held for others to any third parties,” it said.



The company’s gross profit from its bitcoin trading services represent just 5% of Cash App gross profit, and 3% of the company’s total gross profit in 2023. This is equal to its gross profit figures for the first three quarters of 2022.



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Bitcoin on Block’s balance sheet</h2>



<a href="https://blockworks.co/news/bitcoin-performace-october-bullish">Bitcoin’s price rise</a> naturally means that for the third consecutive quarter, Block recorded no impairment losses on its bitcoin held for investment.



The company&#8217;s bitcoin investment is susceptible to impairment losses whenever the fair value of bitcoin falls below its carrying value within a quarter. These losses persist until the bitcoin is sold. Previously, the company recorded impairment charges amounting to $117.7 million.



Block’s investment holdings of BTC remain roughly unchanged, and the company reports a cumulative total of $220 million in bitcoin as of the close of the third quarter. That aligns with its reported fair value of $216.5 million.



However, the price of bitcoin has rallied about 27% since then, which puts Block well in the green on a fair value basis.&nbsp;



“We believe cryptocurrency is an instrument of economic empowerment that aligns with our corporate purpose,” the company said.



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Block

Block’s Cash App bitcoin revenue up, investment holdings now above breakeven

Ben Strack

Block’s Cash App saw the value of its bitcoin sales increase more than $200 million quarter over quarter. 



The total sale amount of bitcoin sold to customers of the mobile payment service during the second quarter of 2023 was $2.39 billion — a year-over-year jump of 34%.



<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/cash-app">Cash App</a> generated $44 million of bitcoin gross profit during the three months — a figure that factors in costs the company incurred to purchase the asset and make it available for customers. Cash App’s total gross profit was $968 million during the second quarter.



The levels of bitcoin (<a href="https://blockworks.co/price/btc">BTC</a>) sold to Cash App customers and bitcoin gross profit were up from $2.16 billion and down from $50 million, respectively, during Q1.&nbsp;



<a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/block">Block</a>, formerly known as Square, launched bitcoin trading on Cash App in 2018. It invested $50 million in bitcoin during the final quarter of 2020 and an additional $170 million in the crypto asset during the first three months of 2021.



Block did not recognize a bitcoin impairment loss during this year’s second quarter, the company said Thursday — a requirement if the fair value of BTC decreases below the carrying value during a specific period.



The fair value of the company’s bitcoin investment was $245 million, as of June 30 — $142 million greater than the carrying value of the investment after cumulative impairment charges, as Block noted in its latest shareholder <a href="https://investors.block.xyz/files/doc_financials/2023/q2/2Q23_Block_Shareholder-Letter.pdf">letter</a>.&nbsp;



<h2 class="wp-block-heading">Crypto efforts in Q2</h2>



The second quarter was an eventful one for Block in terms of crypto-related offerings.&nbsp;



Block’s self-custody bitcoin wallet, called Bitkey, <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/coinbase-bitkey-partnership">entered its public beta stage</a> in June and is slated for a “wider public launch later this year.” &nbsp;



Via a partnership with Coinbase, the Bitkey wallet is set to allow users to buy bitcoin on the crypto exchange and transfer it to Bitkey through Coinbase Pay across six continents. Cash App in the US is also set to enable BitKey customers to transfer and buy BTC on its platform.



“That will be a global-first product,” Block CEO Jack Dorsey said during the company’s earnings call on Thursday. “We’ll be launching in the most countries we’ve ever launched in to start.”



Block also revealed in April that it would be <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/jack-dorsey-block-bitcoin-mining">creating its own custom silicon for mining hardware</a> — adding that it made a deal with Intel for bitcoin mining ASICs. Block said at the time it plans to make its bitcoin mining technology open-source.



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Bitcoin sold to Cash App users rises to nearly $2.4B in Q2

Katherine Ross

In a press conference with San Francisco Mayor London Breed, San Francisco Police Chief William Scott and District Attorney Brooke Jenkins, the SFPD announced an arrest in the killing of Cash App founder Bob Lee.&nbsp;



Nima Momeni was named as a suspect by San Francisco Police Chief William Scott on Thursday, April 13. He confirmed that Momeni was arrested in the killing of Lee.&nbsp;



Scott said that the investigation is still open and ongoing, but confirmed that Momeni and Lee knew each other, though he declined to give more detail.&nbsp;



Jenkins announced charges of murder against Momeni. She expects the arraignment to occur on April 14.&nbsp;



Lee was <a href="https://blockworks.co/news/cash-app-mobilecoin-bob-lee-killed">stabbed in early April</a> on the streets of San Francisco. According to a <a href="https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/news/sfpd-investigates-main-street-homicide-23-039">release</a> from the San Francisco police department, the assault took place in the early morning — around 2 am.



“The victim was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. Despite efforts by first responders and medical personnel, the victim succumbed to his injuries,” the release said.&nbsp;



Scott’s comments echo previous reporting from media reports, which stated that the suspect knew Lee. San Francisco Supervisor Aaron Peskin told NBC Bay Area that the killing “was not a random act,” though he did not offer further details.&nbsp;



Prior to his death, Lee was the chief product officer at MobileCoin, a cryptocurrency company. He helped found Cash App in 2013.&nbsp;&nbsp;



Following the news, the MobileCoin account tweeted that Lee was a “force of nature” and “made for the world that is being born right now.”



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">Bob Lee Our dear friend and colleague, Bob Lee passed away yesterday at the age of 43, survived by a loving family and collection of close friends and collaborators. <a href="https://t.co/IWO2xB6ger">pic.twitter.com/IWO2xB6ger</a>&mdash; MobileCoin (@mobilecoin) <a href="https://twitter.com/mobilecoin/status/1643688620526800896?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



“Bob was a force of nature. Helped to birth Android and Cash App into our world. Moby was his dream: a privacy protecting wallet for the 21st Century. I will miss him every day,” Joshua Goldbard, MobileCoin’s CEO, previously told Blockworks.



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Cash App

San Francisco Police Announce Arrest, Charges in Killing of Bob Lee

Shalini Nagarajan

Bob Lee, a former chief technology officer of Square and founder of Cash App, has reportedly died after a stabbing in San Francisco.&nbsp;



The San Francisco Police Department <a href="https://www.sanfranciscopolice.org/news/sfpd-investigates-main-street-homicide-23-039" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">announced</a> Tuesday that a 43-year-old male suffering from stab wounds passed away, but officials didn’t name the victim. However, local media and the CEO of MobileCoin confirmed the news.



Lee was most recently the chief product officer of crypto company <a href="https://blockworks.co/tag/mobilecoin">MobileCoin</a>, where he supervised the firm’s entire product portfolio.&nbsp;



Joshua Goldbard, MobileCoin’s CEO, sent the following statement to Blockworks: &#8220;Bob was a force of nature. Helped to birth Android and CashApp into our world. Moby was his dream: a privacy protecting wallet for the 21st Century. I will miss him every day.&#8221;&nbsp;



The news was confirmed by his friends and colleagues on Twitter, including <a href="https://twitter.com/billbarhydt/status/1643482531533303808" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Bill Barhydt</a>, CEO at trading platform Abra, and <a href="https://twitter.com/thatrpb/status/1643486318070996992" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Jack Dorsey</a>, CEO at Square, who eulogized the tech executive.



“It’s real. Getting calls. Heartbreaking. Bob was instrumental to Square and Cash App. STL guy,” Dorsey wrote on decentralized social media platform Nostr.



Former Ultimate Fighting Championship fighter Jake Shields, who says he was a friend, <a href="https://twitter.com/jakeshieldsajj/status/1643470001566015488" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">wrote</a> on Twitter that Lee was in the “good” part of the city and appears to have been targeted in a mugging attack.



<figure class="wp-block-embed is-type-rich is-provider-twitter wp-block-embed-twitter"><div class="wp-block-embed__wrapper">
<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-width="550" data-dnt="true">I didn’t want to be the one to leak the name but now it’s out Bob Lee is an extremely high profile tech guy so hopefully this will at least bring attention to these problems <a href="https://t.co/YL3wN4UhuB">pic.twitter.com/YL3wN4UhuB</a>&mdash; Jake Shields (@jakeshieldsajj) <a href="https://twitter.com/jakeshieldsajj/status/1643470001566015488?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">April 5, 2023</a></blockquote><script async src="https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js" charset="utf-8"></script>
</div></figure>



No arrest has been made in the case as of press time, and the San Francisco police have not revealed further details on the suspect or motive.



“Officers rendered aid and summoned medics to the scene. The victim was transported to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. Despite efforts by first responders and medical personnel, the victim succumbed to his injuries,” police said.



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Cash App Creator Bob Lee Killed in San Francisco Stabbing

David Canellis

<div id="highlights-block_62755a236375c" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Fintech provider Block made 51% less revenue with bitcoin in the first quarter of 2022 compared to Q1 last year</li>
 <li>Block blamed its lagging bitcoin revenue on the cryptocurrency’s sideways price movement</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Jack Dorsey’s fintech company Block says more than 10 million Cash App accounts have bought bitcoin since 2018.



“We are focused on expanding our customers’ awareness and access to bitcoin, which has allowed us to drive meaningful adoption,” the company, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jack-dorseys-square-to-change-its-name-to-block/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">formerly known as Square</a>, wrote in its first quarter earnings <a href="https://s29.q4cdn.com/628966176/files/doc_financials/2022/q1/1Q22-Shareholder-Letter_SQ.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">report</a> Thursday.



Block’s earnings were relatively healthy, although it had little to do with bitcoin. The San Francisco-headquartered firm generated $1.29 billion of gross profit, up 34% year over year.&nbsp;



Block’s peer-to-peer money platform, Cash App, contributed $624 million to the bottom line. The app and its point-of-sale devices allow users to accept payment in fiat and bitcoin, charging a 3% fee.



Cash App integrated the layer-2 bitcoin scaling solution Lightning Network earlier this year to speed up transactions via the service. Payments settled via Lightning are free.



Cash App made $1.7 billion of bitcoin revenue for Block last quarter, down a pearl-clutching 51% year over year. Gross profit fell 42% to $43 million, about 3% of Cash App’s bitcoin revenue.



After excluding bitcoin and its recently acquired buy-now-pay-later service Afterpay, Cash App revenue rose 26% year over year to $667 million.



Block said falling bitcoin revenue and gross profit were the result of the top cryptocurrency’s sideways price action, “which affected consumer demand and trading activity compared to the prior year period.”



The suggestion is that it’s not bitcoin volatility that inspires users to interact with the cryptocurrency via Cash App, but rather sustained upwards movement.



Bitcoin started the year trading around $47,000 and ended the quarter around the same. But it was still volatile, bouncing between that mark and $37,000 multiple times throughout the quarter.



Block highlighted that on a two-year compound annual growth rate basis, its bitcoin revenue and gross profit actually grew 138% and 155%, respectively.



“Bitcoin revenue and gross profit were relatively consistent compared to the fourth quarter of 2021,” Block told shareholders. “In future quarters, bitcoin revenue and gross profit may fluctuate as a result of changes in customer demand or the market price of bitcoin.”



The company said it had seen “growing momentum” around its new bitcoin saving service that debuted in April. It allows US users with activated Cash Cards to receive parts of recurring paycheck deposits in BTC with no transaction fee. No specific data was provided.



Block also confirmed it sold none of its enormous bitcoin stash last quarter and recorded no impairment loss. Dorsey’s firm currently holds 8,027 BTC ($290.3 million), which it acquired in two lots across late 2020 and early 2021.



Block spent $220 million on its bitcoin treasury, the fourth largest stash for a public company behind Marathon Digital, Tesla and MicroStrategy.&nbsp;



This means Block is still in the green some $70 million on its bitcoin purchases – even after the <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/bitcoin-hit-hard-by-inflation-fears-suffers-worst-daily-drop-since-january/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">recent</a> monster dip.



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Bitcoin

10 Million Cash App Accounts Have Purchased Bitcoin, Jack Dorsey’s Block Brags

Sebastian Sinclair

<div id="highlights-block_61e793933594d" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li> MMA defending heavyweight champion Francis Ngannouhe said he would be taking half his earnings for an upcoming fight in bitcoin</li>
 <li>The champion said he is partnering with Cash App and would also be giving away $300,000 worth of bitcoin to fans</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



French Cameroonian&nbsp;mixed martial artist and defending heavyweight world champion Francis Ngannou said Tuesday he would be taking half of his earnings for an upcoming fight in bitcoin.



Ngannou, who made the announcement <a href="https://twitter.com/francis_ngannou/status/1483501508293320705?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">via Twitter</a>, said he was partnering with the peer-to-peer payments platform Cash App to manage the payments. The champion also said he would be giving out $300,000 worth of bitcoin to fans.



The UFC 270 fight, which is expected to be broadcast live on pay-per-view on Jan. 22, will feature the heavyweight title fight against Ngannou and interim champion Ciryl Gane. It is expected to be the last fight on Ngannou’s contract.



<blockquote class="wp-block-quote is-layout-flow wp-block-quote-is-layout-flow">&#8220;After doing a lot of research on bitcoin, I really believe that is the future of money,&#8221; said Ngannou in a <a href="https://twitter.com/francis_ngannou/status/1483501508293320705?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">short video</a>. &#8220;Bitcoin is valuable, secure and no one can mess with it. I want to make bitcoin more accessible to you all.&#8221;</blockquote>



The UFC, with a fan base estimated to be 625 million people, has itself <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/crypto-companies-dive-further-into-sports-sphere/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">partnered with Crypto.com</a> which will place its brand on apparel worn by mixed martial arts athletes and become integrated into UFC content on platforms including live broadcasts, pay-per-views and UFC-owned social media channels.



In September, Cash App announced it had reached 70 million annual transacting active users and had posted $1.8 billion in bitcoin revenue for the&nbsp;third quarter, according to a recent <a href="https://s27.q4cdn.com/311240100/files/doc_financials/2021/q3/SQ-3Q-2021-Shareholder-Letter.pdf" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">earnings letter</a>.



<meta charset="utf-8">Ngannou&#8217;s announcement follows NBA athlete Klay Thompson declaring last week that he would take <a href="https://twitter.com/KlayThompson/status/1480620041309589505?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">part of his salary</a> in bitcoin also through the use of Cash App&#8217;s platform.



&#8220;I’m with bitcoin because I believe it’s the future of money,&#8221; said Thompson via his Twitter account.



Other sports stars who have signed crypto-related endorsement deals in recent months include, MLB Star <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftx-inks-deal-with-mlb-star-shohei-ohtani/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Shohei Ohtani</a> and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/ftx-names-stephen-curry-a-global-ambassador/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">Stephen Curry</a>, three-time NBA champion with the Golden State Warriors. 



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UFC Heavyweight Champion Ngannou to Collect Half Of His UFC 270 Purse in Bitcoin

Jacquelyn Melinek

<div id="highlights-block_61ddbd6adc5e0" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Cash App is a mobile money transfer service that allows people to send and receive money as well as bitcoin</li>
 <li>Block (formerly Square) developed Cash App; Block’s CEO is Jack Dorsey</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Mobile payment service Cash App has added a layer-2 payment protocol Lightning Network to help users transact with bitcoin, according to reports by users.&nbsp;



The feature was rolled out to a handful of users and the Lightning Network feature can be used as “the fastest, free way to pay anyone in bitcoin,” according to <a href="https://twitter.com/yeg0rpetrov/status/1480743605467815945?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">screenshots</a>.&nbsp;



At the time of publication, it was not clear how users were selected and how many users have received the new feature.



Cash App was not available for immediate comment requested by Blockworks. But Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and CEO of Block, which developed Cash App, has been acknowledging and <a href="https://twitter.com/ODELL/status/1480927111087104009?s=20" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">liking</a> tweets on Twitter by Cash App users posting screenshots of their Lightning Network transactions on Cash App.&nbsp;



Dorsey is the former co-founder and CEO of Twitter. Block, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/?s=dorsey#:~:text=Jack%20Dorsey%E2%80%99s%20Square%20to%20Change%20its%20Name%20to%20Block" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">formerly known as Square</a>, owns Cash App, TIDAL and <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jack-dorsey-tbd-will-be-open-platform-for-decentralized-bitcoin-exchanges/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">TBD54566975</a>, a platform for decentralized bitcoin exchanges being developed by Dorsey.&nbsp;



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">The Lightning Network</h3>



Lightning Network is a decentralized protocol that uses smart contracts on top of blockchain-based cryptocurrencies like bitcoin. Through the network, participants can instantly send, receive or transact payments without creating an on-blockchain transaction for individual payments, according to its <a href="https://lightning.network/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">website</a>.&nbsp;



In February 2019, Dorsey said during an <a href="https://stephanlivera.com/episode/52/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">interview</a> that rolling out the Lightning Network on Cash App, is “not an if, it’s more of a when.” Nearly three years later, his plans have come to fruition.



Dorsey has recently been an outspoken advocate for crypto and said that bitcoin will <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jack-dorsey-says-bitcoin-will-replace-us-dollar-and-you-dont-own-web3/">replac</a><a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jack-dorsey-says-bitcoin-will-replace-us-dollar-and-you-dont-own-web3/" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">e</a><a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jack-dorsey-says-bitcoin-will-replace-us-dollar-and-you-dont-own-web3/"> the US dollar</a>. He has also <a href="https://twitter.com/jack/status/1424854924194729984?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1424854924194729984%7Ctwgr%5E%7Ctwcon%5Es1_c10&amp;ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fcms.blockworks.co%2Fwp-admin%2Fpost.php%3Fpost%3D12995action%3Dedit" target="_blank" rel="noreferrer noopener">tweeted</a> that bitcoin will “unite a deeply divided country (and eventually world).”



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Cash App Integrates Lightning Network for Bitcoin Payments

<div id="highlights-block_60f09138f6b92" class="highlights">
 <ul>
 <li>Cash App could increase its average revenue per user by five times in the coming years, according to research by Mizuho Securities</li>
 <li>Square’s bitcoin trading capabilities are among its most important services in terms of driving engagement, and in turn, revenue, Rosenblatt Securities analyst says</li>
 </ul>
 
</div>



Digital payments companies such as <a href="https://squareup.com/us/en/campaign/cross-product-center?device=c&amp;gclid=Cj0KCQjwub-HBhCyARIsAPctr7wIvH42bDDxJSU6ITAmhulhL8Bq83jEWVnnJkBEATG6TRQlASVXjmkaAsPIEALw_wcB&amp;gclsrc=aw.ds&amp;kw=square+inc&amp;kwid=p53639037657&amp;matchtype=e&amp;pcrid=522370665599&amp;pdv=c&amp;pkw=square+inc&amp;pmt=e&amp;pub=GOOGLE">Square</a> are in a position to steal major market share from traditional banks over the next decade, analysts said, as crypto services are driving engagement for such businesses.



Cash App, a service developed by Square, could become the “money center bank of the future,” according to research by Mizuho Securities.&nbsp;



“This could make buying [Square] analogous to buying JP Morgan in 1871,” Senior Analyst Dan Dolev wrote in a July 15 note.&nbsp;



Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey, who has long been a proponent of cryptocurrencies, co-founded Square in 2009 and serves as its chairman and CEO.&nbsp;



Mizuho’s bullish outlook for Square comes after the digital payment business announced in February that it had purchased 3,318 bitcoins at an aggregate purchase price of roughly $170 million. The buy raised the company’s held bitcoin to five percent of Square’s total cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities as of the end of 2020.



More recently, Jesse Dorogusker, the hardware and TIDAL lead at Square, <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/jack-dorsey-confirms-square-will-make-bitcoin-hardware-wallet/">tweeted last week</a> that the company has decided to build a hardware wallet service to make bitcoin custody more accessible.



Dolev called Cash App “the ultimate challenger bank,” noting that Mizuho’s analysis of the business indicates a path to an average revenue per user of between $150 and 200 in the coming years, which is between three and five times above current levels. The average revenue per user ranges from $400 to $700 at consumer banks like JPMorgan and Wells Fargo, he added.



Still, Sean Horgan, an equity research analyst at Rosenblatt Securities, told Blockworks that he believes digital wallets as a group are going to disrupt traditional incumbent consumer banks over the next five to 10 years.



The customer acquisition costs for companies like Cash App and Venmo may range from $5 to $100, he added, as they are helped by the “network effect” of millennials helping older adults adopt the services. This is compared to incumbent banks who may spend $1,000 to gain a new customer, Horgan noted, as they may entice prospective credit card users with free rewards and build out costly bank branches around the country.



“Traditional banks [have] about $1 trillion of market value,” he said, “and as they steal revenue share and user share, that market cap is also going to transfer from the traditional banks to the challenger banks.”



<h3 class="wp-block-heading">Crypto services driving engagement, revenue</h3>



Square was a pioneer of gathering users through a free peer-to-peer offering and then rolling out additional products over time, Horgan said. The company’s bitcoin trading capabilities, which were added in 2018, are among the most important services in terms of attracting users to use the platform each day, he argued.



Cash App allows users to buy and sell bitcoin straight from their Cash App balance. Unlike other apps, most of the buying and selling happens in seconds, according to the company’s website, and users can spend their proceeds from a free Visa debit card.



“Bitcoin drives engagement and engagement drives monetization,” Horgan explained. “The more funds you’re bringing onto Cash App, the more you’re considering this thing your primary bank account or primary spending account, the more likely you are to take a debit card or credit card offering out and start using that.”



Venmo followed Square’s footsteps when the company <a href="https://newsroom.paypal-corp.com/2021-04-20-Introducing-Crypto-on-Venmo">announced in April</a> that it would allow customers to buy, hold and sell cryptocurrency directly within the Venmo app.



British fintech firm <a href="https://www.revolut.com/en-US">Revolut</a> revealed this week that it had raised $800 million in a new funding round led by SoftBank and Tiger Global, which values the company at $33 billion. People can use Revolut’s app to buy, sell, receive or spend cryptocurrency, as well as send crypto to other US Revolut accounts.&nbsp;



Moving forward, Horgan said he expects crypto rewards to gain more popularity.&nbsp;



Square offers a service called Bitcoin Boost, in which a user can select to have bitcoin automatically placed into their account upon each cash card purchase. Similarly, BlockFi earlier this month <a href="https://cms.blockworks.co/blockfi-releases-visa-rewards-credit-card-to-us-clients/">launched its Visa rewards credit card</a> for a handful of its US-based clients, providing users with crypto returns when they use the card.&nbsp;



“I’d rather get 2% back in bitcoin than 2% back in a 2% depreciating asset per year, which is cash,” Horgan said. “We’re going to see a lot more of that, and that’s just another reason to use these digital wallets like Cash App rather than traditional banks.”