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Last week, Jack Dorsey's payments company Square invested $50 million in Bitcoin. It purchased 4,709 bitcoins at an average price of $10,617 per Bitcoin, it said in an official statement.
Square’s investment represents one percent of its total assets as of at the end of second quarter of 2020.
Bitcoin is a peer-to-peer virtual currency that uses blockchain technology to facilitate instant payments. Founded in 2008, the cryptocurrency is open-source with a public design, allowing everyone to participate.
It is the world's largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalisation and trading volume, according to cryptoassets tracking website CoinMarketCap.
Square’s Chief Financial Officer Amrita Ahuja expects Bitcoin to have "the potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the future."
"For a company that is building products based on a more inclusive future, this investment is a step on that journey," she added.
This isn't the first time Square showed interest in cryptocurrency. The San Francisco-based company launched Cash App, a Bitcoin trading app in 2018 that enables buying and selling of the cryptoasset. In 2019, the company formed Square Crypto, an independent team focused on contributing to Bitcoin open-source work.
Also read | Global watchdogs agree rules for stablecoins like Facebook's Libra
In September 2020, the Square also set up the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA), a non-profit organisation that encourages crypto innovation and open access to patented crypto inventions, Jack Dorsey announced in a tweet.
Dorsey said he believes Bitcoin will become the world's largest single currency of the internet within a decade, in an interview with The Times in 2018. The cryptocurrency will overcome these obstacles and will be used to buy everyday items such as coffee, he added.
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