Square’s earnings 2.5X expectations, Bitcoin revenue up 1000% in 12 months

Square Inc, reportedly announced that quarterly earnings doubled than analyst expectations amid unstoppable demand for crypto assets.

Square’s earnings 2.5X expectations, Bitcoin revenue up 1000% in 12 months

Global financial data aggregator Refinitiv had predicted Square would have revenue of 16 cents per share in Q1 2021. Surprisingly the firm ended up earning 41 cents per share with $5.06 billion in revenue, passing far off Refinitiv's prediction of $3.36 billion, from which bitcoin alone drove about $3.5 billion with an astonishing increase of 1,000% in just one year.

Square’s quarterly gross profit also surged approximately 79% year-over-year to tag $964 million. More than half of the firm's profits were driven by its crypto payment application, Cash App, which drove $495 million in gross profits. Profit from the App increased 171% when compared to Q1 2020.

“Bitcoin revenue and gross profit benefited from a year-over-year increase in the price of Bitcoin, Bitcoin activities, and growth in customer demand,” stated the firm.

During an earnings call, Square CEO, Jack Dorsey, emphasized the firm’s mission of supporting BTC to become the native currency of the internet, stating:

“Our focus, first and foremost, is on enabling [...] Bitcoin to be the native currency. It removes a bunch of friction for our business. And we believe fully that it creates more opportunities for economic empowerment around the world.”

Square Inc is one of the earliest firms to invest a portion of its treasury into Bitcoin. It has purchased 4,709 BTC for roughly $50 million in October 2020 which is now worth $263.7 million. However, the firm is down $20 million on a further 3,318 BTC it bought in February for $170 million. Currently it holds $472 million worth of BTC in total.