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'Is It Real?': Square CFO Speaks Out on Cash App Bitcoin Trial

The CFO of mobile payments firm Square has explained why the company launched a bitcoin pilot scheme.

By Sujha Sundararajan
AccessTimeIconNov 16, 2017 at 3:00 p.m. UTC
Updated Sep 13, 2021 at 7:10 a.m. UTC
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Sarah Friar, CFO of payments firm Square, has filled in some of the detail on why the company has launched a bitcoin pilot scheme.

Revealed yesterday, Square's mobile payments product, Cash App, is now allowing a limited number of users to buy or sell bitcoin within their accounts.

Talking to CNBC, Friar explained:

"You're talking about it, it's out there, and so we want to do an experiment and say, OK, is this real? Do customers actually want to be able to do this?"

Friar noted that customers often feed back desired features in Square's products, and that some using Cash App to make payments have requested an "easy way to buy and sell bitcoin."

Arguing that the fastest way to get moving with new trends is to build innovations around them, Friar said, ultimately, risks have to be taken – citing the example of early days of internet or the cloud as examples.

While future developments with bitcoin are uncertain, she added, "as an innovator" Square has to give customers what they want.

Square logo image via Shutterstock

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