Square's Q2 Bitcoin Revenue Nearly Doubles From Previous Record

Payments company Square reported its second-quarter earnings Thursday, revealing $125 million in bitcoin sales through its Cash App, nearly doubling a record first quarter.

"During the quarter, bitcoin revenue benefited from increased volume as a result of the increase in the price of bitcoin, and generated $2 million of gross profit," the earnings report explains.

Founded by Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey, Square reported that bitcoin represented very nearly half of the total revenue on its Cash App, at $260 million, for the second quarter of 2019. Bitcoin costs, however, are listed at $122.9 million in the unaudited quarterly report, yielding the aforementioned $2 million in profit.

On an investor call Thursday afternoon announcing the numbers, Dorsey said:

The first quarter of 2019 was Square's best quarter for bitcoin at the time, with $65.5 million in revenue and $832,000 in profit. Clocking $125 million in sales in the second quarter, however, represents significant growth and a new record for the company. For comparison, the company reported $166 million in bitcoin sales in all of 2018.

With a net loss for the quarter of $6.7 million on $1.17 billion in total revenue, bitcoin remains a long way away from the center of Square's overall strategy. Transaction-based revenue in Q2 topped $775 million, according to the report.

The company sells bitcoin to users through its Cash App, a service that expanded to all 50 U.S. states in August 2018.

Earlier this week, the company clarified the role of Square Crypto, a project within the company created to make open-source contributions to the bitcoin protocol and ecosystem.

A senior research director at market intelligence firm CB Insights told CoinDesk he believes adding bitcoin is helping Square drive more usage from its customers.

"They don't really make a lot of money on it, but it is driving engagement," Chris Brendler said.

Jack Dorsey image via CoinDesk archives