Block Says Bitcoin Holdings Allow It to Study Technology’s Potential

One motivation for Block’s investment in bitcoin is to learn about the technology and how to use it.

The company invests 10% of its gross profit from bitcoin products each month into buying more bitcoin; allocates less than 3% of its resources to bitcoin-linked projects; and holds bitcoin on its own balance sheet, Bloomberg reported Thursday (June 27).

“It helps us understand what it means to custody bitcoin, what it means for our treasury teams out in the market buying bitcoin,” Amrita Ahuja, chief financial officer and chief operating officer at Block, told Bloomberg Television on Thursday, per the report.

Ahuja said during the interview that bitcoin could save consumers from the fees they currently pay to access and move money, and Block founder Jack Dorsey said recently that the technology could “level the playing field” for Block and for global consumers, according to the report.

During Thursday’s interview, Ahuja said: “We think that bitcoin is the likeliest contender to enable that vision, because it’s resilient, it’s been battle-tested, it’s secure.”

In May, Block’s first-quarter earnings results showed that its $200 million investment in bitcoin grew by around 160% and stood at $573 million at the quarter’s end.

In a shareholder letter released at the time, Dorsey said: “We believe the world needs an open protocol for money, one that’s not owned or controlled by any single entity. We believe bitcoin is the best and only candidate to be that protocol, and to ultimately become the native currency of the internet.”

In April, Block ecosystems Square and Cash App began rolling out a feature that allows eligible Square sellers to automatically convert a portion of their daily sales to bitcoin with Cash App.

“Block believes that bitcoin is an instrument of economic empowerment and provides a way for people around the world, including business owners, to participate in a global monetary system,” the company said when announcing this new feature.

The company added that Square sellers have expressed interest in bitcoin and said that it presents a range of uses cases, such as long-term savings and diversifying their business’ holdings.