Square reports high crypto sales in Q4 2018

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Square, the digital payment processor, said its earnings and revenue for the fourth quarter that topped analytic expectations but fell short of on guidance. The company released the report on Wednesday 27. The company fell nearly 6% at $74 per share in after-hours trading because the revenue was weaker than expected.

Per the company’s recent Shareholder Letter, the company sold $52 million worth of Bitcoin Core (BTC). This means that throughout 2018, the company sold $166 million worth of the cryptocurrency. This is not a small amount, because the price of BTC fell from a high of $17,000 to a low of $3,150. Reportedly, Square does not hold much BTC, yet it was able to make about $1.7 million in net profit trading the crypto last year.

As reported by The Block, Square said that its adjusted earnings were 14 cents a share, up 75% from last year. The revenue rose by 64% to $464 million, including all acquisitions. A year earlier, Square earnings were 8 cents a share on sales of $283 million. Analysts expected Square earnings of 13 cents on sales of $454 million for the period ended Dec. 31

While speaking to reporters, Jack Dorsey, co-founder, and CEO of Square and Twitter stated that most of the revenue came from products that were launched in the last five years. He added:

“Bitcoin for us is not stopping at buying and selling; we do believe this is a transformation technology for our industry and gives people more access to the financial system, so we are going to have a learning mindset and ensure we are learning and leading the industry from here.”

Square helped customers buy and sell BTC on its Cash App platform, a rival to PayPal’s Venmo. Dorsey strongly believes that the big sales a “transformation technology” that will give the worlds more access to financial institutions. He adds that the internet deserves a native currency. 

This report marked the first without the longtime CFO, Sarah Friar. She left the company last October citing personal reasons. Last month, the company named former Activision Blizzard executive Amrita Ahuja as her replacement.