Square, a payment processing tech company owned by Jack Dorsey, just announced that it has obtained a New York BitLicense. Square App is just the seventh company to receive this approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services (NYDFS).
? Our customers in New York state can now buy and sell Bitcoin instantly with Cash App! https://t.co/4R0n5sbNpM ? pic.twitter.com/1WzjiQ751I
— Cash App (@CashApp) June 18, 2018
A Twitter user replied to the post with a question about sending and receiving Bitcoin and Cash Support responded to the question by saying:
You can currently send BTC from Cash App to an external wallet, and our team knows the feature request for receiving it to your Cash App is important one, so stay tuned for more on that front.
— Cash Support (@CashSupport) June 18, 2018
Square launched the trading of Bitcoin (BTC) on its “Cash App” at the beginning of this year. In the first four months of 2018, the app traded $34.1 million in BTC.
BitLisence is regarded as one of the hardest state virtual currency licenses to obtain and due to this, puts Square far ahead of its rival Venmo.
>> ItBit the First Regulated Crypto Exchange in the U.S
Cash App on the Rise
Since the beginning of 2016, Square Cash app downloads has averaged 128 percent year-over-year growth each month. Venmo only has 74 percent growth, according to Nomura Instinet.
Dan Dolev, Nomura Instinet analyst, told CNBC:
“That was one of the missing pieces in their [Square’s] puzzle. They had approval in most states, but New York was by far the biggest one where you couldn’t trade bitcoin.”
Dolev proceeded by saying that this announcement now gives individuals another excuse to download the app. Shares of Square have gone up 88 percent this year, and spiked yesterday.
Back in December of 2017, Square announced that it had 7 million active users on its Cash app. It would be interesting to see how much the downloads have grown since the beginning of the year, especially after this announcement today.
Featured Image: GoBank
