Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey invests $50M in Bitcoin

US-based payments company Square, founded by Jack Dorsey, acquires 4,709 Bitcoin, with its officials saying Bitcoin has the potential to be a more "ubiquitous currency" in the future.

Jack Dorsey's Square has become the second publicly listed company after MicroStrategy to invest in Bitcoin.
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Jack Dorsey's Square has become the second publicly listed company after MicroStrategy to invest in Bitcoin.

Jack Dorsey – chief of Twitter and US-based payments company Square – has purchased around 4,709 Bitcoin at an aggregate purchase price of $50 million.

Announcing the news on Thursday, Square said it believes that cryptocurrency "is an instrument of economic empowerment and provides a way for the world to participate in a global monetary system, which aligns with the company’s purpose."

The investment represents approximately one percent of Square's total assets as of the end of the second quarter of 2020.

Dorsey shared the company statement from his Twitter handle.

"And FAR more important than that is us investing directly in open source development with @sqcrypto, opening access to patents with COPA (open-patent.org), and making #bitcoin more accessible and useful to millions of people with @CashApp," Square founder wrote.

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'Ubiquitous currency'

The company launched bitcoin trading in 2018 with Cash App, which enables the buying and selling of bitcoin.

In 2019, the company formed Square Crypto, an independent team solely focused on contributing to bitcoin open-source work for the benefit of all, and also recently launched the Cryptocurrency Open Patent Alliance (COPA), a non-profit organization encouraging crypto innovation and opening access to patented crypto inventions.

READ MORE: Is the US ready to compete with China over digital currency supremacy?

"We believe that Bitcoin has the potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the future," said Square’s Chief Financial Officer, Amrita Ahuja. 

"As it grows in adoption, we intend to learn and participate in a disciplined way. For a company that is building products based on a more inclusive future, this investment is a step on that journey."

READ MORE: Facebook's Libra prospects dim, but cryptocurrencies roll on

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