Square increases bitcoin stake with additional $170 million investment

• Square purchased 3,318 bitcoin at an aggregate purchase price of $170 million, the company announced on Tuesday.
• Bitcoin represents about 5% of Square's total cash, cash equivalents and marketable securities as of the end of last year.
• The company's bitcoin investment is a reflection of CEO Jack Dorsey's bullish stance on cryptocurrencies.
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Payments company Square purchased 3,318 bitcoins at an aggregate purchase price of $170 million, it announced on Tuesday.

Adding to its October 2020 purchase of 4,709 bitcoins for $50 million, the cryptocurrency now represents about 5% of Square's total cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities as of the end of last year.

In its fourth-quarter earnings call, Square stated that cryptocurrency is a growing part of its business, particularly through Cash App, its mobile payment service that allows users to invest in bitcoin. CEO Jack Dorsey in the past has said he intends to make bitcoin more accessible and useful through the platform.

"The investment is part of Square's ongoing commitment to bitcoin, and the company plans to assess its aggregate investment in bitcoin relative to its other investments on an ongoing basis," the company said.

The San Francisco-based company's bitcoin investment reflects Dorsey's bullish stance on cryptocurrencies.

Earlier this month, Dorsey, a long-time bitcoin advocate who believes it will be the world's "single currency," announced a partnership with Jay-Z to start a bitcoin endowment that will focus on developing the cryptocurrency in India and Africa.

"It'll be set up as a blind irrevocable trust, taking zero direction from us," Dorsey said on Twitter earlier.

In January, Dorsey, through a 4,600-word open letter, criticized the US government's plan to regulate cryptocurrency.

The announcement also comes not long after the peak of bitcoin's record-setting rally in February. The price of a single bitcoin is hovering around $50,000, though the cryptocurrency last week breached the $58,000-level and hit a $1 trillion market capitalization for the first time.