Twitter co-founder Jack Dorsey announced that his fintech firm Block will allocate 10% of its gross profit from Bitcoin products to purchase BTC every month. In a shareholder letter discussing the company’s strong first-quarter results, Dorsey stated, “Each month, we will be investing 10% of our gross profit from Bitcoin products into Bitcoin purchases.” He also highlighted that Block was one of the first public companies to include Bitcoin in its balance sheet, having acquired $220 million worth of BTC between the fourth quarter of 2020 and the first quarter of 2021.
As of March 31, Block held 8,038 BTC, valued at approximately $573 million, with reported paper gains of $233 million. The firm’s Bitcoin gross profit for the first quarter of 2024, generated through customer sales via its Cash App business, surged by nearly 60% year-on-year to $80.1 million. Around 10% of this amount could be used to purchase approximately 1,350 BTC at the current price of $59,250.
Block’s Bitcoin revenue, which includes the sales amount of Bitcoin sold to its customers, increased by 26% year-on-year to $2.73 billion in Q1. The company attributed this growth to the rising average market price of Bitcoin during the quarter.
Dorsey emphasized his deep involvement with Bitcoin, stating, “I’m spending so much time on Bitcoin,” and expressing his belief that “the world needs an open protocol for money.” He suggested that such a protocol could benefit Block by enabling it to serve a larger global audience at a faster pace. However, Dorsey noted that less than 3% of the company’s resources are dedicated to Bitcoin-related projects.
In December 2023, Block launched the Bitkey Bitcoin wallet and recently announced its plans to build a “full Bitcoin mining system” to support miners after the Bitcoin halving, which reduced rewards by 50%.
Dorsey concluded by stating, “The internet will have a native currency; it’s just a matter of time.” He acknowledged that this transition will not happen overnight and that existing and emerging financial systems will coexist for some time.
Image: Block’s Bitcoin results and sales of Bitcoin to customers for Q1 2024 and Q1 2023. Source: Block
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