UPDATED 21:26 EDT / NOVEMBER 15 2017

EMERGING TECH

Mobile payment company Square tests support for bitcoin in its app

Mobile payment company Square Inc. may be entering the bitcoin and cryptocurrency markets.

The company is conducting a trial of a program that allows select customers to buy and sell bitcoin via its Cash app. The service, offered through an app provided by the company that allows merchants to process credit card transactions without needing a cash register or point of sales system, is reported to allow both buying and selling of bitcoin.

It’s not yet clear whether the support extends to allowing users to accept bitcoin as a payment method through the app. That would be a logical step going forward given that the app’s primary role is that of a mobile payment platform.

“We’re always listening to our customers and we’ve found that they are interested in using the Cash app to buy bitcoin,” a company spokesperson told Forbes Tuesday. “We’re exploring how Square can make this experience faster and easier, and have rolled out this feature to a small number of Cash App customers. We believe cryptocurrency can greatly impact the ability of individuals to participate in the global financial system.”

The bitcoin support made available in the test has been described as basic. Users see a balance in dollars and bitcoin, a graph showing the price of bitcoin and buy and sell buttons.

The Square support comes as a boost for bitcoin at a time of internal division over the future of the cryptocurrency along with a growing number of international bans in countries such as RussiaChina and Vietnam.

As a result, bitcoin’s price has fluctuated rapidly over the last month. The Square endorsement, mild as it was, drove the price of the cryptocurrency up as much as 11 percent at point before profit takers entered the market. Bitcoin was trading at $7,136.87 as of 9:30 p.m. EST, well above a recent low of $5,617.69 last weekend but still below its previous record high of $7,721.98 set Nov. 2.

Image: Square

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