PAYMENTS FIRM SQUARE BUYS US$170M WORTH OF BITCOINS

Jack Dorsey’s payments firm Square Inc said on Tuesday it had bought around 3,318 bitcoins for US$170 million, raising its bets on the world’s biggest cryptocurrency that has started gaining mainstream acceptance as prominent business leaders signal support. Square’s purchases in the fourth quarter suggested that it paid around US$51,000 per bitcoin. The price slipped to below

US$47,000 earlier in the day amid a broader market downturn. Shares of the company, which allows buying and selling of bitcoin on its Cash App, fell 6 per cent after the bell. Institutional interest in the cryptocurrency has vaulted it to the mainstream. Square said revenue in the quarter more than doubled to US$3.16 billion, helped by a jump in online payments.