Square’s Cash App Eyes Expansion into Free Stock Trading: Report

Square"s Cash App is reportedly testing a free stock trading service, which would pit it against Robinhood"s mobile app. | Source: AFP PHOTO / JUSTIN TALLIS

Square’s Cash App is reportedly testing a free stock trading service.

A report published by Bloomberg claims that the publication has seen a video demonstrating the product’s features. According to an anonymous source cited in the report, the platform has been in testing for several weeks. A launch date for the service is purportedly yet to be decided.

Should Cash App launch a free stock trading service, the company would be entering into direct competition with Robinhood Markets, which has recently been valued at $7.6 billion.

In a letter to shareholders issued during Q2, Square estimated that Cash App generated $135 million in revenue excluding BTC sales.

At the start of February 2019, Cash App ranked as the second most popular application on the Apple App Store. Three months earlier, the company estimated its monthly active user base to be 15 million.Cash App Launched Bitcoin Trading in 2018

After beginning as a platform solely facilitating the sending and receiving of fiat currency, Cash App expanded to offer bitcoin (BTC) buying and selling services early last year.

The service rolled out bitcoin trading to all states excluding New York, Georgia, Hawaii, and Wyoming during January 2018. Within eight months, Cash App users could from all 50 U.S. states were able to trade BTC.Red, white, and bitcoin. Now you can use Cash App to buy bitcoin in all 50 states. pic.twitter.com/D4fhVRz7WL

— Cash App (@CashApp) August 13, 2018

Square Sets Sights on “Marking the Crypto Ecosystem Better”

In a recent interview with Australian Financial Review, Jack Dorsey, the CEO and founder of Square, revealed that the company was hiring “five open-source engineers to work entirely on making the crypto ecosystem better.”

Dorsey predicted that the internet “will have a native currency” but asserted that bitcoin should not be considered a currency:“It’s not functional as a currency. The peaks and troughs are like an investment asset and are equivalent to gold. What we need to do is make it more usable and accessible as a currency, but it’s not there yet.”

Square has not yet responded to CCN’s request for comment.

Last modified (UTC): September 13, 2019 7:33 PMcash app Jack Dorsey square