Jack Dorsey's Square adds 4,709 Bitcoin to its balance sheet

They went so far as to refer to cryptocurrency as "An instrument of economic empowerment."

In a surprise move, Square announced the acquisition of 4,709 Bitcoin worth roughly $50 million at time of publication.

The company's co-founder Jack Dorsey has been a long-term proponent of Bitcoin and crypto, while the company's CashApp allows its users to invest in Bitcoin.

This news comes months after another publicly traded company, MicroStrategy, decided to convert a portion of its treasury into Bitcoin.

Currently, the company holds 38,250 BTC and its CEO Michael Saylor has become one of the most vocal Bitcoin advocates.

Though MicroStrategy is a large company in its own right with a $1.5 billion market capitalization, it pales in comparison to Square, which holds an $81 billion capitalization.

"Square believes that cryptocurrency is an instrument of economic empowerment and provides a way for the world to participate in a global monetary system, which aligns with the company's purpose."

Bitcoin is direct activism against an unverifiable and exclusionary financial system which negatively affects so much of our society.

Important to at *least* acknowledge and connect the related societal issues your customers face daily.

The press release noted the investment represents approximately 1% of Square's "Assets as of the end of the second quarter of 2020." As of June 30, the company's total assets amounted to $7.8 billion, so the acquisition may represent closer to 0.64% of the company's assets.