Jack Dorsey-led payments firm Block earned $66 million in gross profit from selling Bitcoin (BTC) through Cash App, increasing a whopping 90% from the prior year.
On Feb. 22, Block released its earnings report for the fourth quarter, which saw the total sale amount of BTC sold to customers (shown as Bitcoin revenue) at $2.5 billion, up 37% year-over-year in Q4.
Full-year results paint a similar picture of growth, with Bitcoin revenue standing at $9.5 billion, up 34% year-on-year, while Bitcoin gross profit was up 31% to $205 million.
“Cash App aims to become one of the top providers of banking services to households in the United States which earn up to $150,000 per year,” said Block CEO Jack Dorsey in a statement.
Cash App is a mobile payment service that allows individuals to transfer money through their smartphones or browsers. Cash App enables users to easily buy, sell, send and receive BTC with their linked cards or cash balances.
Cash App, meanwhile, generated a total gross profit of $1.18 billion in Q4, up 25% year over year.
The increase in Bitcoin revenue and gross profit has been driven by an increase in the average market price of BTC as well as a benefit from the price appreciation of Block’s BTC inventory during the quarter.
The company holds 8,027 BTC worth around $413 million at current market prices, according to CoinGecko.
During a fourth-quarter earnings call, Amrita Ahuja, the company’s chief operating officer and chief financial officer, said:
“Improvement from the third quarter was driven by a number of factors, including an increase in Bitcoin gross profit from pricing changes implemented during the quarter.”
Related: Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc launches self-custody Bitcoin wallet
Shares in Block surged 5.4% after its earnings report exceeded analyst estimates.
Block posted $2.02 billion in gross profit for the period, up 22% from the same quarter in 2022. Its gross profit for all of 2023 was $7.5 billion, up 25% from the previous year.
The firm reported full-year adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) of $1.79 billion, beating its own guidance of $1.66 billion to $1.68 billion.
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