Square, the US payment service co-founded and run by Twitter chief executive Jack Dorsey, bought some 3,318 Bitcoins for $170 million , the company has announced.
In a statement after the stock market closed, the company called it “part of an ongoing commitment to the cryptocurrency.”
Square had previously acquired Bitcoins for 50 million dollars, and is also looking to integrate the digital currency into its payment services, dpa reported.
Square’s shares fell sharply in after-hours trading, despite the company more than doubling revenue in the latest quarter and beating market expectations with its annual report.
Interest in bitcoin from major companies has surged recently, fuelling an extraordinary price rally.
US electric carmaker Tesla invested 1.5 billion dollars in Bitcoin, while financial groups such as Mastercard announced plans to open up to digital assets.
After Bitcoin’s high, it appeared to fall steeply downhill at the start of this week: on Tuesday, the price temporarily fell below 45,000 dollars, after a record high of 58,354 dollars had been marked at the weekend.
In the longer term, however, the price gains remain spectacular – a year ago, one Bitcoin cost less than 10,000 dollars.
