Square Receives NY BitLicense, Cash App Now Offers BTC Trading for New York Users

Financial services provider Square has received a BitLicense from the New York Department of Financial Services (NYDFS), according to a press release published today, June 18. As a result, Bitcoin (BTC) trading is now available to New York users of Square’s Cash App, according to Cash App’s Twitter.

Cash App released a Bitcoin option at the end of January to almost all of its users, originally excluding those in New York, Georgia, and Hawaii. With Square’s Point of Sale (PoS) network, adding a Bitcoin option means that merchants using Square could potentially accept Bitcoin as a form of payment.

The Cash App support team noted on Twitter that while users can currently send Bitcoin to an external wallet, they can’t currently send it to other Cash App users on the platform.

Jack Dorsey, CEO of both Square and Twitter, tweeted about the addition of Bitcoin trading for New York users earlier today:

Buy and sell bitcoin right in Cash App...now in New York! https://t.co/sIvlVoSXun

In mid-May Dorsey said that he remains bullish about cryptocurrency’s future, stating that while he is not sure whether it will be Bitcoin, he thinks that crypto will become the Internet’s native currency.

Barry Silbert, founder and CEO of the Digital Currency Group and Genesis Global Trading, today revealed a partnership between Genesis and Square in a congratulatory tweet to Dorsey regarding Square’s BitLicense:

Finally get to publicly disclose the partnership that Genesis built over the past year with @Square. It's been fantastic to collaborate with @jack and his team https://t.co/9Kvq5EAaIh

Historically, the state of New York has strictly regulated crypto; the implementation of the BitLicense in 2015 drove many large crypto exchanges out of the state. However, the recent approval of crypto exchange Gemini’s BitLicense, as well as Square’s New York crypto expansion, shows New York heading in a more crypto-friendly direction.