PayPal’s Venmo is losing favor to Square’s cryptocurrency-integrated payments application Cash, according to data collated by Japan’s Nomura Instinet and research firm Sensor Tower.
Cash vs. Venmo
A brief glance at various forums indicates that Cash has more than 33.5 million downloads, with 80,000 reviews on the Apple App Store and 35,000 on Google Play. Alternatively, Venmo only has 32.9 million downloads across all platforms and significantly fewer reviews.
Cash also grew three times faster than Venmo in July, a month where Coinbase enjoyed similar significant growth.
While PayPal maintains a strict stance on cryptocurrencies, its subsidiary Venmo made its peer-to-peer platform a priority in 2018. Now, Venmo and Cash aim to introduce new features to attract more users in a bid to leverage and monetize their increased user base.
In this regard, Square has arguably beaten PayPal by integrating a “convenience-first” framework–the firm made Cash a primary feature of Caviar, its successful food delivery venture, alongside making payments in Bitcoin possible for other micro-transactions such as buying groceries or gasoline.
Additionally, Square merchants have an in-app option to more trans payroll deposits to employees, thus creating a robust framework for small businesses.
For the uninitiated, the Cash App allows peer-to-peer transfers and accepts card payments for small businesses. The company claims over $250 million was transferred in Q2 2018 alone.
Crypto-Move Leading to Increased Stock
The gamble to integrate cryptocurrencies within its framework has resulted in increased stock market sentiment for Square. Dan Dolev, an analyst with Nomura Instinet, believes the company’s shares can increase by “2 to 3 percent” of the adjusted net revenues in 2018. The trader cited Sensor Tower’s study for reaching his conclusion.
Dolev also revealed a client note this week that pegged Square’s value at $100 million in sales by as early as 2020, regardless of the company’s efforts to gain a more active clientele.
Earlier this month, Square announced an ambitious plan to roll out bitcoin trading to all 50 U.S. states, tapping into a user base of millions of people. Also, users can purchase and sell bitcoin from vendors.
Dolev strongly believes Square’s stock growth is more than a mere “Bitcoin play,” citing its increased download rate despite 2018’s prolonged bear market.
He added:
“This relationship seems to go both ways. While Bitcoin prices increased in July and Coinbase downloads accelerated 11 percent, Cash App downloads remained stable at 154 percent, showing little variance from prior months’ growth rates.”
Interestingly, Square was founded by Twitter CEO Jack Dorsey in 2011. Dorsey earlier stated that Bitcoin would be the internet’s “single currency.” How soon his prediction comes to be true remains to be seen.
The post Bitcoin-Friendly Square’s Cash App Grows in Favor Despite Bear Market appeared first on CryptoSlate.
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