Square的比特幣交易業務：接盤容易，盈利很難
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上周三下午，美國移動支付公司Square在季報中披露了其比特幣業務的經營狀況，情況可以說喜憂參半。可喜的是，公司上季度從比特幣相關業務中收入3400萬美元。可憂的是，Square公司一開始收購比特幣時也花了差不多同樣的錢，收支相抵，所差無幾。 Square公司最成熟的業務是提供給小商戶的信用卡收款機。今年1月，在經過短暫測試后，該公司在其點對點支付業務Square Cash中推出了比特幣的購幣功能。 該業務一經推出就吸引了不少人的關注，比特幣業務收入迅速攀升到了該公司總收入的近5%。不過最近的成績表明，這項業務在早期階段或許很難實現營利。先讓我們看看該公司的收入構成： |
Square shed light on the state of its fledgling Bitcoin business in its earnings report last?Wednesday afternoon. The good news for the payment company is that it pulled in $34 million of Bitcoin-related revenue last quarter—the bad news is that Square spent nearly as much to acquire Bitcoin in the first place. Square, which is best known for its dongle that helps small merchants accept credit cards, began officially offering Bitcoin purchases within its peer-to-peer payment service, Square Cash, in January, following a brief test program. The Bitcoin trading service appears to be gaining some traction, accounting for nearly 5% of Square’s overall revenue. But the results suggest the company may be struggling to make a profit in the venture’s early days. Here’s a breakdown from the company’s income statement: |
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光看收入一項，Square公司到目前為止從比特幣業務中獲取的收入極其微薄，通過銷售其購入的比特幣獲得的收入僅有22.3萬元，收益比僅有0.66%。 與此同時，Square很有可能實際上已經在比特幣業務上虧了一些錢。從季報上看，今年第一季度結束時，Square持有的比特幣的價值已經從2017年末的30萬美元下跌到了20萬美元。Square公司承認了其比特幣業務稍有虧損，不過損失額度不值得一提。該公司在季報中寫道：“今年前三個月（截止至3月31日），比特幣業務的虧損是微不足道的。” Square的比特幣業務所面臨的艱難處境，也非是因為它在2017年年末開始的“比特幣狂潮”中高位接盤所致，跟普通散戶所犯的錯誤并無二致。Square公司在其季報中指出：“公司從公開的數字加密貨幣交易所和其他客戶處購入了比特幣。” 季報中所指的數字加密貨幣交易所包括美國最大的交易所Coinbase，也包括Kraken、Circle等海外數字加密貨幣交易機構。 從去年年底開始，比特幣的幣值橫遭腰斬，損失五成以上。而Square也正是在價格高位上入手的比特幣。 在推出比特幣業務之后，Square的股價曾一度提振，然而隨著比特幣幣值一路下跌，它在投資者眼中的光環也迅速褪去了。上周一，一位知名的做空投資人公開嘲笑了Square的戰略，大意是說“華爾街的讓搞比特幣的忽悠瘸了”。Square的股價也因此言論應聲下跌了3.8%。 由于遠期收益指標低于預期，在上周三的盤后交易中，Square的股價再次下跌超過6%。今年一季度，Square的每股收益為6美分。 現在就給Square比特幣業務的前景蓋棺定論似乎還為時過早，畢竟數字加密貨幣交易市場仍處于襁褓階段。此外，包括知名股票交易應用Robinhood在內的一些大牌金融機構也正在采取類似動作進軍數字加密貨幣市場。（財富中文網） 譯者：Min |
Looking at revenue alone, Square appears to have made only a tiny return on Bitcoin so far, making just $223,000 more from selling Bitcoin than it paid to buy the cryptocurrency—a return of only 0.66%. But Square may actually have lost money on its cryptocurrency business so far. The value Square recorded for its Bitcoin holdings was only $200,000 at the end of the first quarter, down from the $300,000 they were worth at the end of 2017, according to the company’s quarterly report. Square acknowledged that it had taken a small hit on Bitcoin, though not enough to merit recording an impairment charge: “Losses on Bitcoin for the three months ended March 31, 2018 were insignificant,” the company wrote in the report. Square’s difficulties may stem in part from an ongoing slump in Bitcoin prices since the boom of late 2017, and in its strategy for acquiring it—which is similar to how the average person would buy Bitcoin. As Square explains in the earnings report, the “company purchases Bitcoin from public cryptocurrency exchanges or from customers.” Public exchanges for buying cryptocurrency include Coinbase, the largest U.S. exchange, as well as Kraken, Circle and other foreign exchanges. Bitcoin prices have fallen more than 50% since the end of last year, around the same time Square started buying the cryptocurrency in earnest. While Square’s stock price initially rose on news of its Bitcoin business, the sheen among investors may have worn off. On last?Monday, the stock briefly fell 3.8% after a prominent short-seller belittled the strategy as “Wall Street drunk on Bitcoin nonsense.” In after hours trading on last?Wednesday, Square shares were down over 6% in response to future earnings guidance that fell lower than expected. In the first quarter, the company posted earnings of 6 cents a share. It’s likely too soon, however, to gauge the overall prospects of Square’s foray into Bitcoin. The market is still nascent in many respects and other prominent financial brands, including the popular millennial stock-buying app Robinhood, are making similar moves into cryptocurrency. |
