Payments company Square tests bitcoin buying and selling

Square says its customers have shown an appetite for the 'alt-currency'

Payments company Square said it has started allowing select customers to buy and sell bitcoins on its Cash app, as it looks to tap into a craze that has sent the cryptocurrency up nearly sevenfold this year.

For the most part though, institutional investors have stayed away from bitcoin BTC=BTSP, the original and largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalisation, despite outperforming all the world’s traditional currencies.

But Square, best known for its technology that allows merchants to process credit card transactions without a cash register or expensive system, says its customers have shown an appetite for the “alt-currency.”

“We’re always listening to