Square, Jack Dorsey’s digital payments company, is renaming itself as Block in a move towards broadening its cryptocurrency and blockchain offering.
Effective as of December 10, the name change marks a recategorisation of the apps under Square’s portfolio.
Block will incorporate Square, which remains the same credit card reader business, as well as payment platform Cash App and Jay-Z’s music streaming service Tidal.
“We built the Square brand for our seller business, which is where it belongs,” Dorsey explained.
“Block is a new name, but our purpose of economic empowerment remains the same. No matter how we grow or change, we will continue to build tools to help increase access to the economy.”
The name change comes just days after Dorsey stepped down as Twitter’s CEO, suggesting a shift of the Silicon Valley visionary’s focus towards Block.
A vocal advocate of blockchain, Dorsey firmly believes in its ability to democratise finance and improve lives around the world.
Whilst the new identity won’t lead to any organisational changes, the company has said it “acknowledges the company’s growth” and “creates room for further growth”. The company’s stock ticker – SQ – will remain the same.
Founded in 2009, Square launched a card reader orientated towards small businesses that let people accept card payments with a smartphone.
Block tweeted that its name “has many associated meanings for the company — building blocks, neighbourhood blocks and their local businesses, communities coming together at block parties full of music, a blockchain, a section of code, and obstacles to overcome”.
Also under the Block web is Square Crypto, a project aimed at advancing Bitcoin adoption, which is being renamed to Spiral.
The name change is another high profile rebrand along the lines of Facebook’s change to Meta in October, albeit surrounded in less controversy.
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