Not only Facebook, Square also changes its name: Block is born, an evolution in a blockchain key
The payments giant owned by Jack Dorsey, who has just left the leadership of Twitter, refines the strategy in an innovative way with a greater focus on the most advanced technologies
02 Dec 2021
Veronica Balocco
New baptism for Square, the payments giant owned by Jack Dorsey. Starting December 10, the platform will take the name “Block”, thus celebrating its latest evolution: a new focus on technologies such as blockchain, and the expansion beyond its original business as a credit card reader. Block will continue to trade with the SQ ticker on the New York Stock Exchange.
“We built the Square brand for our sales business,” said Dorsey, co-founder and CEO, in a statement. “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 Block “has many associated meanings for the company – it continues -: building blocks, neighborhood blocks and their local businesses, communities joining parties full of music, a blockchain, a section of code and obstacles to be overcome”. The news comes about a month after Facebook changed its name to Meta, to reflect CEO Mark Zuckerberg’s plan to build a virtual world called the metaverse. Google instead renamed itself Alphabet six years ago in a similar move to reflect other lines of business.
A path of evolution
Dorsey co-founded Square in 2009 with a focus on in-person payments and his eponymous card reader, which allows people to accept credit card payments on a smartphone. Since then, San Francisco-based Square has added a peer-to-peer digital banking and small business lending app, received a banking charter, and started offering cryptocurrency and stock trading. The company acquired buy-now-pay-after provider Afterpay and Jay-Z Tidal’s music streaming service. Bitcoin is also doubling down with a cryptocurrency-focused business called Tbd.
As part of the Square rebrand, Square Crypto, a separate part of the company “dedicated to the advancement of Bitcoin”, will change its name to Spiral.
Dorsey stepped down from his other job as Twitter CEO on Monday after managing both Twitter and Square since 2015. He said he believes Twitter is “ready to move” into new hands and will now have more time to devote to growing Square. . It is plausible that Dorsey will also devote himself more to his interest in cryptocurrencies.
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