Jack Dorsey’s Square rebrands to “Block”, plans to expand beyond payments

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Square Inc., the fintech giant, is changing its corporate name to Block Inc. as the company focuses on expanding beyond its original credit card-reader business.

The name, which will become effective from December 10, reflects the company’s plans to push beyond core sales and payment products into areas such as music, financial transfers, and blockchain technology.

According to the payment company led by former Twitter CEO, Jack Dorsey, the new name “acknowledges the company’s success” and “creates opportunity for further expansion.”

Although Block will continue to trade under the ticker SQ on the New York Stock Exchange, the company’s various businesses, including Tidal, Cash App, TBD, and, of course, Square, will be merged under the new name. According to reports, plans to rebrand the company has been in the works for about a year.

According to the firm, which was co-founded and is led by Bitcoin enthusiast Jack Dorsey, it will keep the name Square for its primary product, and there will be no organizational changes as a result of the new corporate brand.

Jack Dorsey's Square changes its corporate name to "Block" as begin plans to expands beyond payments.
Square’s CEO, Jack Dorsey

In a press release, Dorsey said, “We built the Square brand for our seller business, which is where it belongs, 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. “

This announcement comes only days after Square CEO, Jack Dorsey, stepped down as CEO of Twitter, which he also co-founded.

Dorsey has long desired to transform the company from a digital-payments company into a larger corporation with a number of other business segments. 

Square recently purchased Tidal, the music streaming business founded by musician Jay-Z. It also recently launched TBD54566975, a financial services subsidiary focusing on Bitcoin.

The Cash App, a consumer payments and investing tool, and Square, the company’s first sales and register service for small businesses, are also owned by the San Francisco-based firm.

The name “Block” is a clue to the company’s expanding interest in blockchain and cryptocurrency. Square Crypto, the company’s project aimed at advancing Bitcoin, will now also be called Spiral.

The name is derived from a variety of sources, as Square’s announcement describes. “Building blocks, neighbourhood blocks and their local businesses, community coming together at block parties full of music, a blockchain, a chunk of code, and barriers to overcome, were some of the inspiration.

Similar name change 

Square isn’t the first large tech firm to rebrand this year. As Facebook faced growing criticism in the press and in Congress, the company updated its corporate branding to Meta just over a month ago. 

Jack Dorsey's Square changes its corporate name to "Block" as it expands beyond payments.

However, like Square, Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg believed that the Facebook brand didn’t adequately represent the company’s expansion to include products such as Instagram, WhatsApp, Horizon, and Quest.

Following Dorsey’s resignation from Twitter earlier this week, it was speculated that he would devote more time to Square, now called Block, and its efforts to expand into other businesses and popularize digital currencies and blockchain technology. 

Dorsey has stepped up Square’s efforts in various cryptocurrency-related sectors in recent months. 

He tweeted in October that Square is investigating developing a Bitcoin-mining device built on bespoke silicon that could be utilized by individuals and businesses all across the world.

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