FinTech News

Square Inc. to Become Block as FinTech Continues to Diversify

Since its debut in 2009, the FinTech Square has certainly evolved. Making a name for itself with its small business POS and payment platforms, the company has since entered into the worlds of peer-to-peer payments, cryptocurrencies, and even music streaming. Now, in a move meant to acknowledge this evolution, Square is changing its corporate name.

This week, it was revealed that Square, Inc. will soon become Block, Inc. The company expects to legally be known as Block, Inc. “on or about” December 10th. Meanwhile, despite the name change, the FinTech’s stock ticker symbol will remain $SQ.

Although Square Inc. will be going three-dimensional with its moniker, the Square seller platform will retain its name. Similarly, the popular Cash App will remain a part of Block alongside the recently-acquired Tidal streaming platform. However, the formerly-named Square Crypto (which is dedicated to advancing Bitcoin) will now be known as Spiral.

In a statement about the change to Block, Dorsey stated, “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.” He added, “No matter how we grow or change, we will continue to build tools to help increase access to the economy.” Elsewhere, offering more insight into the name choice, the company’s press release explained, “The name has many associated meanings for the company — building blocks, neighborhood blocks and their local businesses, communities coming together at block parties full of music, a blockchain, a section of code, and obstacles to overcome.”

Block’s announcement, while ultimately unrelated, will inevitably be tied to recent developments at two other companies. The first is Facebook, which made headlines when it renamed itself Meta. Similar to how the Square platform is keeping its name while the parent company’s changes, the Facebook social network itself is retaining its now-iconic name. The other social media site linked to this news is Twitter, where Jack Dorsey — the CEO of what will now be Block — stepped down from his other CEO role earlier this week.

Square’s move to Block makes a lot of sense seeing as the company has continued to diversify its business in recent years. Moreover, with cryptocurrency (specifically Bitcoin) making up a larger part of its focus, the Block name — which calls to mind the blockchain technology that crypto is built on — is fitting. Of course, it also helps that Block is a less mockable moniker than Meta. In any case, regardless of what it’s called, there’s no doubt that Block will continue to be a major force in FinTech going forward.