Jack Dorsey announced he was stepping down as CEO of Twitter a few days ago. And it seems that he wants to focus more fully on blockchain, since his other company, Square, was renamed yesterday: it is now called Block.
Square becomes “Block “
The company announced the news in a statement yesterday. The Square name will continue to be used for the commerce services offered, including software for sellers and associated banking services. But the company as a whole is now called Block, to reflect the evolution Square has undergone:
The change confirms the company’s growth. Since its inception in 2009, it has added Cash App, TIDAL, and TBD54566975 as companies. The name change creates even more room to continue this development.
We’re changing our company name so we can give the full @Square brand to our Seller business. So now we need a name to tie @Square, @CashApp, @TIDAL, and @TBD54566975 together into one. That name is “Block.” Why? https://t.co/vVSKNnMUU3
– Square (@Square) December 1, 2021
Jack Dorsey confirms in the release that Block remains the same company as Square, and that its purpose is the same. It will continue to offer tools to “help drive access to the economy”. Square Crypto, the Bitcoin arm of the company, will be renamed Spiral.
A step closer to the blockchain?
While the release doesn’t specifically mention it, it is of course notable that Square chose this name. According to the company, it can reflect several things:
The name has a lot of associated meanings: you can see building blocks, blocks of houses with their local businesses, […] a blockchain, a section of code, and hurdles to overcome.
But the reference to cryptocurrencies is of course intentional. A few months ago, Jack Dorsey reiterated his strong commitment to Bitcoin, explaining:
I don’t think there’s anything more important in my life to work on. [If I wasn’t at Square or Twitter, I would be working on Bitcoin. If it needed more help than Square or Twitter, I would leave them for Bitcoin.
It’s hard not to see this rebranding as anything other than another step towards blockchain and cryptocurrencies for Jack Dorsey’s company. Especially since the company intends to adapt to the metaverse – with a thinly veiled reference to NFT
We’ve been working to make this change for over a year, and it only represents a change of our official corporate name; not our purpose, our vision, our structure, or how we operate. Shareholders: we aren’t changing our ticker symbol, we’re still $SQ pic.twitter.com/RdLXgZXkSO
– Square (@Square) December 1, 2021
Our logo is future-proof. It’s ready for the meta/hyper/omni or whatever you want it to be. It’s an interactive 3D object that dances rhythmically to music (… actually it’s just an mpeg, and no, it’s not for sale).
So we’ll be following Block’s progress very closely in the coming months…
