Payment firm Square rebrands to Block as focus shifts to cryptocurrency

Digital payment firm Square headed by Jack Dorsey has announced that it will rebrand to “Block,” its official name starting on December 10. The company’s change in identity aims to focus more on decentralized and blockchain technology.

Square prepares broader push into blockchain

According to the payment company, the name change has been in the works for the past year. Jack Dorsey, the CEO of Block stated that the ‘Square’ brand was built for its seller business and that the new name will continue to reflect the firm’s purpose of economic empowerment. 

Square was built in 2009 by Dorsey with a focus on in-person payments and enabling people to accept credit cards on a smartphone. The company received a bank charter and also began offering cryptocurrency and stock trading services. 

The company’s announcement explained that there will be no organizational changes in the firm. The name change highlights the corporate entity from its businesses and “building blocks.” According to the firm, the name ‘Block’ associates with a number of meanings, including neighborhood blocks, local businesses, communities, block parties and blockchain.

The cryptocurrency-focused branch of the payment company, Square Crypto, will be changing its name to Spiral. 

The rebranding with a shift in focus toward blockchain and cryptocurrencies comes two days after Jack Dorsey stepped down from his CEO position at Twitter. He stated that while he was saddened to leave the social media firm, “yet really happy.” Speculation arose that he will be focusing on Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies. 

Recently, Facebook also rebranded, changing its name to Meta to reflect the company’s plan to build a virtual world, a “metaverse.” 

Block will continue to trade under the ticker, SQ, on the New York Stock Exchange.