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Square's Cash App Generated $1.82 Billion of Bitcoin Revenue

The well-known payment giant Square released its third-quarter financial report, showing that the mobile payment application Cash App under Square achieved $1.82 billion in Bitcoin revenue.

Square Cash App generated $1.82 billion in Bitcoin revenue and $42 million in Bitcoin gross profit in the third quarter of 2021, both increased 11% and 29% year-on-year.

The report stated that part of the year-on-year growth came from the surge in the price of Bitcoin.

The volatility of Bitcoin’s price in the third quarter was much smaller than that of the previous quarter, which dropped from the previous all-time high (ATH) of nearly $63,000 to approximately $31,000 in the previous quarter. Most of the transaction prices are in the range of $30,000 to more than $50,000.

But compared to the previous quarter, Cash App’s Bitcoin revenue and gross profit have both declined. Square Cash App generated $2.72 billion in Bitcoin revenue and $55 million in Bitcoin gross profit in the second quarter of 2021, both increasing by about three times year-on-year.

Profits fell by 23% in the third quarter. The published report stated that this was due to “relative stability in the price of bitcoin, which affected trading activity compared to prior quarters.”

Cash App is a mobile payment service developed by Square, allowing users to transfer funds using a mobile app.

Square’s CEO Jack Dorsey announced on Twitter on November 3 that the cash app will now allow teenagers 13 years of age or older to conduct peer-to-peer transactions, as well as debit cards and bank services for teenagers.

But for the time being, it is not available to deposit checks or buy bitcoins for teenagers.

Aaron Rodgers, the American football quarterback of the Green Bay Packers of the National Football League (NFL), said on Twitter that he will accept bitcoin as part of his salary through square’s cash app on November 2.

Square Becomes Block a Week after Dorsey's Exit as Twitter CEO

Initially, a credit card-reader business, Square Inc renames itself as Block Inc as it plans to broaden its services towards blockchain, music, and cash transfers.

The name change of the payments giant co-founded by cryptocurrency fanatic Jack Dorsey – who quit as the CEO of Twitter earlier this week – will be effective from Dec 10, and the name of the seller product Square will remain the same. Also, the new corporate identity won’t lead to any organisational changes.

The company said in an announcement that the new name “acknowledges the company’s growth” and “creates room for further growth.”

The company’s stock ticker – SQ – will also stay the same.

“We built the Square brand for our Seller business, which is where it belongs,” Dorsey, co-founder and CEO, said 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.”

Founded in 2009, Square was introduced into the market focusing on in-person payments and its namesake card reader, which let people accept credit card payments on a smartphone.

Since then, the San Francisco-based firm has added a peer-to-peer digital banking app, and small business lending received a bank charter and began offering crypto and stock trading.

Block, in a statement, said that the name Block “has many associated meanings for the company — building blocks, neighbourhood blocks and their local businesses, communities coming together at block parties full of music, a blockchain, a section of code, and obstacles to overcome.”

While the company has purchased buy-now-pay-later provider Afterpay and Jay-Z’s music streaming service Tidal, it is also actively working on prioritising bitcoin with a crypto-focused business called TBD.

Square Crypto, a project aimed at advancing Bitcoin, will now be called Spiral.

In October, Dorsey tweeted that Square is considering building a Bitcoin-mining system based on custom silicon that could be used by people and companies worldwide.

In November, Square published a white paper describing plans for a decentralised cryptocurrency exchange for trading Bitcoin, fiat money or real-world goods.

Prior to Square, the same strategy was used by social media giant Meta Platforms Inc last month, when it changed its name from Facebook Inc to widen the focus from its flagship product.

Block Allows Cash App Users to Gift Bitcoin for the Holidays

This holiday season, Cash App users will be able to gift both crypto and stock to other users of the app.

“With Cash App, you can now send as little as $1 in stock or bitcoin. It’s as easy as sending cash, and you don’t need to own stock or bitcoin to gift it.” Cash App said via its official Twitter account.

The app, owned by Digital payments company Block – formerly called Square, joins other services like Stockpile, PayPal and Coinbase in allowing users to gift stocks and cryptocurrencies to third parties, respectively, but Cash App notes this is the first time such features have been offered in a peer-to-peer payments app.

Block also noted that Cash App users can now choose to split bills and repay friends by sending them stocks or bitcoin, not just cash.

On Nov 5, 2021, Blockchain.News reported that Cash App generated $1.82 billion in Bitcoin revenue and $42 million in Bitcoin gross profit in the third quarter of 2021, both increased 11% and 29% year-on-year.

The feature may potentially encourage more users to start investing and become owners of stocks or bitcoin via Cash App.

Blockchain.News reported on Dec 2, 2021, that Square Inc, initially a credit card-reader business, renamed itself as Block Inc as it plans to broaden its services towards blockchain, music, and cash transfers.

The name change of the payments giant co-founded by cryptocurrency fanatic Jack Dorsey – who quit as the CEO of Twitter – was effective from Dec 10.

H&R Block Sues Block for Trademark Infringement

Block Inc, previously called Square Inc, was sued by tax preparation company H&R Block Inc for trademark infringement.

H&R Block said in a press release that the fintech company “would improperly capitalize on the goodwill and consumer trust cultivated by Block since 1955”.

H&R Block is seeking a court order barring Block from using the name or green square logo.

According to H&R Block, the similarity in names would be overly confusing for consumers, especially given the two companies’ overlapping offerings.

H&R Block also stated that the company formerly known as Square, competes with it directly in financial services, including through its recent acquisition of Credit Karma Tax for tax preparation.

“Today’s filing is an important effort to prevent consumer confusion and ensure a competitor cannot leverage the reputation and trust we have built over more than six decades,” said H&R Block President and CEO Jeff Jones said in a statement.

While Block’s chief executive, Twitter Inc co-founder Jack Dorsey, said that the intention behind the name change earlier this month was a strategy to expand beyond its payment service into new areas, including blockchain.

H&R Block filed their complaint in Kansas City, Missouri, federal court.

H&R also pointed out in their complaint that it has referred to itself simply as “Block” in some advertisements since 2015. Hence, potentially leading to confusion for consumers due to the similarity in name.

Blockchain.News reported on Dec 15 that this holiday season, Block owned Cash App users will be able to gift both crypto and stock to other users of the app.

The app joins other services like Stockpile, PayPal and Coinbase in allowing users to gift stocks and cryptocurrencies to third parties, respectively, but Cash App notes this is the first time such features have been offered in a peer-to-peer payments app.

Dorsey's Block Sees Shares Close at More Than 8%, Marking 52-Week Low

Block shares closed down more than 8%, marking a 52-week low on Wednesday.

The digital payment firm, formally known as Square, saw a fall in stocks as part of a recent sell-off in growth names and risky assets amid concerns of Fed rate hikes.

Since changing its corporate name on December 1, 2021, to align with its increasing focus on blockchain, the company was down about 26%.

On the day Square publicly announced its name change to Block, bitcoin was trading at around $57,000, whereas a month later, the cryptocurrency is now trading at 19% below that level as of Wednesday afternoon.

A month after changing its name, Block’s stock has fallen from around $194 per share to about $144.

The CEO of Block, Jack Dorsey, is an avid proponent of cryptocurrency, often tweets bitcoin. The CEO planned to change the name from Square to Block.

Dorsey stepped down as CEO of Twitter to prioritise his efforts in Block.

“Our focus is on helping bitcoin to become the native currency for the internet,” Dorsey said during the company’s earnings call in November 2021.

According to a December 17, 2021, report by Blockchain.News, Block was sued by tax preparation company H&R Block Inc for trademark infringement.

H&R Block said in a press release that the fintech company “would improperly capitalise on the goodwill and consumer trust cultivated by Block since 1955”.

Dorsey's Payments Firm Block Starts to Begin Mining Bitcoin

Block Inc, formerly known as Square, will begin mining Bitcoin with its mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide.

Block’s co-founder Jack Dorsey first suggested the idea on October 15, 2021, and said mining needs to be more distributed and more efficient.

Thomas Templeton, Block’s general manager of hardware, explained Block’s future plans for this in a series of Twitter posts and hopes to improve the reliability and user experience of mining, making the process of creating bitcoin “from buying, to set up, to maintenance, to mining” more efficient.

The project is incubating in Block’s hardware team, which will work together with a core engineering team of system ASIC, and software designers led by Afshin Rezayee.

Templeton said the company is addressing major barriers to entry such as availability of miners, expensive and hard to find mining rigs, and unpredictable deliveries. The reliability of the miners are due to heat dissipation and dust and the machine can be unused every day which consumes a lot of time to restart and some mining rigs generate harmful harmonics in the grid and can generate a lot of noise at home.

Templeton tweeted that:

“All miners want lower power consumption and higher or this project, we started with evaluating various IP blocks (since we’re open to making a new ASIC), open-source miner firmware, and other system software offerings.”

Last year, Block Inc released its third-quarter financial report, showing that the mobile payment application Cash App under Square achieved $1.82 billion in Bitcoin revenue.

In another news from two days ago, Block Inc made a formal argument at a Missouri federal court stating that its new name won’t confuse potential customers with tax-preparation giant H&R Block who has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the financial-services company.

Public Will Not Confuse Name With H&R Block, Says Block

Block Inc, formerly known as Square, has made a formal argument at a Missouri federal court stating that its new name won’t confuse potential customers with tax-preparation giant H&R Block who has filed a trademark infringement lawsuit against the financial-services company.

San Francisco-based Block has also asked the court to throw out the lawsuit which was made in December 2021.

According to H&R Block, accusations were made on Block for stealing its name to “co-opt the reputation and goodwill that H&R Block has earned through decades of hard work.”

H&R Block’s complaint stated that consumers were likely to be confused due to the similarity in names of both the companies, Block’s Cash App logo – a rounded green square, which H&R Block argued was confusingly similar to its own green-square logo.

“While H&R Block may not like that it has to compete with a truly free income tax preparation service offered by an established business like Cash App, its appropriate recourse is to take on Cash App in the marketplace, not to fabricate trademark claims that are implausible on their face,” Block responded in its motion to dismiss the case.

On a Friday court filing, Block said that it doesn’t offer any customer-facing products under the Block name. To further support their claim on the name, Block argued that a reasonable consumer couldn’t confuse its competing tax-preparation product, Cash App Taxes, with H&R Block’s services.

Jack Dorsey – Block’s chief executive, Twitter co-founder and an avid proponent of cryptocurrency – announced the name change last month to align with its increasing focus on blockchain.

“Our focus is on helping bitcoin to become the native currency for the internet,” Dorsey said during the company’s earnings call in November 2021.

Block has strongly stated that the company doesn’t use the name on a competing product and it is merely a “house of brands” that includes services providers like Square, Cash App, and music-streaming service Tidal.

It also said its logo won’t cause confusion with H&R Block’s because of their visual differences.

According to a report by Blockchain.News, Block shares closed down more than 8%, marking a 52-week low on January 05, 2022, which was a fall in stocks as part of a recent sell-off in growth names and risky assets amid concerns of Fed rate hikes.

Since changing its corporate name on December 1, 2021, to align with its increasing focus on blockchain, the company was down about 26%, the report added.

Block's Q2 Earnings Beat Expectations

Block’s, formerly Square, second-quarter earnings report has exceeded expectations.

Payment firm Block generated $4.4 billion in total revenue in the second quarter of 2022, beating FactSet’s average analyst estimate of $4.3 billion. The company’s mobile payment app, Cash App, made $1.79 billion in bitcoin revenue.

Bitcoin-related revenue declined 6.6% year-on-year from last year’s second quarter due to the cryptocurrency market’s cold winter.

Earnings per share came in at 18 cents, beating analysts’ average estimate of 16 cents.

Cash App is a mobile payment service developed by Square, which allows users to transfer money using a mobile app.

However, Cash App’s bitcoin revenue and gross profit both declined compared to the previous quarter. Square Cash App generated $1.79 billion in bitcoin revenue and $41 million in bitcoin gross profit in Q2 2022, down 34% and 24%, respectively, year over year.

The released report said this was due to “a decline in consumer demand and the price of bitcoin, related in part to broader uncertainty around crypto assets, which more than offset the benefit of volatility in the price of bitcoin during the quarter.”

Although Bitcoin has recently suffered from the cryptocurrency winter, many companies holding it have sold it, such as tesla, but Square has opted to kept it.

As a result, there was a corresponding $36 million impairment on the intangible asset bitcoin investment. However, Square revealed that based on observations of market prices, the fair value of our investment in Bitcoin is as high as $160 million, which is still more than the $127 million above the book value of the investment as of June 30.

This January, Block Inc, formerly known as Square, will begin mining Bitcoin with its mining system based on custom silicon and open source for individuals and businesses worldwide.

Former CTO of Square and Creator of Cash App Dies in San Francisco Stabbing

Bob Lee, the former chief technology officer of Square and creator of Cash App, died on April 4, 2023, following a stabbing in San Francisco. Lee was a prominent figure in the tech industry, having contributed significantly to the development of Square and Cash App, two popular payment processing platforms. Lee’s death has come as a shock to the tech community, with many expressing their condolences on social media.

Bill Barhydt, the CEO of Abra, a leading crypto wallet company, confirmed Lee’s death on Twitter on April 5. Barhydt shared a report from a local media outlet that reported on Lee’s death but did not name him. However, Barhydt confirmed that it was indeed Bob Lee who had passed away. Barhydt expressed his grief and described Lee as a “brilliant mind” who had made significant contributions to the tech industry.

Jack Dorsey, the co-founder and CEO of Twitter, also expressed his condolences on the decentralized social media platform Nostr. Dorsey confirmed the news of Lee’s death and described it as “heartbreaking.” Many in the tech community have expressed their shock and sadness at the news of Lee’s untimely passing.

Lee’s contributions to the tech industry are significant, having played a pivotal role in the development of Square and Cash App. Square is a payment processing platform that allows small businesses to accept credit card payments. Cash App, on the other hand, is a mobile payment service that allows users to send and receive money. Lee was the chief technology officer of Square from 2009 to 2013 and is credited with playing a significant role in the company’s success.

Lee’s death has raised concerns about the safety of tech workers in San Francisco. The city has been grappling with rising crime rates, including a spate of violent incidents in recent months. Lee’s death is a tragic reminder of the need for increased security measures to protect the tech community.

In conclusion, Bob Lee’s passing is a significant loss to the tech industry. He was a talented and innovative individual who made significant contributions to the development of Square and Cash App. His untimely death is a reminder of the need for increased security measures to protect tech workers in San Francisco and other cities. The tech community will undoubtedly mourn his passing and remember his legacy.