


It also wrote in its report that Block "embraced predatory offerings and compliance worst practices in order to fuel growth and profit from facilitation of fraud against consumers and the government." Block responded to the allegations in a press release saying, "We intend to work with the SEC and explore legal action against Hindenburg Research for the factually inaccurate and misleading report they shared about our Cash App business today". Hindenburg's accusations of Block included exaggerating user counts, failing to curb fraud and illegal activity on Cash App, and permitting impersonation of high-profile individuals. On March 23, 2023, investment research firm Hindenburg Research disclosed a short position in Block, leading to a 15% drop in the company's shares that day. On January 31, 2022, Block completed its acquisition of Afterpay. However, on December 16, less than a week into the rebrand, H&R Block, sued the company for trademark infringement, claiming that the name seeks to confuse customers by misappropriating the Block brand name, which H&R owns. On December 10, 2021, the name change took effect, and Square, Inc.

The change was announced shortly after Dorsey resigned as CEO of Twitter. On December 1, 2021, Square announced that it would change its company name to Block, Inc. Jay-Z, as well as other artists who currently own stock in Tidal, will remain stakeholders. Square paid $297 million in cash and stock for Tidal, with Jay-Z joining the company's board of directors. On March 2, 2021, Square reached an agreement to acquire majority ownership in Tidal. The company purchased approximately 3,318 bitcoins in February 2021 for a cost of around $170 million, bringing Square's total holdings to around 8,027 bitcoins (equivalent to around US$500 million in 2021, around US$190 million as of February 2023). In October 2020, Square put approximately 1% of their total assets ($50 million) in Bitcoin (4,709 bitcoins), citing Bitcoin's "potential to be a more ubiquitous currency in the future" as their main reasoning. The name "Square" derives from the company's square-shaped card readers. Co-founders Dorsey-who also co-founded Twitter-and McKelvey began developing the company out of a small office in St. The original inspiration for Square occurred to Jack Dorsey in 2009 when his friend Jim McKelvey was unable to complete a $2,000 sale of his glass faucets and fittings because he could not accept credit cards. Tidal is a subscription-based music, podcast and video streaming service that offers audio and music videos. Cash App is a mobile app that allows monetary transfers both among users and between users and businesses. Square is a payments platform aimed at small and medium businesses that allows them to accept credit card payments and use smartphone or tablet computers as payment registers for a point-of-sale system. The company's namesake product for small businesses is still titled " Square". It has been traded as a public company on the New York Stock Exchange since November 2015 with the ticker symbol SQ.įrom its founding to December 10, 2021, the company was named Square, Inc. (formerly Square Inc.) is an American multinational technology conglomerate founded in 2009 by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey and launched its first platform in 2010.
