Square Has Changed its Corporate Name to Block

Jack Dorsey’s Square has announced that it is changing its corporate name to Block, a move that will become effective on December 10th.

Square is expanding beyond its original credit card-reader business, with a focus on new technologies such as blockchain.

The name Block “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 said in a statement.

It was earlier this week that Dorsey had stepped down from his role as CEO at social media giant Twitter.

The payments company said it “acknowledges the company’s growth” and “creates room for further growth.” The company will still trade under the ticker SQ on the New York Stock Exchange.

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

Square was co-founded in 2009 by Dorsey to focus on in-person payments and its namesake card reader, which let people accept credit card payments on a smartphone.

The San Francisco-based company now has peer-to-peer digital banking app and small business lending. It has also received a bank charter and begun offering crypto and stock trading.

Block has additionally acquired buy-now-pay-later provider Afterpay and Jay-Z’s music streaming service Tidal.

As part of the Square rebrand, Square Crypto, a separate part of the company “dedicated to advancing Bitcoin,” will change its name to Spiral.

Disclaimer: We have no position in any of the companies mentioned and have not been compensated for this article.