Square Rebrands to Block, Expands Focus on Blockchain Industry
On Dec. 2, Square announced that it is changing the company name so it can give the “full Square brand” to its Seller business. The Seller division provides an integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions, business software, and banking services for sellers. The name change also distinguishes the corporate entity from its businesses or building blocks.
The move follows social media giant Facebook’s decision to rebrand to Meta in late October. It also comes just days after CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down from Twitter.
Making reference to blockchain, but not necessarily crypto, the announcement added:
“Not to get all meta on you… but we’re going to! Block references the neighborhood blocks where we find our sellers, a blockchain, block parties full of music, obstacles to overcome, a section of code, building blocks, and of course, tungsten cubes.”
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
Square Crypto Becomes Spiral
The company added that obviously “Square Crypto” no longer makes sense, so the team is changing its name to Spiral, adding:
“This rebrand reflects their focus on Bitcoin as it continues to grow like a spiral from a single point, encompassing more and more space until it touches everything.”
Dorsey commented that “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.”
Earlier this year, Dorsey said that he would leave either company to work on Bitcoin if needed, stating at the time: “If I were not 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. But, I believe that both companies have a role to play.”
The legal name “Square, Inc.” is expected to be officially changed to “Block, Inc.” on or about Dec. 10, according to the announcement.
Meta Flop Predicted
Facebook’s rebrand to Meta may not actually fulfill its purpose, according to some industry experts. Yat Siu, chairman and co-founder of Animoca Brands, a real metaverse company, said that “What Facebook is doing with meta…is a ‘fake metaverse,’ unless they actually have a real description as to how we can truly own it,”
According to Reuters, Facebook has completely missed the point unless it allows digital ownership.
