# Block

> Block, Inc. is a global financial technology company that builds tools for economic empowerment. Founded in 2009 as Square by Jack Dorsey and Jim McKelvey, it renamed itself Block in 2021 to reflect a broader mission spanning commerce, consumer finance and bitcoin. The company operates a portfolio of ecosystems - Square for sellers, Cash App for individuals, Afterpay for buy-now-pay-later, plus TIDAL, Bitkey and Proto - and trades on the NYSE under the ticker XYZ.

- **Founded:** 2009
- **Headquarters:** Oakland, California, United States
- **Founders:** Jack Dorsey (Co-founder, Block Head & Chairman), Jim McKelvey (Co-founder)
- **Team size:** Approximately 6,000 employees after February 2026 restructuring (down from ~10,000)
- **Products:** Square, Cash App, Afterpay, TIDAL, Bitkey
- **Notable:** Pioneered mobile card acceptance with the plug-in Square reader in 2009-2010, Completed a $243M IPO on the NYSE in November 2015, Grew Cash App into one of the most-used consumer finance apps in the US

## Products & services

- **Square** — An ecosystem of commerce and financial tools that lets businesses accept card payments and manage sales, staff, inventory and banking.
- **Cash App** — A consumer app to spend, send, store and invest money, including stock and bitcoin investing and the Cash App Borrow lending product.
- **Afterpay** — A buy now, pay later platform that lets shoppers split purchases into installments, acquired by Block in January 2022.
- **TIDAL** — A music streaming and artist platform focused on helping musicians build businesses, acquired in 2021.
- **Bitkey** — A simple self-custody hardware and app wallet built for holding bitcoin.
- **Proto** — A suite of bitcoin mining products and services, including mining chips; generated first revenue in 2025.

## Achievements

- Pioneered mobile card acceptance with the plug-in Square reader in 2009-2010
- Completed a $243M IPO on the NYSE in November 2015
- Grew Cash App into one of the most-used consumer finance apps in the US
- Acquired Afterpay in a landmark buy-now-pay-later deal completed January 2022
- Renamed to Block and later changed its NYSE ticker from SQ to XYZ
- Shipped first revenue from the Proto bitcoin-mining chip in 2025
- Reported $10.4B in gross profit in 2025

## Latest updates

- **2026-02** — Block announced layoffs of over 4,000 of roughly 10,000 employees, citing AI as a primary driver of the restructuring.
- **2026-02** — Raised 2026 gross profit guidance to approximately $12.2B, up 18% year over year.
- **2026-05** — Reported Q1 2026 Cash App gross profit of $1.9B, up 38% YoY, driven by Cash App Borrow.
- **2025-09** — Proto bitcoin-mining chip generated its first revenue as Block leaned into bitcoin hardware.
- **2025-01** — Announced rollout of bitcoin payments on Square for eligible sellers.

## Links

- Website: https://block.xyz
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/block/
- Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/block
- GitHub: https://github.com/block
- YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@block
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/block/

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/block
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-07-16