The company previously known as Square is getting some new dimension in the form of a quick name change.
Laura Hautala at CNet reports the company’s official name will become Block as of December 10, as the enterprise pivots toward a greater variety of operations.
“We built the Square brand for our Seller business, which is where it belongs,” said CEO Jack Dorsey as quoted. “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.”
Some popular programs like Square’s Cash App and music streaming Tidal service will keep the same names, while a Square Crypto project will be henceforth known, in geometric transformation, as Spiral.
This coincides with Dorsey’s announcement that he will step down as CEO of Twitter but remain at the head of Block’s offices.
“I’ve decided to leave Twitter because I believe the company is ready to move on from its founders,” Dorsey said, according to a Yahoo News story by Adrianna Lee Nov. 29.
As for Square/Block: what’s behind the name change?
Although the company doesn’t say specifically, many outside observers think that Facebook’s change to Meta created a lot of shakeup within the industry, and some other companies may be pressured to do certain kinds of quick innovation.
“The name has many associated meanings for the company,” Block spokespersons said in a press statement. “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.”
Square became famous for its merchant processing systems and groundbreaking point-of-sale infrastructure as the unwieldy PCI system began to seem obsolete. Look for Block to do big things in the crypto sector and beyond.
