Block has evolved beyond a payments company

Block, formerly known as Square, has expanded its focus beyond the payments ecosystem in recent months.

Block CEO Jack Dorsey has told the company’s investors that they are no longer just a payments company. The company is entering the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem, with a heavy focus on Bitcoin. Dorsey said;

“We are no longer just a payments company. A lot has changed since our last investor day.”

Block, formerly known as Square, was launched in 2009. At the time, the company focuses on creating a credit card reader for mobile phones. However, it expanded its operations into areas such as peer-to-peer payments and bank-like products with Cash App.

Furthermore, Square also operated as an FDIC-insured bank while also offering stock and cryptocurrency trading services to its clients.

Last year, Square changed its name to Block as Dorsey revealed that the company was focusing its attention on building a decentralised ecosystem on the Bitcoin blockchain. 

Block’s Chief Financial Officer Amrita Ahuja told CNBC in an interview that;

“Calling Block a payments company is like calling Amazon a bookseller. We’ve grown in so many different ways across multiple dimensions.”

Despite the recent struggles by fintech companies due to the rising inflation rates, Ahuja said Block is currently outperforming its peers. She said;

“Wall Street analysts are going to want to understand our growth profile, and our margin structure as a company — you can see based on our track record we are outgrowing the rest of the industry. We operate in a large and growing market and are still taking share.”

The cryptocurrency market has grossly underperformed in recent months. The total crypto market is down by more than 50% from the all-time high of $3 trillion recorded in November 2021.

Bitcoin has also lost more than 50% of its value over the last six months and now trades below $30k per coin.