Thursday 02 December 2021 8:41 am | Updated: Thursday 02 December 2021 12:41 pm

Jack Dorsey’s Square prepares to change its name to Block

Jack Dorsey has added a picture of his face super imposed on a block to the company's investor relations page.

Twitter founder Jack Dorsey has announced that tech company Square will be renamed as Block.

The name change reflects that Dorsey’s company is moving beyond its existing function as a credit card reader and expanding into new technology areas including music streaming and possibly blockchain technology. The division of the company that provides services to sellers will keep the name Square, whereas the parent company will assume the new name Block.

“The change to Block acknowledges the company’s growth,” Block said in a statement, pointing out that Square has acquired music streaming service Tidal, Cashapp and TBD54566975 over the past year.

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

In a cryptic Tweet Block said “we’re here to build simple tools to increase access to the economy.”

“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,” said company chief executive and founder Jack Dorsey.

The move comes shortly after Dorsey, a longstanding advocate for digital assets and blockchain technology, announced he would be stepping down as chief executive of Twitter.

Square is the latest tech firm to undergo a rebrand as it makes a push into new blockchain technologies. Facebook recently rebranded itself as Meta amid plans to build a virtual reality metaverse for its users. Block’s name change will come into effect on 10 December.