Square Inc. plans to become known as Block as it looks for a moniker that better reflects the company's diversified set of businesses, and will join the corporate name change party.
While the financial-technology company offered payment-processing services to small businesses under the Square SQ umbrella, it has since branched into new areas. The Cash App mobile wallet and Tidal platform are operated by the company. Square is a project called TBD 54566975. Square will be housing its work with its coin in an initiative called Spiral, according to a statement by the company on Wednesday.
The Block name has many associated meanings for the company - building blocks, neighborhood blocks and their local businesses, communities coming together at block parties full of music, a block chain, a section of code, and obstacles to overcome, Square said in a press release. The seller has the ability to own the Square brand it was built for because of a change to the corporate name. The shares of the company will continue to trade under the ticker symbol SQ. Square expects that the name change to Block Inc. will become official around December 10. Square is one of many technology companies to opt for a name change in its name due to the growing ambitions beyond its core brand. In 2015, Facebook became Meta Platforms Inc. FB, while Google was transformed into Alphabet Inc. GOOG, GOOGL. In 2017, it is worth noting that name changes evoking the concept of the ledger were all the rage. In the after-hours trading Wednesday, Square's shares were up 0.8%. They declined by 6.6% in Wednesday s regular session.