Square is now called Block(twitter.com)
twitter.com
Square is now called Block
https://twitter.com/Square/status/1466158910067388423
358 comments
Who thought designing this page and actually publishing it was a good idea?
https://investors.block.xyz/governance/leadership/default.as...
My eyes! My eyes!
https://investors.block.xyz/governance/leadership/default.as...
My eyes! My eyes!
Don't understand this trend. Apple has done just fine diversifying as Apple, Inc.
Square, as a name, is simple and well-known, and the logo is recognizable, inoffensive, and amenable for design updates.
Seems like a move to pander to Jack's new obsession (maybe he has no interest in running what Square actually works on now).
Square, as a name, is simple and well-known, and the logo is recognizable, inoffensive, and amenable for design updates.
Seems like a move to pander to Jack's new obsession (maybe he has no interest in running what Square actually works on now).
Good lord.
Pity the poor person out there trying to understand what is going on / what is block.xyz.
At least we are told nothing will change with TBD54566975 (?).
https://twitter.com/tbd54566975?lang=en
The bitcoin world is crazy.
Pity the poor person out there trying to understand what is going on / what is block.xyz.
At least we are told nothing will change with TBD54566975 (?).
https://twitter.com/tbd54566975?lang=en
The bitcoin world is crazy.
For others as confused as I was: Square bought Tidal earlier this year. Spiral was Square Crypto. TBD54566975 appears to be some sort of decentralized exchange Jack Dorsey tweeted about at one point. & they're all being put under this Block banner, apparently.
Interesting trend from specialized names with large amount of semantic content, towards more generalized names with very little semantic content: Google->Alphabet, Facebook->Meta, Square->Block (ok a little tenuous). What's next? Apple->Fruit? Windows->Opening?
I guess it is so the owners can imagine the company to be whatever they want it to be, though typically they end up being nothing at all.
I guess it is so the owners can imagine the company to be whatever they want it to be, though typically they end up being nothing at all.
I really adore the demo scene vibes I'm getting from https://block.xyz/.
You can say what you want about megaholding corporate conglomerates, but this has so much more style than abc.xyz.
You can say what you want about megaholding corporate conglomerates, but this has so much more style than abc.xyz.
"Cube" would have been better:
"Square" => "Cube"
but
"Square" => "Block" just seems mediocre by comparison.
Certainly they want "Block" to invoke blockchain, but it seems more gimmicky with just "Block".
"Square" => "Cube"
but
"Square" => "Block" just seems mediocre by comparison.
Certainly they want "Block" to invoke blockchain, but it seems more gimmicky with just "Block".
Looks like corporate umbrellas [0] are making a come back.
I get the need to productize endlessly on sea of ideas and perhaps incubate spin-offs but even GE and J&J are running away from its conglomerate ways… I mean umbrella corporation [1] ways.
—-
I think the current trend is coming about because of SAAS - in the olden days, startup feared big companies because they could make your product / company a feature in their product - but we’re seeing the reverse- they’re now seeing that millions of customers are willing to pay $X dollars a month for what amount to a feature as a separate product instead of licensing SAP type product.
[0]https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/corporate-umbrella.asp
[1]https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Umbrella_Corporation
I get the need to productize endlessly on sea of ideas and perhaps incubate spin-offs but even GE and J&J are running away from its conglomerate ways… I mean umbrella corporation [1] ways.
—-
I think the current trend is coming about because of SAAS - in the olden days, startup feared big companies because they could make your product / company a feature in their product - but we’re seeing the reverse- they’re now seeing that millions of customers are willing to pay $X dollars a month for what amount to a feature as a separate product instead of licensing SAP type product.
[0]https://www.investopedia.com/terms/c/corporate-umbrella.asp
[1]https://residentevil.fandom.com/wiki/Umbrella_Corporation
> Block references the […] obstacles to overcome […]
Surely that’s the most problematic thing here… Block sounds to me like something that gets in the way. Like a blood clot or something… I guess they’ll be fine…
On a side note, the block.xyz website looks _amazing_
Surely that’s the most problematic thing here… Block sounds to me like something that gets in the way. Like a blood clot or something… I guess they’ll be fine…
On a side note, the block.xyz website looks _amazing_
Interesting… thinly veiled play on blockchain? With Jack’s recent leave of twitter, I think it’s clear this is his new vision for the future.
With Facebook’s recent re-org to Meta, is this spurring a new wave of companies re-branding to be seen as relevant by associating with future technologies?
With Facebook’s recent re-org to Meta, is this spurring a new wave of companies re-branding to be seen as relevant by associating with future technologies?
I find it interesting that they're copying Alphabet with their TLD choice. It was clever with abc.xyz, but in this case it doesn't really mean much.
An explanation of the name choice from Square's tweets:
> Not to get all meta on you… but we’re going to! Block references the neighborhood blocks where we find our sellers, a blockchain, block parties full of music, obstacles to overcome, a section of code, building blocks, and of course, tungsten cubes.
https://twitter.com/Square/status/1466158911413760004
> Not to get all meta on you… but we’re going to! Block references the neighborhood blocks where we find our sellers, a blockchain, block parties full of music, obstacles to overcome, a section of code, building blocks, and of course, tungsten cubes.
https://twitter.com/Square/status/1466158911413760004
Block (previously Square) Bitcoin Revenue By Year:
2018: $166 million
2019: $516 million
2020: $4.5 billion
2021: $8 billion+ in first three quarters
$SQ $BTC
2018: $166 million
2019: $516 million
2020: $4.5 billion
2021: $8 billion+ in first three quarters
$SQ $BTC
I somehow never understood what square/block is. Tried to understand it again, but still not able to find any grasp while browsing their site. What are they doing?
WTF is @TBD54566975?
Maybe next year they can rebrand as Hypercube.
I remember when Transferwise changed their name to Wise.
I tried to humor them and use their new name when talking about the service to other people, but people had a hard time understanding what I was even saying. "I use this thing called Wise." "What?" - something about the word is actually hard to enunciate and people don't even comprehend the sentence. I think this is mainly a problem with using a pre-existing English word for your brand.
In the case of Square, their original name was already pretty non-specific/unrelated and they just moved laterally. I guess if they're getting into blockchain then maybe it really is more related now...
I tried to humor them and use their new name when talking about the service to other people, but people had a hard time understanding what I was even saying. "I use this thing called Wise." "What?" - something about the word is actually hard to enunciate and people don't even comprehend the sentence. I think this is mainly a problem with using a pre-existing English word for your brand.
In the case of Square, their original name was already pretty non-specific/unrelated and they just moved laterally. I guess if they're getting into blockchain then maybe it really is more related now...
A block is a square in 3 dimensions
I'm going to predict that at some point in time, this company will name itself Tesseract.
"If press releases are your thing, here’s ours: https://www.businesswire.com/news/home/52543725/en"
- @blocks (https://twitter.com/blocks/status/1466159597194907649)
- @blocks (https://twitter.com/blocks/status/1466159597194907649)
Some info here https://investors.block.xyz/overview/
Does any company want (to) block payments? Terrible name!
This is what happens when you put the product designers in charge of the rebrand
regular brain: company
galaxy brain: blockchain holding company
galaxy brain: blockchain holding company
Jack has always done this. Even though the bulk of revenues has come from POS subscription and payments revenue, Jack has only cared about it to the extent it allows him to try consumer facing things like Square Wallet, Caviar, Square Pickup, Square Cash, and then all the crypto stuff.
I just hope the sellers don’t suffer because of this
I just hope the sellers don’t suffer because of this
Can someone explain the TBD54566975 moniker?
Ongoing related thread:
Block (aka Square, Tidal, CashApp etc) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29409630 - Dec 2021 (29 comments)
Block (aka Square, Tidal, CashApp etc) - https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=29409630 - Dec 2021 (29 comments)
God Jack, I get that you and Jay-Z are besties but people don’t care about Jay-Z.
Facebook owns Whatsapp, and Instagram and a bunch of smaller stuff as well. But Meta is just not a great brand. It's a vague ambition at best. That's the problem with this rebranding. Google did it because they had a bunch of aimless acquisitions/spinoffs, none of which since managed to rival it's money maker Google, which continues to be the place that is associated with their successful stuff (Android, Youtube, ads, etc.).
Facebook is doing it because their Facebook brand is imploding due to years of mismanagement. It's a dead zone at this pont. I check in once a month and then leave in disgust. Absolutely nothing going on there whatsoever.
Square on the other hand is a successful product. Nice growth. Nice brand. Worth going all in on. The stuff they acquired pales in comparison. Why mess with that brand, create confusion and awkwardness, etc.?