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Jack Dorsey’s Block Is the Most Interesting Company in Cryptocurrency Right Now
In the early days of crypto, there were only a handful of companies, including some venerable names like Coinbase, Kraken, and Grayscale, that still exist. Today, there are hundreds of companies offering cryptocurrencies, including those like BlackRock and PayPal that operate primarily in the world of conventional finance. To me, the most intriguing of all right now is Block. The company is best known to consumers for its Square devices in stores and peer-to-peer services. Cash Appbut has also quietly built an impressive Bitcoin empire that is raking in the cash and also offering a growing number of innovative products.
I felt like I was reminded of this when I spoke with Block’s chief product officer, Michael Rihani, who has notably managed Tesla’s Bitcoin operations and helped build Apple Pay. He shared details about Block’s latest crypto offering, called Bitcoin Conversions, which allows thousands of Square merchants to convert 1% to 10% of their daily sales into Bitcoin and transfer it to their personal Cash App account. The process is a bit like when you choose to allocate a portion of your paycheck to a dedicated savings account.
I was skeptical at first, because I didn’t think there would be many coffee shop owners, flower shops, or the like who would want to funnel a portion of their daily sales into Bitcoin. But Rihani says Block has already worked with more than 100 merchants to develop the alpha version of the product, and the company has garnered a lot of interest. While Bitcoin Conversions won’t open the floodgates to the level of recent ETF offerings, it does open another channel between Bitcoin and traditional commerce — and given how much merchants across the country rely on Square, that could become significant over time. And for Block, which reported $66 million in Bitcoin-related profits tied to Cash App in the last quarter alone, that will mean even more crypto revenue.
Meanwhile, the company’s CEO Jack Dorsey this week announced a major new crypto initiative in the form of a Bitcoin Mining PlatformThis is a significant move as Block’s platform, which is an offshoot of the company’s existing chip initiatives, aims to diversify mining operations — which now rely heavily on devices produced by a small oligopoly of Chinese manufacturers — and reduce the excessive heat and noise associated with the process. The mining initiative also comes shortly after Block began shipping these cool chips rock shaped wallets which allow people jail their own Bitcoin.
All of this underscores how Dorsey is not only one of the most eccentric CEOs in the Fortune 500, but also one of the most visionary. While his Bitcoin-only philosophy is off-putting to many in the broader crypto world, his relentless quest to expand Bitcoin’s reach while running a business very profitable The public company makes Dorsey and Block a unique force in the industry.
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Jeff John Roberts
jeff.roberts@fortune.com
@jeffjohnroberts
This story was originally featured on Fortune.com