About Block

Block, Inc., together with its subsidiaries (Block), creates tools that empower businesses, sellers, and individuals to participate in the economy. The company is building an ecosystem of ecosystems, each focused on distinct customer audiences. The company defines an ecosystem as a set of tools and services that work together cohesively, often positively reinforcing one another. This helps create resilient relationships with customers as they use its tools and services to satisfy multiple needs. The company's ecosystems are united by its shared purpose of economic empowerment, with each ecosystem serving different people - sellers, consumers, artists, fans, and developers. The company focuses on investing in developing connections between its ecosystems and by creating more connections to increase the resilience of its overall company. Segments Block operates through two segments, Square and Cash App. Square is a cohesive commerce ecosystem that helps sellers start, run, and grow their businesses, including enabling sellers to accept card payments, provide reporting and analytics, and facilitating next-day settlement. Square's point-of-sale software and other business services help sellers manage inventory, locations, and employees; access financial services; engage buyers; build a website or online store; and grow sales. Cash App is an ecosystem of financial products and services focused on helping consumers make their money go further by enabling customers to store, send, receive, spend, invest, borrow, or save their money. Cash App seeks to redefine the world's relationship with money by making it more relatable, instantly available, and universally accessible. Square Ecosystem The company started Block with the Square ecosystem in February 2009 to enable businesses (sellers) to accept card payments, an important capability that was previously inaccessible to many businesses. The company has since expanded Square into a cohesive commerce ecosystem that provides more than 30 distinct products and services to help its sellers start, run, and grow their businesses. The company combines software, hardware, and financial services to create products and services that are cohesive, fast, self-serve, and elegant. Cash App Ecosystem Cash App provides an ecosystem of financial products and services to help consumers manage their money. While Cash App started with the single ability to send and receive money, it now provides an ecosystem of financial services focused on helping consumers make their money go further by enabling customers to store, send, receive, spend, invest, borrow or save their money with Cash App. Emerging Ecosystems The company is also making modest investments in two relatively nascent and emerging ecosystems related to TIDAL and bitcoin, in order to serve new audiences. TIDAL Ecosystem In 2021, the company completed the acquisition of a majority ownership interest in TIDAL, expanding its purpose of economic empowerment to artists. TIDAL is a global platform for musicians and their fans that uses unique content, experiences, and features to bring fans closer to artists and to provide artists with tools to succeed as entrepreneurs. TIDAL offers an extensive catalog of more than 132 million songs and 774,000 high-quality videos. TIDAL has a global presence with listeners in more than 60 countries and relationships with more than 200 labels and distributors. Bitcoin Ecosystem The company's bitcoin ecosystem includes TBD, which is an open developer platform focused on making the decentralized financial world accessible for everyone, its bitcoin hardware projects, which include Bitkey, a self-custody bitcoin wallet, a bitcoin mining system, Spiral, an independent team focused on contributing to bitcoin open source work. Customers Square Sellers Square sellers represent a diverse range of industries (including services, food-related, and retail businesses) and sizes, ranging from sole proprietors to multinational businesses. Square sellers span geographies, including the United States, Canada, Japan, Australia, New Zealand, the United Kingdom, Ireland, France, and Spain. The diversity of the company's sellers underscores the accessibility and flexibility of its offerings. The company is also increasingly serving mid-market sellers, which it defines as sellers that generate more than $500,000 in annualized Square Gross Payment Volume (Square GPV), due to its ability to offer more flexible and complex solutions than traditional alternatives, as well as a growing product suite. The company defines Square GPV as the total dollar amount of all card payments processed by sellers using Square, net of refunds, and ACH transfers. Cash App Customers As of December 2023, Cash App had 56 million monthly transacting actives across the United States and the U.K. In 2023, across the iOS App Store and Google Play, Cash App was the number one finance app and the number ten app overall in the United States, based on downloads. Cash App has a diverse mix of customers, and in the United States, Cash App had monthly transacting actives in each of the 50 states and nearly every county as of December 2023. In 2023, Cash App transacting actives brought more than $248 billion in inflows into Cash App. Customers can fund their Cash App accounts with inflows in a variety of ways, including by receiving money from another Cash App customer through the app's core peer-to-peer transfer service, transferring money from a bank account, depositing mobile checks, adding physical cash at participating retailers, and receiving a recurring paycheck by direct deposit. In 2023, each Cash App monthly transacting active brought in an average of $384 of inflows in a given month during the year. A transacting active is a Cash App account that has at least one financial transaction using any product or service within Cash App during the specified period. Examples of transactions include sending or receiving a peer-to-peer payment, transferring money into or out of Cash App, making a purchase using Cash App Card, earning a dividend on a stock investment, and paying back a loan, among others. Products and Services Square Ecosystem The company's Square ecosystem consists of more than 30 distinct software, hardware, and financial services products that provide cohesive Commerce, Customer Relationship Management, Staff Management, and Banking capabilities. The company's products are designed to be self-serve and intuitive to make initial setup and new employee training fast and easy, although it also offers full-service setup and support. They are also flexible enough to serve the needs of both small, single location and large, complex multi-location sellers. The company's products are integrated to create a seamless experience and enable a holistic view of sales, customers, employees, and finances. The company supplements these first party capabilities with its open developer platform that enables integrations with third-party applications. The company monetizes these products through a combination of transaction, subscription, and service fees. Strategic Priorities: The company's focus for Square is on four priorities: maintaining its secure, and flexible multi-product platform, providing a local experience to sellers of all sizes, growing with artificial intelligence (AI), and further developing its banking offering. Platform: It is critical that the company has a strong foundation to build upon to serve external customers through its developer platform and partner ecosystem, and its internal team's first party products. Local: The company's go-to-market strategy focuses on verticals with a local approach, specifically restaurants and services-based businesses. Growing upmarket has shown the company that even larger sellers want to feel authentic to their buyers. The company can enable this type of robust offering through its technology and by improving the onboarding process through sales and account management. Artificial Intelligence (AI): The company focuses on enabling growth by leveraging AI to increase productivity and outcomes for its sales and marketing, customer service, and engineering efforts, in addition to building features that help sellers grow their businesses. Banking: The company's robust banking offering primarily helps its sellers manage cash flow and grow their business through its lending capabilities. The company will continue to drive trust with its sellers, and build products and features that help with sellers accessing funds securely and timely. Commerce Square's commerce products help sellers make sales and track orders, inventory, and fulfillment across in-person and online channels, as well as first-party and third-party channels. Most of the company's Square software products have a free tier (without a subscription fee), which it monetizes only through transaction fees on card payments. Most software products also have premium tiers with additional functionality, which the company monetizes through subscription fees in addition to transaction fees on payments. Square for Restaurants is a vertical solution tailored for both quick-service and full-service restaurants. It includes table, order, and course management; a kitchen display system; and revenue and cost reporting. Square Appointments is a vertical solution tailored for appointment-based businesses that need a point-of-sale application with integrated booking capabilities. Square Appointments includes a free online booking site so buyers can easily schedule appointments and select their preferred time, service, and staff member. It is also integrated with Square Assistant, an AI-enabled automated messaging tool that responds to buyers efficiently and professionally, saving sellers' time and helping prevent missed appointments. Square for Retail is a vertical solution tailored for sellers in the retail industry. It includes advanced inventory management, cost of goods sold reporting, purchase orders, vendor management, and barcode scanning. Square Point of Sale is a general purpose point-of-sale application for businesses that need an easy-to-use, customizable point-of-sale solution that adapts across business types and stages. Square Online makes it easy to build a website and online store, as well as sell on Instagram and Facebook. The online store is mobile responsive, delivering an app-like ordering experience on a buyer's phone. With integrated support for QR code ordering, sellers can also streamline their in-store operations by posting the QR code and having their buyers order from their own phones. Fulfillment options include pickup, delivery managed by the company's sellers, and integrations with partner delivery platforms. Orders, items, inventory, and customer data stay in sync when selling both online and in-person. Square Online Checkout makes it easy to sell online without a website by allowing sellers to create a checkout link with only a name and price for their good or service. Square Invoices is a customizable digital invoicing solution with integrated and secure online payment acceptance. This eliminates the need to print and mail statements to customers and wait for checks to arrive. Sellers use Square Invoices for upcoming, recurring, or previously delivered goods and services, such as catering orders, contractor services, lessons, and retail orders. Square Invoices also lets sellers send estimates and collect partial payments for goods and services. Square Virtual Terminal allows sellers to use a computer as a card terminal. Sellers can take a payment, set up recurring billing, record sales, and send digital receipts for payments, including those made by check and bank transfer. Risk Manager gives sellers insight into online payment fraud patterns and enables them to set custom rules and alerts to manage risk. Machine-learning algorithms automatically identify fraud patterns and adapt to fit a seller's operations. Order Manager allows sellers to manage online orders that originate from Square Online, their own website on another platform, and third-party websites, including online marketplaces, such as DoorDash. Order Manager enables tracking open orders, managing prep times and busy times, and marking orders as completed. Payment APIs (application programming interfaces) and SDKs (software development kits) support in-person, online, and mobile payments. Square Reader SDK enables developers to seamlessly integrate Square hardware with a seller's custom point of sale, allowing them to build unique checkout experiences, such as self-ordering kiosks powered by Square's managed payments service. With Square's online payments APIs, developers can integrate Square payments into a seller's e-commerce website or online store. Square's In-App Payments SDK enables developers to build consumer mobile apps that use Square to process payments. These products are monetized primarily through transaction fees on payment volumes. Commerce APIs: Square offers more than 30 commerce APIs, through which developers can create and manage orders, subscriptions, product catalogs, inventory, customer profiles, employees, loyalty programs, gift cards, and more to build applications that enrich and integrate with Square's ecosystem of products. In addition, these APIs enable developers to build integrations with their existing business systems, such as accounting, customer relationship management (CRM), employee management, and enterprise resource planning (ERP) software. For card payments, Square acts as the merchant of record for the transaction as well as the payment service provider (PSP). As the merchant of record, Square is the party responsible for settling funds with the seller and helps manage transaction risk loss on behalf of the seller. Square's managed payments offering for sellers includes payment dispute management, data security, and PCI compliance for a transparent transaction fee paid by sellers. Square has negotiated terms and entered into contractual arrangements directly with other service providers of transaction processing services, including the acquiring processors and card networks, and indirectly with issuing banks. These contracts include negotiated terms, such as more favorable pricing, that are generally not available to sellers if they were to contract directly with these sub-service providers. Square's position as the merchant of record helps the company better serve its sellers. For example, as the merchant of record, the company can more efficiently onboard new sellers through its website, leveraging its risk assessment models, and it has insights into transaction-level data that it uses to inform its sellers and launch new products. Hardware Square custom-designs hardware that can process all major card payment forms, including magnetic stripe, EMV chip, and NFC (contactless). Sellers are able to accept cards issued by Visa, Mastercard, American Express, Discover, JCB, Interac Flash (in Canada), e-Money (in Japan), and eftpos (in Australia). Square hardware can be integrated with additional accessories, such as cash drawers, receipt printers, scales, and barcode scanners to provide sellers with a comprehensive point-of-sale solution. Square's hardware portfolio includes the following: Square Register is an all-in-one offering that combines the company's hardware, point-of-sale software, and payments technology. The dedicated hardware consists of two screens: a seller display and a customer display with a built-in card reader that accepts tap, dip, and swipe payments. Square Terminal is a portable, all-in-one payments device and receipt printer to replace traditional keypad terminals. It accepts tap, dip, and swipe payments and has a battery that lasts all day, enabling payments anywhere in the store. Square Stand enables an iPad to be used as a payment terminal or full point-of-sale solution. It features an integrated contactless and chip reader. Square Reader for contactless and chip accepts EMV chip cards and NFC payments, enabling acceptance via Apple Pay, Google Pay, and other mobile wallets. Square Reader for magstripe enables swiped transactions of magnetic-stripe cards by connecting with an iOS or Android smartphone or tablet via the headphone jack or Lightning connector. Customers Square's Customer capabilities help sellers grow their business. By linking customer data together with online and in-person commerce data, Square can offer sellers integrated omnichannel capabilities to acquire, engage, and retain customers. Square transaction data and reporting allows sellers to easily assess performance and return on investment. The company typically monetizes these products via service and software fees. BNPL helps drive net new demand to sellers via discovery in the Afterpay app and has historically increased average conversion rates and average transaction sizes for new and existing customers across online and in-store channels. Square Loyalty helps sellers keep their buyers coming back. Buyers that enroll in a Square Loyalty program are twice as likely to be repeat customers and spend 50% more, on average. Square Marketing helps sellers drive traffic by sending emails or texts to promote in-store events, new products, last-minute deals, or seasonal offers. Sellers can set up recurring automated campaigns to welcome new customers, wish them a happy birthday, send abandoned-cart reminders, or reach out to lapsed customers. Square Gift Cards help sellers bring in new buyers when their customers purchase gift cards for their friends and family. Staff Square's staff management products give sellers digital tools to streamline their operations. These tools seamlessly integrate with other Square products eliminating the latent, time-consuming, and error-prone processes typically used to copy and sync data between disparate systems. The company typically monetizes these products via software fees. Square Team Management makes it easy to schedule staff and view team performance and sales analytics in real time. It also enables limiting access to Square software features per employee or role. The Square Team App enables team members to clock in and out, view and adjust their schedules, and see timecards, hours worked, and estimated pay from their mobile phone. Square Payroll allows sellers to pay wages and associated employee taxes, and offer employee benefits (e.g. 401(k) accounts). The Square ecosystem drives competitive differentiation for the company's Payroll product with the ability to use Payroll in conjunction with its point-of-sale products, Team Management, and Cash App. Banking The company offers a growing number of banking services that make it easier for sellers to manage cash flow and get faster access to funds. Square Lending provides a platform of lending products to qualified Square sellers. Square Loans facilitates loans to qualified Square sellers through the company's subsidiary Square Financial Services, Inc. (SFS Financial Services), which is an industrial loan company (ILC). Square Loans eliminates the lengthy (and often unsuccessful) loan application process. The company is able to approve sellers for these loans by using its unique data set of the seller's Square transactions to help facilitate loan underwriting and collections, which mitigates risks. Instant Transfer enables sellers to receive funds from their payments instantly or later that same day. Instant Transfer is an important tool for sellers that need faster access to their funds in order to better manage their cash flow or working capital. Square Checking provides sellers with an FDIC-insured account that gives them instant access to their sales and the ability to immediately use those funds via a debit card (Square Debit Card), withdraw funds from an ATM, or transfer funds via ACH. Square Savings is a high-yield business savings account, with no monthly fees or minimums, designed to make cash flow management easier for sellers. With Square Savings, sellers can easily and automatically put aside a portion of their sales in their savings account while also organizing their money within folders, streamlining the process of saving funds for specific goals and priorities, such as quarterly tax obligations. Cash App Ecosystem With Cash App, the company is building an ecosystem of financial products and services that helps consumers manage their money by making it more relatable, instantly available, and universally accessible. Cash App is primarily in the United States and has a diverse set of customers across demographics and regions. The company uses its inflows framework to assess the performance of Cash App across actives, inflows per active, and the monetization rate on inflows. Strategic Priorities Cash App sits at the intersection of three traditionally-distinct use cases: financial services, community based transactions (peer-to-peer payments) and commerce. The company's approach for Cash App is to combine these three areas together in a unique manner to define a new product category and reinvent banking for its customers. The company's primary focus with Cash App, in alliance with its bank partners, is on earning the primary banking relationship of its existing customer base in the U.S. Customers can use Cash App to inflow funds in a variety of ways, including by receiving money from another Cash App customer through the app's core peer-to-peer transfer service, transferring money from a bank account, depositing mobile checks, adding physical cash at participating retailers, receiving a recurring paycheck by direct deposit, and through other inflow channels. These funds can then be sent to another customer through the app, spent anywhere that accepts Visa cards or Cash App Pay, withdrawn from an ATM using the Cash App Card, invested in stocks or exchange-traded funds (ETFs), used to buy bitcoin, or transferred to a bank account (either instantly for a fee or for free in one to three days). Financial Services The company serves its customers through a broad suite of financial services, and earning their trust is a key factor in how it can deepen its financial relationship with them. The breadth of its financial service offerings allows it to increase its share of wallet, as well as expand its customer base to serve a wider variety of demographics. The company develops trust with customers by offering reliable, easy, and secure access to their accounts and convenient support. The company also adapts the amount of funds a customer can bring in through specific channels based on risk profile, and as it improves its understanding of a customer's identity. Banking Services Cash App Card is a debit card, issued by the company's bank partner, and linked directly to a customer's Cash App balance. Customers can order a Cash App Card for free and use it anywhere that accepts Visa cards to make purchases, drawing down from the funds stored in their Cash App balance. Cash App earns interchange fees when individuals make purchases with their Cash App Card. Customers can select new or promotional Cash App Card designs for a fee, and can also withdraw funds from an ATM using the Cash App Card. Customers can also purchase and send gift cards at specific merchants to other customers, and recipients can spend them with their Cash App Card. Direct deposit capabilities, in alliance with the company's partner bank and system processor, allow customers to receive their recurring paycheck, tax refund, or government disbursement into their Cash App account, which they can then use to send, spend, store, or invest. Savings allows customers to hold a separate savings balance at the company's bank partner, and easily set and track towards financial goals. Customers can add money to Savings using their Cash App balance, a linked debit card, or through Round Ups on purchases with Cash App Card. Cash Boost is a free and instant rewards program that offers customers discounts at specific businesses (e.g., 10% off a purchase on DoorDash) or at certain business types (e.g., grocery stores). Customers can select the Cash Boost they want to apply to their Cash App Card, and the discount is instantly applied to their Cash App balance for eligible transactions. Some Cash Boosts are selected and funded by Cash App, while others are funded by the company's partners. Costs related to the Cash Boost rewards program that are funded by Cash App are recognized as reductions to revenue. Lending The company determines a Cash App customer's eligibility based on prudent risk management by using its unique data set that includes a customer's inflows and engagement on Cash App. The average Cash App Borrow loan was repaid in less than four weeks in 2023. Tax Preparation Cash App Taxes provides a seamless, mobile-first solution for consumers to file their taxes for free. Stock Brokerage Customers can also use Cash App to invest their funds for free in U.S. listed stocks and ETFs. Bitcoin The company has a simple bitcoin exchange and custody solution that provides customers with an onramp and offramp to buy and sell bitcoin with Cash App for as little as $1 and a custodial account to store it securely without needing to keep track of any private keys. The company's solution offers features that allow customers to complete auto buys and custom limit orders, as well as direct deposit to auto-convert their paycheck into bitcoin and earn instant bitcoin rewards on Cash App Card purchases. The company has also focused on payments through bitcoin. Given its network scale, Cash App can help bitcoin evolve beyond an asset class to an investment that possesses real transactional utility, which is why it launched its offering in 2018 with the ability to deposit and withdraw bitcoin across the blockchain. The company has since added the ability for customers to send bitcoin across the Cash App network to any phone number or $Cashtag, creating an easy-to-use off-chain network for bitcoin payments that settles instantly between transacting actives. The company also allows U.S. actives to send and receive bitcoin to/from anyone with a compatible wallet via the Lightning Network. The Lightning Network is a second layer technology applied to the bitcoin blockchain that enables faster transactions with little to no fees. Community Peer-to-peer payments form the basis of the company's Community development pillar because customers engage in financial transactions with other members of the Cash App community. When customers use peer-to-peer, they are inviting their friends, family, and coworkers to download Cash App so that they can send each other money. Peer-to-peer becomes more useful for the company's customers as their communities expand, so its customers are naturally incentivized to bring more people into their networks. The company offers the peer-to-peer service to its Cash App customers for free when a linked debit account is used to fund a transaction, as it considers peer-to-peer to be a marketing tool to encourage Cash App usage. The company charges a fee to the sender when transactions are funded using a credit card, and a fee to the recipient if it is a business account. Instant Deposit was the first feature the company started monetizing on Cash App. Customers are able to instantly transfer funds from Cash App to a bank account for a small fee. Commerce Cash App focuses on driving greater commerce between consumers and merchants. The company's BNPL platform facilitates commerce between retail merchants and consumers by allowing its retail merchant clients to offer their customers the ability to buy goods and services on a BNPL basis. The company's BNPL platform serves as a connection point between its Square and Cash App ecosystems as it builds out a marketplace that acts as a shopping destination for consumers to search for merchants and find offers. The company's BNPL platform provides consumers the ability to get desired items but pay for them later, while simultaneously helping merchants increase sales and order values. The company has a range of products across its BNPL platform. Pay in 4: Through the use of its BNPL platform, consumers can split their purchases into generally three or four installments, typically due in two-week increments, without paying fees (if payments are made on time). The company pays retail merchants the full order value up front (less a percentage fee) and assume the risk of non-payment from the consumer. Monthly Payment Solution: The company also offers the ability for consumers to pay for larger transaction sizes over a six- or twelve-month period using a monthly payment option. The structure of the product includes no late fees and no compounding interest with a cap on total interest owed. Advertising and Affiliate: The company's BNPL platform generates hundreds of millions of leads each year for merchants and has channeled this demand towards scaling an ads and affiliate program for its merchants: for affiliate relationships, it receives a commission when a consumer begins their shopping journey in the Afterpay App and makes a purchase. The company may also receive digital advertising revenue based on clicks to a merchant site from the Afterpay App, as well as flat fees for premium ad placements. Shop Directory: The company operates an online shop directory, which allows consumers to search by product category for stores that offer Afterpay as a payment option. Afterpay Card, Afterpay Plus Card: The company offers two in-store cards that allow consumers to pay in 4 for in-person transactions at a merchant's point of sale. The Afterpay Card allows consumers to shop in-store at Afterpay merchants and is free for the consumer. The Afterpay Plus Card is available to select Afterpay consumers for a monthly fee and allows them to shop in-store anywhere that Apple Pay or Google Pay is accepted. Cash App Pay Cash App Pay is a simple, mobile-friendly way for Cash App customers to pay at merchants across online and in-person channels. As of December 2023, Cash App Pay is enabled for a subset of Square sellers that are using certain Square hardware and software products, as well as a subset of Afterpay merchants, and most recently launched with large payment service providers who can offer it to their merchants. With Cash App Pay, Cash App customers can pay by simply scanning a QR code or tapping a button on their mobile device at checkout. Business Accounts Cash App allows business accounts to collect payments for their business by accepting peer-to-peer transactions for a fee, while allowing higher weekly limits and providing relevant tax reporting forms. Sales and Marketing Square Ecosystem The Square ecosystem has a strong brand affinity among its sellers. The company's Net Promoter Score (NPS) has averaged 54 over the past four quarters, which is nearly double the average score for banking providers. The company's high NPS means Square sellers recommend its services to others, which strengthens the Square brand and helps drive efficient customer acquisition. Direct marketing, online and offline, has also been an effective customer acquisition channel. These tactics include online search engine optimization and marketing, online display advertising, direct mail campaigns, direct response television advertising, mobile advertising, and affiliate and seller referral programs. The company's direct sales and account management teams also contribute to the acquisition and support of larger sellers. The company's direct, ongoing interactions with its sellers help it tailor offerings to them, at scale, and in the context of their usage. The company uses various scalable communication channels, such as email marketing, in-product notifications and messaging, and Square Communities, its online forum for sellers, to increase the awareness and usage of its products and services with little incremental sales and marketing expense. The company's customer support team also helps increase awareness and usage of its products as part of helping sellers address inquiries and issues. In addition to direct channels, the company works with third-party developers and other partners who offer its solutions to their customers. Partners expand the company's addressable market to sellers with individualized or industry-specific needs. Through the Square App Marketplace, Square partners are able to expand their own addressable market by reaching the millions of sellers using Square. As of December 31, 2023, Square had nearly 1,000 managed partners connected to its platform. Cash App Ecosystem Cash App has also developed a strong brand, which can be traced back to the company's compelling features, self-serve experience, unique design, and engaging marketing. Peer-to-peer transactions serve as the primary acquisition channel for Cash App. Peer-to-peer transactions have powerful network effects as every time a customer sends or requests money, Cash App can potentially acquire a new customer or re-engage an existing customer. The company has enhanced the efficiency of peer-to-peer transfers by streamlining the onboarding process for Cash App, enabling customers to sign up in minutes. The company offers the peer-to-peer service to its Cash App customers for free, and it considers it to be a marketing tool to encourage the usage of Cash App. Cash App also uses paid marketing, including referrals, advertising spend, partnerships, and social media campaigns, to expand its network, as these programs help reach new customers, enhance its brand, and improve retention among existing customers. Additionally, the company sees the launch and advertising of new Cash App features as an important way to attract new customers and engage existing customers. Features, such as Cash App Card and Boost rewards, bitcoin buying and selling, investing in stocks and ETFs, cross-border payments, Cash App Pay, and a tax preparation service enhance Cash App's utility for customers and provide reasons for consumers to try Cash App. Product Development and Technology The company designs both its Square and Cash App products and services to be cohesive, fast, self-serve, and elegant, and it organizes its product teams accordingly, combining individuals from product management, engineering, data science, analytics, design, and product marketing. The company's products and services are platform-agnostic with most supporting iOS, Android, and web. The company frequently updates its software products and have a rapid software release schedule with improvements deployed regularly. The company's services are built on a scalable technology platform, and it places a strong emphasis on data analytics and machine learning to maximize the efficacy, efficiency, and scalability of its services. Seasonality Historically, transaction-based revenue for the company's Square ecosystem has been strongest in its fourth quarter and weakest in its first quarter, as its sellers typically generate additional GPV during the holiday season. Subscription and services-based revenue generally demonstrates less seasonality than transaction-based revenue. Hardware revenue generally demonstrates less seasonality than transaction-based revenue, with most fluctuations tied to periodic product launches, promotions, or other arrangements with its retail partners. Historically, the company's Cash App ecosystem has experienced improvements in revenue and gross profit related to the distribution of government funds as customers have deposited more funds into Cash App during these times, including during the first quarter (year ended December 31, 2023) when U.S. tax refunds are typically distributed. Certain products within Cash App may also experience stronger fourth quarters and weaker first quarters, such as its BNPL platform, which typically generates additional revenue and gross profit during the holiday season. Typical seasonality trends for the Cash App ecosystem are also impacted by bitcoin revenue, which is driven by customer demand and the current market price of bitcoin. Government Regulation The company is registered as a Money Services Business with the U.S. Department of Treasury's Financial Crimes Enforcement Network (FinCEN). These licenses and registrations subject the company, among other things, to record-keeping requirements, reporting requirements, bonding requirements, limitations on the investment of customer funds, and examination by state and federal regulatory agencies. Outside the United States, the company provides localized versions of some of its services to customers, including through various foreign subsidiaries. The activities of those non-U.S. entities are, or may be, supervised by regulatory authorities in the jurisdictions in which they operate. For instance, the company holds an Australian Financial Services License issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission to provide non-cash payments in Australia, and the company is licensed as an Electronic Money Institution to provide payments services and electronic money in the United Kingdom by the Financial Conduct Authority and in the European Union by the Central Bank of Ireland and the Bank of Lithuania. The Consumer Financial Protection Bureau and other federal, local, state, and foreign regulatory and law enforcement agencies regulate financial products and enforce consumer protection laws, including those applicable to credit, deposit, and payments services, and other similar services. These agencies have broad consumer protection mandates, and they promulgate, interpret, and enforce rules and regulations that affect the company's business. The company is subject to anti-money laundering (AML), anti-corruption, and economic, trade and sanctions laws and regulations in the United States and other jurisdictions in which it operates. The anti-corruption laws, such as the U.S. Foreign Corrupt Practices Act and the U.K. Bribery Act, generally prohibit companies from making or offering improper payments to foreign government officials and political figures for the purpose of obtaining or retaining business or to gain an unfair business advantage. The company obtained approval from the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) and the Utah Department of Financial Institutions to open an ILC. The opening of Square Financial Services, Inc., the company's ILC, in March 2021 subjects it to direct state and federal regulatory supervision and requires compliance with applicable banking regulations and requirements. Various laws and regulations govern lending in the United States and internationally. In the United States, Square Capital, LLC holds and maintains lending and collections licenses with state regulators to support lending products offered across the United States. Afterpay US Services, LLC holds and maintains lending licenses to support its product offerings. These lending licenses subject the company to the supervision and examination authority of state regulators, and its partnerships with FDIC-insured financial institutions to offer certain lending products to customers subjects it to federal regulatory supervision. The company holds an Australian Credit Licence issued by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission. The company's subsidiary, Cash App Investing LLC (Cash App Investing), operates as a broker-dealer and is therefore registered with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a member of the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA). As a broker-dealer, Cash App Investing is subject to SEC and FINRA laws and regulations including, without limitation, how it markets its services, handles customer assets, keeps records, and reports to the SEC and FINRA. Cash App Investing is also registered in each state where it conducts business, and subject to those states' securities laws and regulations. The company is subject to certain licensing and supervisory frameworks as a result of its Cash App offering, through which customers can use their stored funds to buy, hold and sell bitcoin, and transfer bitcoin to and from Cash App. The company holds a New York State BitLicense and a Virtual Currency Business License in Louisiana. The company sends texts, emails, and other communications in a variety of contexts, such as when providing digital receipts and marketing. Communications laws and regulations, including those promulgated by the Federal Communications Commission, apply to certain aspects of this activity in the United States and elsewhere. History The company was founded in 2009. It was incorporated in Delaware in 2009. The company was formerly known as Square, Inc. and changed its name to Block, Inc. in 2021.