Jack Dorsey's Block will allocate 10% of its Bitcoin product profits to monthly BTC purchases as part of its commitment to the flagship crypto.
The post Jack Dorsey’s Block doubles down on Bitcoin, commits 10% of product profit to monthly BTC purchases appeared first on Crypto Briefing.
Block’s first-quarter 2024 results beat Wall Street analyst estimates on earnings and revenue which saw its share price surge after the bell.
Fintech firm Block’s first-quarter results have beat Wall Street analyst revenue and earnings expectations which saw its shares jump after-hours.
On May 2, Block, Inc. posted its Q1 2024 results showing revenues of $5.96 billion — beating estimates from analytic firm Zacks by 3.54%.
Block’s earnings per share was $0.85 — up from Zack’s $0.62 per share estimate. Its Q1 gross profits reached $2.09 billion, up 22% from the year-ago quarter.
On Wednesday, Block, the financial services firm, disclosed that merchants using Square can convert their daily sales into bitcoin through the Cash App. Block’s founder, Jack Dorsey, revealed this update on X, and as of today, merchants have the option to transfer between 1-10% of their Square-generated earnings into bitcoin, the leading crypto asset by […]
On Tuesday, Jack Dorsey, the founder of Block, took to X to announce that the company is “building a mining rig.” Dorsey also shared a blog post authored by Block’s lead for mining hardware products, Naoise Irwin. The post revealed enhancements in the chip design, upgrading from the initially planned 5-nanometer (nm) process to an […]
Marathon said the bug emanated from its experimental mining pool used to research ways to optimize operations.
Bitcoin mining firm Marathon Digital has confirmed it mined an invalid Bitcoin (BTC) block during an “experiment” aimed at optimizing the firm’s operations.
In a Sept. 27 post, Marathon said it utilizes a small percentage of the firm’s hashrate toward these experiments and stressed they weren’t trying to alter the network in any way:
“In no way was this experiment an attempt to alter Bitcoin Core in any way.” Marathon said, emphasizing that they corrected the error as soon as they noticed the invalid block.
We can confirm that Marathon did mine an invalid block. We utilize a small portion of our hash rate to experiment with our development pool and research potential methods to optimize our operations. The error was the result of an unanticipated bug that came from one of our…
— Marathon Digital Holdings (NASDAQ: MARA) (@MarathonDH) September 27, 2023
Marathon said the bug, which emanated from the firm’s internal development environment, wasn’t related to Marathon’s Bitcoin production pool or Bitcoin Core — the leading software used to connect to the Bitcoin network and run a node.
The incident occurred on Sept. 26 at 9:42 pm UTC on block 809478, according to mempool.space.
Several Bitcoin developers, along with BitMEX Research attributed the invalid block to a “transaction ordering issue.” Bitcoin developer “mononaut” believes Marathon mistake came from resorting the transactions in order of ascending absolute fees.
This is what MARA's invalid block at 809478 looks like:
— mononaut (@mononautical) September 27, 2023
- pink transactions no longer exist in the main chain
- blue transactions are invalid due to ordering (they spend an output from a transaction included later in the block) https://t.co/SJI1azOB5Z pic.twitter.com/5gY9TRA2eG
Bitcoin analyst Dylan LeClair suggested that Marathon should have conducted this experiment on a testnet before attempting it on Bitcoin’s mainnet.
In reflection, Marathon said Bitcoin “functioned exactly as designed” by excluding the invalid block:
“This incident, while unintended, underscores the robust security of the Bitcoin network, which rejected and rectified the anomaly.”
Related: Marathon Digital Q2 results miss revenue and earnings forecasts
Cointelegraph reached out to Marathon for comment but did not receive an immediate response.
Marathon’s (MARA) share price fell 2.91% to $8.01 during opening hours on Sept. 27, according to Google Finance.
Magazine: ‘Elegant and ass-backward’: Jameson Lopp’s first impression of Bitcoin
Since Binance and Coinbase were sued for offering unregistered securities, the longtime Bitcoin advocate has tweeted posts promoting a focus on BTC development.
Long-time Bitcoin (BTC) advocate Jack Dorsey has found himself in a Twitter war with several crypto industry pundits after he responded with “yes” to a question asking if Ether (ETH) was a security.
The comment caught the attention of Udi Wertheimer, a Bitcoin Ordinals developer at Taproot Wizards, who inferred Dorsey was a “clown” in a tweet on June 6.
In response, Dorsey tweeted, “ETH is not a security? Teach me wizard,” which prompted Wertheimer to share a five-year-old video of the United States Securities Exchange CommissionChair Gary Gensler stating that ETH was now “sufficiently decentralized” and wasn’t a security.
clowns. pic.twitter.com/S8AiJwuMem
— Udi Wertheimer (@udiWertheimer) June 6, 2023
However, Gabor Gurbacs, strategy adviser to stablecoin issuer Tether and investment management firm VanEck, weighed in on Wertheimer’s comment, stating that Ethereum’s recent transition to proof-of-stake may have re-triggered securities laws.
The online scuffle comes in light of the SEC filing lawsuits against cryptocurrency exchanges Binance and Coinbase on June 5 and 6 for allegedly offering tokens considered to be unregistered securities.
Dorsey also tweeted and implied approval of a screenshot of a post by Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong in 2015, where he referred to altcoins as a “distraction” and that Coinbase should instead “be focused” on Bitcoin.
— jack (@jack) June 6, 2023
Dorsey continued on his pro-Bitcoin tweeting streak and retweeted a video of Jack Mallers — CEO of Bitcoin Lightning application Strike — calling out Armstrong for choosing to prioritize altcoins over building on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network.
Related: Jack Dorsey tips pro-crypto candidate Robert Kennedy to win presidency
When Dorsey was in charge of Twitter in 2021 the company sold 140 Ethereum-based nonfungible tokens (NFTs) but he rejected investing in Ether at the time.
Dorsey also downplayed Ethereum’s development in August 2021 when he claimed that Ethereum alone wouldn’t be able to disrupt big tech.
Dorsey recently provided funding and became an advocate for Nostr, a decentralized “Twitter killer” network that integrates Bitcoin Lightning-based payments on the “Damus” platform.
Magazine: Crypto regulation — Does SEC Chair Gary Gensler have the final say?
Block’s Q1 earnings report reveals a 25% year-on-year increase in Bitcoin revenue from the fintech firm’s flagship product Cash App.
Fintech firm Block, owned by Twitter founder Jack Dorsey, has reported a staggering $2.16 billion in Bitcoin (BTC) revenue on its bellwether product Cash App in Q1.
According to a shareholder letter announcing its Q1 2023 earnings, Block (NYSE:SQ) reported that its Bitcoin revenue — which counts BTC revenue as total sales of the cryptocurrency to customers — was up 18% from $1.83 billion in Q4 and 25% from Q1 2022.
Our Q1 earnings are now available. $SQ https://t.co/oGcnRuzFb3
— Block Investor Relations (@BlockIR) May 4, 2023
Cash App’s total profits reached over $931 million in the first quarter of 2023, marking a 49% increase year-over-year. Notably, Cash App’s profit paled compared to the company’s gross profit, which came in at $1.71 billion. Block also owns the popular business payment service Square, which reported a slight (3.8%) decline in profits from the fourth quarter of 2022.
According to the shareholder letter, the multi-billion-dollar Bitcoin revenues were driven by “an increase in the quantity of Bitcoin sold to customers,” and were “partially offset” by a decrease in the market price of Bitcoin, compared to the same timeframe in 2022.
The fintech firm also reported an earning per share of 40 cents, beating analyst expectations of 35 cents per share by 14%, with its first-quarter revenue rising 26% year-on-year.
Speaking to investors in the earnings conference call, Block CEO Jack Dorsey identified both artificial intelligence and “open protocols” as technologies that would aid the company in proactively responding to the “significant shifts” in the global financial system He cited continued United States bank failures and de-dollarization as the primary culprits.
The equities market took kindly to Block’s earnings filings. The fintech firm’s share price briefly surged 5% to $63.50 in after-hours trading, before settling down to a 2.5% gain at the time of publication.
Related: Jack Dorsey’s nano Bitcoin mining chip heads to prototype
This uptick marked the first instance of relief from a steady decline in Block’s share price, which suffered a significant 25% hit following the release of a scathing report penned by famed short sellers Hindenburg Research.
On March 23, Hindenburg slammed Block for “systematically taking advantage of the demographics it claims to be helping,” and declared that Block’s success with Cash App only hinged on a “willingness to facilitate fraud against consumers and the government.”
“Hindenburg is known for these types of attacks, which are designed solely to allow short sellers to profit from a declined stock price,” wrote Block in response to Hindenburg’s allegations. “We have reviewed the full report in the context of our own data and believe it’s designed to deceive and confuse investors.”
Magazine: Joe Lubin — The truth about ETH founders split and ‘Crypto Google’
Jack Dorsey’s fintech company Block is buying Bitcoin (BTC) mining chips from Intel in order to boost their equipment production plans. According to a new blog post, Block’s purchase of Intel’s ASIC (application-specific integrated circuit) chips will accelerate their plans to enter the Bitcoin mining market. Block says they were designing their own ASICs when […]
The post Tech Mogul Jack Dorsey’s Bitcoin Company Block Buys Up Hardware From Intel for New Mining Operations appeared first on The Daily Hodl.
After announcing the production of bitcoin application-specific integrated circuits (ASICs), Intel, the world’s largest semiconductor chip manufacturer by revenue, appears to be abandoning its blockchain chip production. On Tuesday, a spokesperson for the chip manufacturer explained that Intel has “end-of-lifed the Intel Blockscale 1000 Series ASIC.” Intel Spokesperson Discloses Company Has End-of-Lifed the Blockscale 1000 […]
"Block has wildly overstated its genuine user counts and has understated its customer acquisition costs," said the report.
A report following a two-year investigation from Hindenburg Research claimed digital payments company Block had “systematically taken advantage of the demographics it claims to be helping,” alleging the firm inflated its user metrics and facilitated fraud.
According to the March 23 report, Hindenburg Research said Block’s practices allowed users to set up fraudulent accounts, catering to many criminals who used the platform to steal funds. The report suggested that Block insiders, including co-founders Jack Dorsey and James McKelvey, chief financial officer Amrita Ahuja, and Cash App manager Brian Grassadonia, had sold more than $1 billion of the firm’s stock, whose price rose “on the back of its facilitation of fraud.”
“The ‘magic’ behind Block’s business has not been disruptive innovation, but rather the company’s willingness to facilitate fraud against consumers and the government, avoid regulation, dress up predatory loans and fees as revolutionary technology, and mislead investors with inflated metrics,” said Hindenburg. “Even when users were caught engaging in fraud or other prohibited activity, Block blacklisted the account without banning the user.”
NEW FROM US:
— Hindenburg Research (@HindenburgRes) March 23, 2023
Block—How Inflated User Metrics and "Frictionless" Fraud Facilitation Enabled Insiders To Cash Out Over $1 Billionhttps://t.co/pScGE5QMnX $SQ
(1/n)
The report cited a shift in Block’s business starting during the early days of the pandemic in 2020, when many people activated Cash App accounts to receive stimulus and unemployment payments from the United States government. Interviews with former employees by Hindenburg suggested that roughly 40% to 75% of reviewed accounts were fake, involved in fraud, or tied to a single individual.
Related: Jack Dorsey’s Block sues Bitcoin.com for trademark infringement
"Like traditional financial services companies, [Block's] key focus seems to be on dressing up predatory loans and fees as revolutionary products, avoiding regulation and embracing worst-of-breed compliance policies in order to profit from its facilitation of fraud against consumers and the government," said Hindenburg. "The company seems to be betting that the consequences will either be a ‘cost of doing business’ or at the very least, come later."
Hindenburg announced it had taken a short position in Block as part of its report. At the time of publication, the price of Block’s stock has dropped more than 13% in the last 24 hours to $63.38.
Magazine: Fake employees and social attacks: Crypto recruiting is a minefield
