Nikolas Sargeant
Block, the payments company led by Jack Dorsey, announced plans to boost its Bitcoin mining and self-custody wallet initiatives while scaling back other projects. The strategic shift comes as Donald Trump's election victory signals a potentially more favorable environment for cryptocurrency development in the US.
The company will redirect resources from its discontinued Web5 project (TBD) and reduce investment in music streaming service Tidal to support these crypto-focused ventures. "Our bitcoin mining initiative shows strong product-market fit with healthy demand," Block stated in its Q3 shareholder letter, highlighting its commitment to both mining operations and the Bitkey self-custody wallet.
Trump's victory has energized the crypto sector, given his stated intention to establish the US as a cryptocurrency hub and support domestic Bitcoin mining. The former president has criticized the Biden administration's regulatory stance as a "war on crypto" and pledged to work with industry proponents on future regulations.
While Block's Q3 revenue of $5.98 billion fell short of analyst expectations of $6.24 billion, the company exceeded profit forecasts through cost management measures. After an initial 10% after-hours decline, the stock recovered to close down less than 4%.
Block's mining expansion includes infrastructure development aimed at democratizing Bitcoin mining for smaller operators. The company recently supplied Core Scientific with 3-nanometer mining ASICs and commits 10% of monthly Bitcoin product profits to cryptocurrency acquisition.
