First Facebook, Now Square; More Traditional Companies Are Focusing On Crypto

Traditional Companies Are Turning To Crypto

There is no denying the fact that the cryptocurrency market is the fastest-growing financial market in the world. Over the past year, the market has added more than $1 trillion to its market cap.

For an industry that is just over a decade old, it is amazing that it is now worth roughly $3 trillion. However, the amazing part is the massive potential still left untapped in the cryptocurrency space.

Over the past decade, the cryptocurrency market has witnessed numerous trends. The rise of initial coin offerings (ICOs) led to the adoption of initial exchange offerings (IEOs). The market grew and welcomed the decentralized finance (DeFi) sector.

Thanks to the launch of DeFi, decentralized applications (dApps) became popular. The programmable blockchains also became home to other rising and growing trends, including nonfungible tokens (NFTs), decentralized exchanges (DEXs) and more.

The latest trend in the market is the metaverse. The potential of the metaverse is so strong that social media giant Facebook decided it was worth going all in. Facebook rebranded its corporate name to Meta, indicating its strong desire to become a metaverse-focused company.

Facebook changing its name to Meta brought good news for the cryptocurrency space as more companies in the sector can now advertise on Facebook and Instagram. In its blog post, Meta said, “We’re making it easier to run ads about cryptocurrency on our platform by expanding the number of regulatory licenses we accept. We’re doing this because the cryptocurrency landscape has continued to mature and stabilize in recent years and has seen more government regulations that are setting clearer rules for their industry.”

The social media giant added that the changes would help make its policy in this space more equitable and transparent and help more advertisers, including small businesses, grow their audiences and reach more potential customers.

Square Follows Suit

Facebook was the first major company to change its name to reflect its desire to enter deeper into the cryptocurrency space. Square, the payment company by Jack Dorsey, also took the leap of faith earlier this week and made the transition.

Square announced earlier this week that it is renaming itself Block as it focuses on technologies such as blockchain and expands beyond its original credit card-reader business. This latest development didn’t come as a surprise to market participants as Square began to expand its presence in the crypto space in recent months.

The move began with Dorsey resigning from his role as Twitter CEO. There have been concerns about Jack Dorsey running both Twitter and Square, two publicly-listed companies. To make it easier, many had suggested that he resign as the CEO of one company so he could focus on the other one.

Well, Dorsey chose Bitcoin. In recent months, Dorsey hasn’t shied away from discussing his admiration for Bitcoin. He has pointed out on numerous occasions that he is bullish about Bitcoin and intends to make Square a leader in the Bitcoin space.

Notice how I said Bitcoin and not cryptocurrencies? Well, that is because Jack Dorsey’s primary and only focus is Bitcoin. He has stated that he is not interested in other cryptocurrencies and doesn’t intend to invest in them.

Square is currently building a business around Bitcoin. The payment company is developing a Bitcoin wallet to make it easy for retail and institutional investors to store their BTC. Dorsey said, “We built the Square brand for our Seller business, which is where it belongs. Block is a new name, but our purpose of economic empowerment remains the same. No matter how we grow or change, we will continue to build tools to help increase access to the economy.”

Furthermore, Square Crypto will change its name to Spiral in a bid to advance its dedication to Bitcoin. Square pointed out that “Block has many associated meanings for the company — building blocks, neighborhood blocks and their local businesses, communities coming together at block parties full of music, a blockchain, a section of code, and obstacles to overcome.”

Dorsey has pointed out in the past that Square intends to build a decentralized business around Bitcoin. Most of the decentralized businesses have been built on programmable blockchains like Ethereum, Solana, Cardano, Binance Smart Chain and more. However, Bitcoin hasn’t been in the discussion until now.

Jack Dorsey wants to transform Bitcoin from its current role of just a store of value to a cryptocurrency that has numerous utilities.

More Companies To Join Square And Facebook?

The trend of traditional companies expanding their presence in the cryptocurrency and blockchain space could increase over the coming years. While several companies are now operating in the crypto space, most of them are still doing so under their existing names.

In the past, major companies and financial institutions frowned at cryptocurrencies. Banks and other leading financial institutions discouraged people from investing in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies.

However, the trend has changed. Major companies such as PayPal, MicroStrategy, Robinhood, AMC Theaters, Tesla and several others are involved in the cryptocurrency space. Some of the leading financial institutions, including JPMorgan Chase, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Citigroup, BNY Mellon and many others, are now offering cryptocurrency-related services to their clients.

The trend of traditional companies entering the crypto and blockchain space is set to continue over the coming years as the market is still in its infancy. There is still a lot of development to take place within the cryptocurrency space over the coming years.