“Joining the S&P 500 signifies a pivotal moment that underscores our business’s robustness and the dedication of thousands who are crafting tools to broaden economic accessibility across our affiliates including Square, Cash App, Afterpay, TIDAL, Proto, and Bitkey,” noted the company in a press release. “We are grateful to our customers, teams, and shareholders who have accompanied us throughout this journey. We’re only just beginning.”

Established in 2009 as Square, Block Inc (ticker XYZ) initially concentrated on financial services and mobile payment solutions. It underwent a rebranding process in December 2021 to reflect its mounting interest and engagement in blockchain and digital assets.

Block’s Bitkey branch offers a straightforward self-custody wallet for Bitcoin, and Proto provides a range of Bitcoin mining products and services. Block’s inclusion in the S&P 500 occurs approximately two months after Coinbase, the first exclusive crypto company, joined the benchmark index, supplanting Hess to be acquired by Chevron.

Starting last summer, Block has been allocating 10% of its Bitcoin earnings to BTC monthly and has made its treasury blueprint public so others can emulate. The company owns 8,584 BTC, equivalent to roughly $1 billion at the present value.

In November, Block announced it would scale back investments in the music streaming app Tidal and discontinue the decentralized web platform development team at TBD. Block recently settled a $40 million case with New York’s chief financial regulator over AML violations. The stock currently trades at approximately $72.82 per share, with a market capitalization of roughly $44.8 billion, based on The Block’s XYZ price data.

Disclaimer: The Block operates independently as a media outlet that provides news, research, and data. Foresight Ventures, a dominant investor of The Block as of November 2023, also invests in other crypto-related firms. Crypto exchange Bitget is a key LP for Foresight Ventures. The Block continues to deliver impartial, significant, and timely details about the crypto industry. Please see our existing financial disclosures for more information.

The post Block Inc, Dorsey’s Crypto-Driven Firm, Set to Enter S&P 500 This Week appeared first on Crypto Market Insights: Dive In with CryptoUpdate.io.

On his Twitter handle, Dorsey announced that Square will be creating an “open developer platform with the sole goal of making it easy to create non-custodial, permissionless, and decentralized financial services. Our primary focus is Bitcoin.”

Currently, the Ethereum network commands the major share of the Defi market. With Bitcoin-based Defi services, the new solution could be a game-changer as many would actively shift to these protocols.

Reports suggest that the Defi market for Ethereum has exploded in 2021. Jack Dorsey has also previously been involved in promoting Bitcoin-focussed R&D and experts are serious about his commitments.

The post Twitter Co-Founder Jack Dorsey Says They Are Building A Bitcoin Defi Platform appeared first on Crypto Market Insights: Dive In with CryptoUpdate.io.

According to the source, Dorsey listed the tweet on March 5 and Estavi placed the largest bid on March 6, which participants have not surpassed during the remaining days of the auction. At the time of bidding, the bid amount was about $2.5 million. However, as the price of ETH increased, the total reached over $2.9 million. The amount was converted into BTC and sent to a charity GiveDirectly Africa Response fund, the source says.

Ethereum is trading at around $1,686 at the time of writing, per CoinMarketCap.com data.

In other NFT news, Time Magazine recently released three NFT covers for auction on SuperRare. The three covers were inspired by the iconic cover from April 8, 1966, “Is God Dead?”, and read: “Is God Dead?”, “Is Truth Dead?”, and “Is Fiat Dead?” Please visit the original source for more information about participation in the auctions of the three covers, which will be open until March 24, 8 p.m. (ET).

The post The first tweet by Twitter co-founder sells on an auction for 1630.6 ETH appeared first on Crypto Market Insights: Dive In with CryptoUpdate.io.