Block

Crypto asset manager Bitwise cut 14% of its staff amid a market downturn. CEO Hunter Horsley stated that the company trimmed its global team to around 155 last week.

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest bought $21 million worth of Block stock after the company saw its shares drop 6%. This decrease was attributed to Block reporting rising operating expenses in Q2, despite having cut 40% of its workforce in February.

Senate Majority Leader John Thune confirmed to The Block that the Clarity Act vote has been delayed until after the August recess. He stated that they are getting the act queued up first thing when they return.

Fintech company Block beat earnings expectations after slashing 40% of its workforce for AI development. The company reported a record adjusted operating income margin of 27% and achieved 25% gross profit growth during the second quarter.

Block raised its 2026 outlook following better-than-expected results driven by Cash App and Square. The company stated it expanded AI usage across software engineering.

Block raised its 2026 outlook due to a strong quarter driven by Cash App and Square, which delivered better-than-expected results. The company expanded its use of AI across software engineering.

Block’s bitcoin gross profit declined 31% due to Cash App fee cuts, but the company raised its 2026 gross profit forecast to $12.51 billion following record adjusted operating income.

Expedia, Block, Western Digital, and Sandisk reported their financial results. Bloomberg Television, Bloomberg Radio, and YouTube provided coverage of the U.S. market close with Romaine Bostick, Carol Massar, and Tim Stenovec.

Block Inc. raised its annual profit guidance following better-than-expected quarterly results driven by growth in its Square and Cash App businesses.

Fora Travel, a $1 billion AI-powered travel agent platform, has appointed Alanna Gregory as its first CMO. The company recently raised $60 million in funding and plans to use the capital to enhance its AI tools for travel advisors.

Hackers have stolen over $114 million in Bitcoin from Coldcard wallets due to a firmware bug in Coldcard Mk3 devices, allowing seedphrase guessing. Coinkite, the company behind Coldcard, confirmed all models were vulnerable and halted shipments of the product.

Over $70 million in Bitcoin was stolen via a Coldcard exploit, with the thief using a top blockchain services provider to facilitate the attack. Coinkite admitted all Coldcard models were vulnerable due to a firmware bug causing weak private key generation.

Cathie Wood’s Ark Invest sold shares in Bitmine, Bullish, and Block as crypto stocks declined. The firm also purchased 128,932 shares of SpaceX valued at approximately $14.5 million.

Alphabet (Google) added over 4,000 employees in the last quarter of 2026, while Meta reduced its workforce by over 2,000. The article discusses how AI adoption is influencing hiring trends, with some companies restructuring teams and others hiring as they invest in AI technologies.

Ark Invest purchased $12 million in SpaceX shares while selling $2.3 million in Block Inc., $1.6 million in Bullish, and $4 million in Robinhood. The firm is reducing its holdings in Block, Bullish, and Robinhood as it invests in SpaceX.

Coinbase is developing a post-quantum custody system to prepare for potential future threats from quantum computers breaking Bitcoin's cryptography. The company has formed an advisory board and joined the Bitcoin Security Consortium to advance quantum-safe blockchain upgrades.

Uber is laying off 10% of its community operations team and requiring remote workers to return to offices three days a week, citing AI as a reason. The company joins others like Block, IBM, and Snap in cutting jobs under AI-related restructuring.

Jack Dorsey's Block launched Buzz, a free and open-source workspace built on Nostr that grants AI agents cryptographic identities and positions itself as a competitor to Slack and GitHub.

Jack Dorsey, co-founder of The Block, has launched Buzz, a decentralized, open-source group chat app built on the Nostr protocol. The app aims to replace platforms like Slack by enabling collaboration between humans and agents in a self-sovereign workspace.

The idea of a U.S. AI self-regulatory body modeled on FINRA is gaining support, proposed by Google DeepMind CEO Demis Hassabis. The proposal has endorsement from tech leaders like Microsoft’s Satya Nadella, Block’s Jack Dorsey, and Elon Musk, with potential oversight by the SEC. The body would focus on safety testing for 'frontier AI' models and include independent experts and open-source community representatives.

Business and tech leaders, including Instagram CEO Adam Mosseri, are reducing team sizes, citing AI as a key driver. Mark Zuckerberg and Jack Dorsey also advocate for smaller, more efficient teams, reflecting a shift away from Jeff Bezos's 'two pizza' team concept.

Ark Invest purchased $14 million in Circle shares and $1.5 million in Block Inc. while selling $3.2 million in Robinhood shares.

Cash App's parent company, Block, Inc., agreed to a $45 million multistate settlement to resolve allegations of inadequate fraud prevention and misleading users about security. Virginia, part of the 46-state settlement, will receive approximately $845,500, which will be used for consumer protection efforts or other permitted purposes under state law.

Cash App parent company Block agreed to a $45 million settlement with 46 states over allegations of inadequate fraud protection and customer support. The settlement resolves claims that the company failed to secure user funds and misled customers about security risks.

JPMorgan analysts argue that private blockchains, not MicroStrategy's Bitcoin sales, pose the greater threat to Bitcoin. They warn that institutional adoption of permissioned blockchains with regulatory compliance could shift tokenization, payments, and settlements away from public networks like Bitcoin and Ethereum, reducing liquidity and capital flows. The report highlights risks from tokenized deposits, central bank digital currencies, and real-world asset tokenization migrating to private infrastructure.

Michigan will receive $936,540 from a $45 million multi-state settlement with Block, the parent company of Cash App, over allegations of misleading users about the app's safety and inadequate fraud protection. The settlement addresses practices such as a fast sign-up process that enabled fraud and a lack of customer support, which led to scams targeting users.

Several states, including Tennessee, have settled with Block (owner of Cash App) over allegations of misleading users about fraud protection and lacking phone support until 2021. Block will pay $45 million and up to $120 million in victim compensation, while improving customer service practices.

Louisiana will receive $557,086.81 from a $45 million multistate settlement with Block, Inc. (Cash App) over allegations the company misled users about platform safety, failed to protect against fraud, and inadequately addressed scamming risks. The settlement, led by Oregon and Texas, resolves claims that Cash App's weak security and policies exposed users to fraud, including fake customer service lines and vulnerable promotions like Cash App Fridays.

Vermont will receive $1.3 million from a multistate settlement with Cash App's parent company Block over allegations the platform failed to protect users from fraud and misled them about security. The $45 million total settlement across 46 states follows a federal $175 million agreement with the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau over similar claims.

Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a $45 million settlement with Block Inc. to resolve customer exposure to fraud and safety claims. The settlement aims to provide support for affected Cash App users.

Cash App, operated by Block, Inc., agreed to a $45 million settlement with 46 state attorneys general over inadequate account security, deceptive marketing of FDIC insurance, and promotions that facilitated fraud. The states alleged the company delayed implementing customer support until 2021, allowed fake help lines to proliferate, and misled users about safety features.

Cash App’s parent company, Block, agreed to a $45 million multistate settlement over allegations of misleading users about the app’s safety and failing to protect them from fraud. Minnesota will receive approximately $639,000 (1.5% of the settlement), with the company committing to improved customer support and up to $120 million in consumer restitution through the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.

Perpetual futures have become the dominant instrument in crypto derivatives markets, with decentralized venues (Perp DEX) emerging as the fastest-growing sector in Web3. The article references data showing Perp DEX's share of total crypto perpetuals volume compared to centralized exchanges (CEX) from March 2024 to March 2026, citing sources like The Block and Defillama.

Public companies hold Bitcoin as a scarce, dollar-denominated reserve asset to diversify treasury holdings, combat inflation, attract investors, and gain exposure to the digital asset economy. The strategy was pioneered by Strategy (formerly MicroStrategy) and later adopted by Tesla, Block, and Metaplanet.

Palo Alto Networks CEO Nikesh Arora states 90% of enterprise employees lack AI skills, prompting companies to reduce roles in HR and marketing. Arora highlights Palo Alto's strategy of hiring technical staff through hackathons instead of mass layoffs, contrasting with approaches by Coinbase and Block leaders Brian Armstrong and Jack Dorsey.

Multiple companies, including Snap, Block, Wix, GitLab, and Cisco, have cited AI-related efficiencies as a reason for recent layoffs. Some critics argue this reflects 'AI washing,' while studies show mixed impacts, with some positions being reopened after AI implementation.

Block's new AI tool, Builderbot, handles 15% of code work, described as a critical layer between AI coding tools and large-scale engineering processes. Brad Axen, head of AI capabilities at Block, highlighted its role in bridging this gap.

Robinhood CEO Vlad Tenev announced a 10% workforce reduction, attributing the layoffs to the need to 'maximize talent density' despite claiming the business is thriving. The memo avoids explicitly labeling employees as underperformers but contrasts the departing workforce with the desired team. Similar layoffs have occurred at companies like Microsoft and Block, often framed as performance-based decisions.

Robinhood announced layoffs of 290 employees, a 10% reduction in its workforce, to streamline operations and avoid a 'heavily-layered' structure. The company cited financial strength, including a $350 million Q1 profit and $1.07 billion in revenue, while other crypto-related firms like Coinbase and Algorand also reported layoffs amid a downturn in digital currency trading.

Owen Jennings serves as executive officer and head of business at Block. The article identifies his role within the company.