Facebook in late October changed its name to Meta. Now, it’s Mark Zuckerberg’s social network contemporary Jack Dorsey switching up the name of one of his companies.

Payments company Square on Wednesday, December 1, US time, announced that its corporate name would legally be known as Block starting December 10.

Similar to the Facebook social media platform retaining the Facebook name, Block’s core payments product will retain the legacy Square name. Block’s “seller business,” which “provides an integrated ecosystem of commerce solutions, business software, and banking services,” will now officially be referred to as Square. 

The name change also points to the growing trend of traditional tech companies moving to or at the very least signaling support for the blockchain and related technologies. Meta refers to the metaverse, which in its crudest definition merges the physical and virtual worlds usually through transactions that carry value or are recognized in both worlds. 

Block’s press release about the name change doesn’t explicitly pertain to any direct moves that make the company more blockchain-oriented. Although Dorsey has been publicly supportive of the technology, Block said the new name 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.” It does mention blockchain in the items the name is associated with. 

“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,” Dorsey said. 

Block, founded in 2009, also owns music app Tidal, a financial services division focused on Bitcoin called TBD54566975, a cryptocurrency division called Spiral, and a US- and UK-only mobile payment app called Cash App. – Rappler.com