Benzinga | Dec 1, 2021 05:37PM EST

It's Hip To Be... Block? Square Is Changing Its Name

Financial services and digital payments company Square Inc (NYSE:SQ) announced a name change for its company and cryptocurrency unit.

What Happened: Square announced tWednesday the new company name will be Block Inc, a move that will happen on or about Dec. 10. The company is seeking to have a different name for its corporate entity, as Square is one of its units. The company also owns Cash App, Tidal and TBD54566975.

Along with changing the overall company name, Square is also changing the name of its cryptocurrency unit from Square Crypto to Spiral.

The company said block is used for many meanings including building blocks, communities coming together at the block, a blockchain, a section of code and obstacles to overcome.

The company's stock ticker will remain SQ.

Related Link: 5 Fun Facts You might Not Know About Jack Dorsey

Why It's Important: The name change by Square follows a similar move by social media platform company Facebook to change its name to Meta Platforms Inc (NASDAQ:FB) to better differentiate the company from one business unit.

Unlike Square, Facebook announced it would change its stock ticker from FB to MVRS, a move that was recently postponed.

The announcement by Square comes days after co-founder and CEO Jack Dorsey stepped down as the CEO of social media platform Twitter Inc (NYSE:TWTR).

SQ Price Action: Shares are up 1% to $196.30 in after-hours trading.