Block (SQ) shares hit 52-week lows on Wednesday, closing down more than 8%. The stock slid as part of a recent sell-off in growth names and risky assets amid concerns of Fed rate hikes.
The digital payment firm, formally known as Square, is down about 26% since announcing its corporate entity name change to Block, on Dec. 1 of last year.
The switch was seen as a nod to the company’s increasing focus on blockchain, the technology which underpins cryptocurrencies such as Bitcoin (BTC-USD).
Bitcoin was trading at around $57,000 on the day Square announced its name change to Block. More than one month later, it’s now trading about 19% below that level — at about $46,100 on Wednesday afternoon.
During that same timeframe, Block’s stock has gone from around $194 per share to about $144.
Jack Dorsey, Block’s founder, chairman, and CEO, is an avid proponent of the decentralized digital currency, often tweeting about Bitcoin and is vocal about his company’s plans to dive further into crypto.
“Our focus is on helping bitcoin to become the native currency for the internet,” Dorsey said during the company’s earnings call in November 2021.
“We’re going to be building a hardware wallet,” he added. “We’re exploring bitcoin mining, a consumer device to mine bitcoin at home or in a business or Seller businesses, in fact. We believe this focus is important. We believe it’s right.”
Dorsey stepped down as CEO of the social media company Twitter (TWTR) in late November, just days prior to the Square name change announcement. Shares of Twitter declined about 18% last year, compared to gains for all the major averages.
Other crypto-related stocks were also lower amid a tech sell-off on Wednesday, such as Riot Blockchain (RIOT), Marathon Digital (MARA), and Future Fintech (FTFT).
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Source: finance.yahoo.com