Block Inc.’s stock took a hit in after-hours trading following a disappointing Q3 performance, with both total revenue and Bitcoin-related income missing market expectations.
The company’s shares fell by over 12% soon after the closing bell, though they recovered slightly, leaving them up around 4% for the year.
The tech firm, known for its Square point-of-sale system and Cash App, reported a modest 6.4% revenue increase from the previous year, reaching $5.98 billion—falling short of analyst projections of $6.17 billion. Bitcoin revenue, Block’s key income stream from crypto-related fees, remained stagnant compared to last year’s third quarter at roughly $2.43 billion.
Amid these results, Block announced plans to wind down its decentralized finance project, TBD, and reduce its investment in the TIDAL music platform to focus more on crypto-related ventures. According to Block, this shift will allow for further investment in initiatives like Bitcoin mining and the Bitkey self-custody wallet.
Despite the revenue shortfall, Block’s gross profit rose by 19% to $2.25 billion, with net income reaching $283.7 million, aligned with analyst forecasts. The revenue miss was partly attributed to Bitcoin’s price stability during the quarter, averaging close to $60,000.
Pump.fun, a key player in Solana’s meme coin market surge last year, has seen a sharp decline in both protocol fees and trading volume.
David Pakman, managing partner at the crypto investment firm CoinFund, has predicted that the total supply of stablecoins could skyrocket to $1 trillion by the close of 2025, potentially fueling the growth of the broader cryptocurrency market.
Peter Schiff, a well-known critic of Bitcoin and prominent economist, has once again targeted the leading cryptocurrency.
gFidelity Investments’ Jurrien Timmer, the director of global macro, has weighed in on the ongoing debate about Bitcoin’s potential to surpass gold in market value. While he acknowledges that Bitcoin could eventually rival gold, he doesn’t foresee this happening anytime soon.