Jack Dorsey’s financial services company, Block, Inc., surged almost 9% in after-hours trading on Friday following the news that it will be added to the S&P 500, the benchmark index of the 500 largest US companies by market capitalization.
Block will replace US energy company Hess Corp on the S&P 500 before trading commences on Wednesday, according to a statement on Friday. The announcement triggered a strong reaction from the Bitcoin (BTC) community, given the firm’s advocacy for Bitcoin and its strategy for holding Bitcoin as part of its treasury. The most recent data from Bitbo shows that Block holds 8,584 Bitcoin.
The crypto industry says it is a massive move for Bitcoin
Crypto commentary account WiseSummit said in a post on Friday, “This is not just a headline. It is trillions in passive flows inching closer to Bitcoin.” Meanwhile, crypto trader cryptothedoggy said, “Crypto roots + Fintech firepower = Wall Street’s new blueprint.”
The stock price of Block (XYZ) surged 8.49% in after-hours trading on Friday, reaching $79 according to Google Finance data.
To be listed on the S&P 500, the firm must have a market cap greater than $18 billion, a public float of greater than 10%, and the most recent quarter’s earnings should be positive. The sum of the previous four quarters’ GAAP (Generally Accepted Accounting Principles) earnings should also be positive.
Block’s entry into the S&P 500 came only two months after crypto exchange Coinbase Global (COIN) became the first crypto firm to make it into the S&P 500 index.
Speculation more crypto-related firms to be added in the future
However, there is speculation that more crypto-related firms may be added in the future.
On Wednesday, after Michael Saylor’s Strategy broke its all-time high market capitalization, Strive Funds Bitcoin Strategy vice president Jeff Walton said it is the 11th day of Strategy qualifying for the S&P 500.
Block’s move onto the S&P 500 had been anticipated for some time. On Jan. 10, Matthew Sigel, head of digital assets research at VanEck, suggested that Block could become the first company with an “explicit” Bitcoin strategy to be included in the S&P 500.
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Meanwhile, on May 28, Block announced it would launch Bitcoin payments on Square, its payments processing arm, with a rollout to begin later this year before a full launch in 2026.
The company announced the plan at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas on May 27, where Block demonstrated the feature at the BTC Inc. merchandise store.
Merchants will be able to accept Bitcoin payments through existing Square hardware using the Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s faster, lower-cost layer-2 scaling network.
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