BLOCK'S PATH TO BECOMING A PAYMENT NETWORK

Summary from the TLDR Crypto newsletter

Block is assembling the pieces to become a full payment network rivaling Visa/Mastercard. It already has millions of Square merchants and 60M+ daily Cash App users, and its new "Neighborhoods" feature can route payments directly between Block-owned accounts via Cash App Pay, bypassing card networks and charging just 1% while still profiting. Future phases could extend Cash App Pay to non-Square merchants (leveraging fraud data from Cash App's user base) and eventually make it an official debit network accepting all cards, positioning Block as a genuine fifth payment network.