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Case Status:    ONGOING  
—On or around 01/28/2025 (Date of last review)
Current/Last Presiding Judge:  
Hon. Beth Labson Freeman

Filing Date: January 17, 2025

According to the Complaint, Block, Inc. is a financial technology conglomerate. The Company’s inaugural product is Square, a financial services platform for small and medium-sized businesses. The Company later launched Cash App (f/k/a “Square Cash”), a mobile payment service that allows users to transfer money using a mobile phone. Through the Cash App, users can transact in bitcoin, and Block prides itself in providing a “frictionless” consumer experience with minimal hurdles to opening an account, sending and receiving payments, and depositing and withdrawing funds. This class action was filed against Block and two of its Officers.

The Complaint alleges Defendants throughout the Class Period made false and/or misleading statements and/or failed to disclose that: (i) Block had engaged in widespread and years-long compliance lapses at Square and Cash App, including by failing to conduct basic due diligence regarding its customers’ identities or the nature of customer transactions so as to prevent the platforms from being used for illegal or illicit activities; (ii) Block had effectively created a haven for widespread illegal and illicit activities on its Square and Cash App platforms by imposing minimal obligations on customers seeking to open accounts, transact, and deposit or withdraw funds; encouraging the use of bitcoin; and pressuring Block’s banking partners to forgo ordinary know your customer due diligence activities; (iii) thousands of transactions on Square and Cash App were made in connection with a wide variety of illegal and illicit activities; (iv) Block allowed its customers to withdraw funds even after the accounts had been flagged for potentially illegal or illicit activities; (v) Block customers could open up multiple accounts using fake identities in order to engage in illegal or illicit activities; (vi) Block’s senior leadership and the Board of Directors had failed to correct identified compliance deficiencies despite numerous red flags, internal employee reports of deficiencies, and customer complaints; (vii) Block’s Cash App user metrics had been artificially inflated through the use of fake accounts and the ability of criminals and other bad actors to open multiple accounts; and (viii) as a result of the above, Block was subject to a material, undisclosed risk of its conduct being exposed, thereby exposing Block to reputational harm, adverse regulatory actions, the loss of business activity, and adverse impacts to Block’s operations and financial results.

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