Jack Dorsey’s Block Scales Back Investment in TIDAL in Favor of Mining Bitcoin

In a shareholder letter on Thursday, Jack Dorsey's Block confirmed it is scaling back investment in TIDAL in favor of mining Bitcoin.

Block confirmed in a shareholder letter on Thursday that it is scaling back its investment in TIDAL in favor of mining Bitcoin.

“We are scaling back our investment in TIDAL and winding down TBD,” Block wrote in the letter to shareholders. TBD was a Bitcoin-focused arm of the company that aimed to build a new, decentralized internet. “This gives us more room to spiral into our bitcoin mining initiative, which has strong product market fit and a healthy pipeline of demand, and Bitkey, our self-custody wallet for bitcoin.”

Another interesting detail is that Block executives reportedly ordered staffers not to discuss prominent board member Jay-Z. Staffers were warned by management to avoid mentioning Jay-Z in internal company communications, such as email or Slack. Following Block's 2021 acquisition of TIDAL, Jay-Z became one of the company's nine board members.

After TIDAL was acquired by Block in 2021, Jay-Z became one of the company’s nine board members.

Last week, TIDAL laid off a small number of employees, and it is possible that “scaling back investment” could lead to further layoffs. Prior to being completely shut down by Block, TBD was also affected by those layoffs. Could TIDAL meet the same fate?

The order not to mention Jay-Z in internal communications came as employees began questioning his role on Block's board, particularly in light of the escalating allegations against Diddy. Jay-Z and Diddy have frequently collaborated on music and have been photographed together on numerous occasions over the years.

According to Fortune, shortly after Block employees were advised not to mention Jay-Z, Jack Dorsey held a virtual all hands meeting. At these meetings, Block employees are typically encouraged to ask questions, even anonymously.

However, for this particular meeting, Dorsey reportedly disabled the option for employees to submit anonymous questions. According to attendees, Dorsey began the meeting by expressing his dissatisfaction with his employees' negativity and asking them to reflect on "why they were happy to be there."