Bitcoin News Today: Block's Bitcoin Strategy: Balancing Innovation and Prudence in Corporate Treasuries

As corporate treasuries increasingly allocate resources to bitcoin, Block Inc. (SQ) is positioning the cryptocurrency as a long-term strategic asset, with its leadership offering insights into how peers can navigate the evolving landscape. In a Fortune interview, Amrita Ahuja, Block's COO and CFO, detailed the company's journey from treating bitcoin as an experimental investment to integrating it as a core component of its corporate strategy.

Block's foray into bitcoin began in 2018 with the launch of Cash App's buy-and-sell functionality, which has since facilitated over $58 billion in bitcoin transactions for users. By 2020, the company began purchasing bitcoin for its own balance sheet, starting with a $50 million investment-less than 1% of its total assets-as a learning exercise. Over the following years, Block expanded its holdings through dollar-cost averaging, reinvesting 10% of monthly gross profits from bitcoin-related products. As of Q2 2025, the company held 8,692 bitcoin on its balance sheet, according to the Fortune interview.

Ahuja emphasized that bitcoin is treated as a "long-term investment" with predefined risk parameters, rather than operational capital. "We don't ride an emotional roller coaster with it," said Neil Jorgensen, Block's treasury lead. The company's approach includes open-sourcing its bitcoin frameworks and publishing real-time dashboards to track holdings and price movements. This transparency, Ahuja noted, helps demystify bitcoin for stakeholders while aligning with broader institutional infrastructure advancements in custodianship and liquidity, the Fortune interview added.

The trend of corporate bitcoin adoption has gained momentum, with over 178 publicly traded companies now holding more than 1 million BTC ($100 billion) collectively, according to a GlobeNewswire release. Prenetics, a health science firm, recently expanded its bitcoin holdings to 378 BTC ($41 million) following a $44 million equity raise, according to a Bitget report. Meanwhile, Michael Saylor's Strategy announced a 10.5% monthly dividend on STRC shares, leveraging its 640,808 BTC holdings to generate returns despite a 13% drop in the total market cap of bitcoin treasury companies in October, per an Investor Empires report.

Despite growing institutional confidence, challenges persist. Bitcoin's price volatility remains a concern, as seen in October's 8% decline, which erased $20 billion from treasury firms' market value. However, counter-cyclical buying increased total holdings by 3,970 BTC ($437.8 million) during the same period, a trend noted by Investor Empires. Block's leaders argue that strategic, incremental accumulation-rather than speculative bets-mitigates risk. "Start small," Ahuja advised, whether through cost-averaging programs or modest purchases, she told Fortune.

The regulatory environment is also shaping corporate strategies. With the approval of bitcoin ETFs and pro-crypto policies under U.S. President Donald Trump, firms are accelerating adoption, as reported in a BeInCrypto story. Bitcoin Bancorp recently partnered with Sailo Technologies to launch a treasury management platform featuring AI-driven security and quantum-resistant encryption, catering to institutions holding BTC, according to the GlobeNewswire release. Meanwhile, Wall Street's new "bitcoin whale," Matador, finalized a $100 million convertible note facility to accumulate 1% of bitcoin's total supply, BeInCrypto reported.

Looking ahead, Block's team sees bitcoin as part of a broader technological shift, alongside AI and blockchain innovation. Jorgensen noted that staying ahead of regulatory developments and treating bitcoin as a strategic asset-rather than a speculative gamble-will be critical. "We want to be at the forefront of the future," he said, the Fortune interview added.

As corporate adoption grows, so does scrutiny. Strategy's $2.8 billion quarterly profit-largely driven by unrealized bitcoin gains-has raised concerns about its $8.2 billion debt burden in an Aktiencheck analysis. Similarly, Pfizer's legal battle with Novo Nordisk over a $8.5 billion obesity biotech acquisition highlights the risks of overreliance on volatile assets, according to an FXLeaders article. For now, Block's measured approach offers a blueprint for balancing innovation with fiscal prudence.