Cuts at Block raise questions about Bitcoin on Cash App.

• Block reduces staff and bets on AI.
• Cash App follows Bitcoin's profit engine.
• Market monitors impact on crypto services.

Block Inc., led by Jack Dorsey, underwent a significant restructuring, reducing its workforce from over 10 to fewer than 6 employees in a single day. The decision was announced alongside the company's fourth-quarter 2025 results, which showed a 24% increase in gross profit, totaling $2,87 billion.

The highlight of the earnings report was Cash App, responsible for US$1,83 billion in gross profit, a 33% year-over-year increase. The app continues to be the company's main growth driver, especially due to its strong integration with the Bitcoin market, allowing millions of users to buy, sell, and store the cryptocurrency.

Dorsey explained the rationale behind the cuts. “Intelligence tools have changed the meaning of building and running a company. A significantly smaller team, using the tools we are developing, can do more and better.” Following the announcement, the company's shares rose more than 20% in after-hours trading, adding approximately $6 billion to its market value.

Despite the positive reaction from investors, the AI-based justification generated criticism. Analysts and commentators pointed out that the company had aggressively expanded its workforce during the pandemic, tripling its size between 2019 and 2022. One critic stated: “The fact that we managed to reverse less than half of an insane wave of over-hiring during the COVID pandemic has much more to do with Jack Dorsey's managerial incompetence than with the possibility of AI stealing his job.”

Dorsey himself acknowledged the over-hiring. "Yes, we hired too many people during the pandemic because I mistakenly created two separate company structures (Square and Cash App) instead of one," he wrote. According to him, the goal now is to achieve "more than $2 million in gross profit per person, four times our pre-pandemic efficiency."

The restructuring is drawing attention in the crypto market because Cash App operates one of the largest Bitcoin retail platforms in the United States. Block also owns the Bitkey self-custody wallet and the Proto division, which focuses on mining hardware.

With approximately 40% fewer professionals involved in managing the ecosystem, investors and users are closely watching to see if the leaner operation will accelerate the Bitcoin-focused strategy or if it could create operational challenges as demand for cryptocurrency services continues to grow.