Jack Dorsey, co-founder and executive chair of Block Inc. (NYSE:XYZ), voiced optimism for the firm’s Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC) mining products suite, Proto, on Thursday, hoping to gain a broader share of the largely untapped sector.
What Happened: During the company's fourth-quarter earnings call, Dorsey said the company was “really excited” about the offering, which aims to decentralize the global supply of mining hardware.
“We do think the market is large and we do think we’re poised to take a significant percentage of it because there is one player, really in this space, and customers want other options,” Dorsey said, possibly pointing toward the dominance of China-based Bitmain, the world's largest Bitcoin mining chip maker.
The Twitter co-founder disclosed that Block conducted research and discovered that mining customers were “unhappy” with the existing options.
“They didn’t have the ability to upgrade and build their own custom systems around their rigs. And some of them wanted just like a full system that just worked off the shelf, that was built in the U.S,” he added.
Proto consists of ASIC chips, mining rigs, and developer tools, with a special focus on supporting smaller players and home mining.
Why It Matters: Block reported quarterly earnings of 71 cents per share after Thursday's market close, falling short of the analyst consensus estimate of 87 cents. Quarterly revenue was $6.03 billion, missing the consensus estimate of $6.29 billion.
Block held 8,363 BTCs on its balance sheet, worth more than $821 million, making it one of the biggest corporate holders of Bitcoin. According to the company’s disclosure, the apex cryptocurrency is held for "long-term investment purposes" and to facilitate sales and purchases via its "Cash App" digital wallet service.
Price Action: Shares of Block were down 6.83% in after-hours trading after closing 1.01% lower at $83.04 during Thursday's regular trading session, as per data from Benzinga Pro.
Photo courtesy: Shutterstock
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