Block Inc. (NYSE:SQ) CEO Jack Dorsey addressed a potential Department of Justice investigation during the company’s first-quarter earnings call on Thursday.
What Happened: Dorsey clarified that the company had proactively investigated potential threats in 2022, leading to a thorough review of transactions possibly linked to sanctioned countries.
Dorsey stated, “In 2022, our compliance engineering risk team who proactively investigate threats identified signals that lead us to conduct a thorough review of transactions potentially associated with sanctioned countries.”
According to Dorsey, these transactions were voluntarily reported to the Office of Foreign Assets Control, and the company received a no-action letter from OFAC, indicating no further investigation or action was required at the time.
Regarding the prevention of tariff financing through Bitcoin (CRYPTO: BTC), Dorsey highlighted the company’s robust control environment, including the use of leading blockchain analytics firms to screen transactions in real time and maintaining some of the most restrictive limits in the industry for on-chain Bitcoin withdrawals.
“As it relates to preventing tariffs financing via Bitcoin, we have a robust control environment in place to mitigate exposure from adversaries. For instance, we use industry-leading blockchain analytics firms to screen transactions in real time. We also maintained some of the most restrictive limits in the industry for on chain Bitcoin withdrawals, which are deliberately calibrated to prevent bad activity,” Dorsey said.
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He also emphasized the company’s commitment to compliance, stating that it is foundational to their work and that they continuously improve their compliance program based on various inputs, including self-identified issues, audits, and guidance from regulators.
“We take compliance seriously at Block. A culture of compliance is foundational to our work. We have a radically transparent culture that supports us. Employees are empowered to raise issues through multiple channels, including directly to me or anonymously through our Whistleblower hotline,” Dorsey said.
Why It Matters: The earnings call comes amid a surge in Block Inc.’s stock price following the company’s strong first-quarter earnings report.
Despite the positive financial results, the company has been under scrutiny due to allegations of processing crypto transactions for terrorists. These allegations have reportedly led to a DOJ investigation, prompting Dorsey to address the issue during the earnings call.
Despite these challenges, Block Inc. has continued to make significant strides in the cryptocurrency space. Dorsey recently announced a new feature that allows Square merchants to convert a percentage of their daily sales into Bitcoin automatically.
Additionally, the company has been working on making Bitcoin mining more accessible by developing a complete Bitcoin mining system.
Price Action: Block Inc’s after-hours trading saw a notable increase, with the stock price rising to $75.78, marking a 7.80% surge from the previous close on Thursday, according to the data from Benzinga Pro.
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