Block Selected for the S&P 500 Index: Bitcoin's Milestone Towards Mainstream

In July 2025, Block Inc. officially became a member of the S&P 500 index, as the fintech giant led by Jack Dorsey finally joined the ranks of the 500 most representative publicly listed companies in the United States. Following the announcement, Block's stock price soared by 14% within just a few days.

Being selected for the S&P 500 means that Block will become an essential component of mainstream global investment portfolios. It is estimated that passive funds tracking the S&P 500 exceed $5 trillion in size. Based on Block's weight in the index, it is expected that over $10 billion in traditional capital will be indirectly allocated to Bitcoin through holding Block shares.

The significance of this event goes far beyond the simple fact that a tech newcomer has joined the elite club. Looking at the history of the S&P 500, it can be seen as a history of evolution forced to absorb emerging industries and acknowledge new business models. From Google's inclusion in 2006, to Meta's selection in 2013, and then to Tesla's inclusion in 2020, each instance marks Wall Street's capital machinery's acceptance of new concepts.

However, the inclusion of Block is more groundbreaking. When funds purchase Block shares, they not only gain equity in a payment company but are also directly exposed to 8,363 Bitcoins on its balance sheet. This mechanical and irreversible capital flow skillfully bypasses the psychological barriers traditional investors have towards crypto assets, allowing institutions such as pension and sovereign wealth funds to passively encounter Bitcoin.

Block's firm bet on Bitcoin stems from its founder Jack Dorsey's values. From Square enabling small merchants to accept credit card payments, to Twitter's attempts at democratizing information, to fully embracing Bitcoin, Dorsey has been pursuing the decentralization of power from the center to the edges. In the world of Bitcoin, he has found the ideal he has been seeking that is free from the shackles of commercial interests.

The business structure of Block clearly serves this vision. Square and Cash App provide stable cash flow as traditional businesses while cultivating a user base for Bitcoin-related operations. Internal departments such as Spiral and TBD focus on building the underlying infrastructure for Bitcoin, including the Lightning Network development kit and decentralized identity systems. In terms of hardware, the Bitkey wallet and Proto mining system aim to enhance the decentralized characteristics of the Bitcoin network.

This all-encompassing investment ultimately paid off. When the S&P Dow Jones Indices Committee assessed Block, what they saw was a "Bitcoin-native enterprise" that deeply integrates Bitcoin into its business model and is committed to promoting its adoption.

However, behind the grand narrative of Block lies a hidden concern. The deep reliance on the Bitcoin protocol means that any black swan event at the protocol level could have devastating effects. In addition, the commercialization prospects of several cutting-edge projects remain unclear, and the company's financial performance has also raised concerns among some analysts.

For the crypto world, Block represents a possibility of pushing Bitcoin from the margins to the center through construction and integration. However, as trillions of dollars in passive funds are forced to embrace Bitcoin, one question remains unsettled: is this the beginning of Bitcoin's conquest of Wall Street, or the prelude to Wall Street taming Bitcoin?