Block set to pay $764m to settle US money-laundering probe

Here's what happened. Block, Jack Dorsey's payments company and the owner of Cash App, has agreed in principle to pay $764m to end a US Justice Department investigation into its anti-money-laundering controls. CoinDesk reported the deal from a 3 November filing with the SEC, the US markets regulator.

Under the deal, a criminal charge that Block failed to run an effective anti-money-laundering programme under the Bank Secrecy Act would be put on hold for three years. CoinDesk said the gross amount is about $964m, reduced to $764m after credits for earlier settlements, and that Block has already set the money aside.

The probe began in 2023, after a short-seller report from Hindenburg Research. Block rejected that report at the time. In April 2025, New York's financial regulator fined Block $40m over its compliance failings, CoinDesk noted.

Put it in context. Block's own results show bitcoin gross profit fell 50% to $52m in the third quarter, after it chose to cut the fee on some Cash App bitcoin trades. Net income for the quarter was $564m, according to its quarterly filing.