Cash App’s recent integration of the Lightning Network, Bitcoin’s overlay protocol for faster and cheaper payments, is an example of how Block seeks to have different business units producing products that can feed back on each other.

The money transmitting app added support for Lightning payments through the Lightning Development Kit (LDK), software developed by Spiral, an independent subsidiary of Block focused on developing and funding open-source Bitcoin projects.

Cash App has had more than 10 million monthly active users buying bitcoin in the app and the spread fees charged by Block on such purchases have become one of the main revenue drivers for Block.

Block seeks to create a Bitcoin wallet for the masses, uniting security and ease of use to make self-custody accessible to those new to Bitcoin.

The product aims to encourage regular folks to hold the keys to their bitcoin funds as opposed to resorting to custodians amidst more complicated self-custody setups that are popular today. [...] Block wants to facilitate self-custody for end users, explained Block’s Bitcoin hardware wallet lead Jesse Dorogusker.

"Our wallet breaks up the secret key into three pieces: mobile app, hardware device and a self-service recovery tool.”

“We want to build our own bitcoin ASIC,” Dorogusker, who also leads the mining initiative, explained. “Our ASICs will be available for sale and will all be open source.”

This was the first time that the company shared that it would be producing an actual bitcoin ASIC which would be open source.

Block is also tip-toeing into bridging the traditional finance world with the burgeoning system through the cryptic TBD unit.

What Red Hat did for Linux, TBD can do for money, payments and identity.”

TBD wants to bring a secure, decentralized identity standard to enable not only such customers to benefit from a more accessible and fair protocol but also for businesses to lower their costs.