Cash app to shut down in UK, citing focus on US market

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Block, the company behind CashUp, cites regulatory issues in the UK as a reason for the shutdown. Block has invested heavily in partnerships and mergers for Bitcoin, Bitcoin Lightning and mining hardware.

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The Cash app, the popular mobile payments platform, will cease operations in the UK on September 15.

Block, the fintech company behind the Cash app, announced its shutdown on Thursday. The decision to pull out of the UK market is part of the bloc's strategy to prioritize the US and undermine international expansion.

The Cash app launched in the UK in 2018, offering peer-to-peer money transfer services. However, unlike its US counterpart, the UK version does not include functionality for Bitcoin purchases. This feature, which allows US customers to buy, sell, send and receive bitcoins, has grown in popularity in recent years.

“We don't take decisions like this lightly because we know they impact our customers, partners and team members who have helped build us to where we are today,” Block said.

Formerly Square Inc. The so-called blockchain is integrating bitcoin-related services into its products. In the year In 2022, the Cash app launched a service that allows American users to send bitcoins via the Lightning Network, a layer-2 solution that facilitates faster and cheaper transactions.

It recently announced that stores using Square's technology can now convert a portion of their daily sales into Bitcoin. The Jack Dorsey-led company has invested heavily in bitcoin mining, most notably the recent sale of 3 nanometer (3nm) mining ASICs (application-specific integrated circuits) to Core Scientific.

The shutdown of a cash app in the UK highlights the challenges financial technology companies face in balancing global expansion with focused market strategies. While Blok continues to innovate in the US market, particularly in Bitcoin-related services, its decision to pull out of the UK highlights the difficulty of maintaining divergent regulatory environments.

Earlier this year, Block laid off more than a thousand employees from the Cash app, Foundation and Square, citing a broader restructuring plan announced by Dorsey by 2023.

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