Jack Dorsey’s Block is preparing to pay $764 million under a proposed agreement with the U.S. Department of Justice to resolve an investigation into its anti-money-laundering procedures. The settlement amount is larger than the $566 million in profit the payments company generated in the third quarter.
The agreement was reached in October and disclosed in a November 3 SEC filing reviewed by CoinDesk. Under its terms, the Justice Department would defer a criminal charge against Block for three years over allegations that the company failed to implement an effective anti-money-laundering system as required by the Bank Secrecy Act.
The resolution involves a gross payment of approximately $964 million. After deductions for credits related to earlier regulatory settlements, Block’s expected obligation falls to $764 million. The company said it has already reserved the full adjusted amount.
The investigation began in 2023, when federal authorities and the SEC started reviewing Block’s compliance framework and related disclosures following accusations raised by short seller Hindenburg Research. The SEC wrapped up its separate inquiry in March without recommending enforcement action.
Hindenburg’s report claimed that Cash App overstated its customer base by including duplicate and fraudulent accounts. It also alleged that weak identity verification measures enabled criminals to use the payment platform for scams, money laundering and other illegal financial activity.
Block strongly rejected the allegations, describing the report as misleading and inaccurate.
Regulatory pressure continued in April 2025, when New York’s financial regulator fined the company $40 million for major shortcomings in its compliance systems. The regulator found that unresolved suspicious transaction alerts increased from around 18,000 in 2018 to more than 169,000 by 2020.
It also identified a weakness in one of Block’s screening systems, which did not automatically stop Bitcoin transfers to wallets connected to terrorism financing unless exposure to those addresses exceeded 10%.
The proposed DOJ agreement comes as Block faces declining earnings from Bitcoin transactions on Cash App. The company reported a sharp reduction in its Bitcoin-related gross profit for the latest quarter, partly because it lowered fees on selected trades.
Block’s Bitcoin Gross Profit Falls by Half
Block’s Bitcoin ecosystem generated $52 million in gross profit during the third quarter, representing a 50% decline from the $104 million reported in the same quarter last year. Revenue from the business also dropped 11% to $1.8 billion.
The company attributed the weaker performance mainly to lower fees on certain Bitcoin transactions, following changes designed to reduce trading costs for Cash App users.
Other parts of Block’s business continued to expand despite the decline in Bitcoin earnings. Overall gross profit climbed 22% to $3.24 billion, supported by increased activity in Cash App’s lending and payment operations.
