Block Agrees to Pay $764 Million in U.S. DOJ Case

The payment company Block, founded by Jack Dorsey, has preliminarily agreed with the U.S. Department of Justice to settle an investigation into violations of anti-money laundering requirements. The expected payment is about $764 million, but the final agreement has not yet been signed and requires court approval.

The agreement, reached in October, was reported by Block on November 3, 2026, in its quarterly report to the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The Department of Justice believes that the company did not maintain an adequate anti-money laundering program as required by the U.S. Bank Secrecy Act.

Settlement Terms

It is assumed that criminal prosecution on the specified charge will be deferred for three years. If Block complies with the terms of the agreement, the Department of Justice will petition the court to permanently dismiss the case. If the conditions are violated, the charge could be grounds for resuming prosecution.

The total monetary component of the agreement is estimated at approximately $964 million. Taking into account previously settled claims by regulators, the net payment should be $764 million. Block has already reserved this amount in its financial statements as of September 30, but warned that final expenses may be higher.

The investigation in 2023 was prompted, in part, by a report from Hindenburg Research. Analysts accused the Cash App service of insufficient client verification and inflating user numbers. Block disputed these findings. A separate SEC investigation concluded in March 2026 without recommending sanctions.

Previously, in April 2025, New York's financial regulator fined Block $40 million. Among the identified deficiencies was a backlog of more than 169,000 suspicious activity alerts accumulated by 2020.

For the third quarter of 2026, Block reported approximately $566 million in net profit. Thus, the expected payment to the Department of Justice exceeds the company's quarterly result.

The gross profit of the bitcoin segment for the same period decreased by 50% year-over-year, to $52 million. Block attributed the decline primarily to reduced fees for certain bitcoin transactions in Cash App. Meanwhile, the company's total gross profit increased by 22% to $3.24 billion.

As the agreement has not been approved, its final terms and financial implications for Block remain uncertain.