Jack Dorsey’s Block has reached a preliminary deal to pay $764 million to resolve a U.S. Justice Department probe into its anti-money-laundering practices. The proposed payment exceeds the company’s reported third-quarter profit of $566 million, adding pressure as earnings from its Bitcoin business decline.
Block agreed to the terms in October, according to a November 3 SEC filing reviewed by CoinDesk. The arrangement would allow the Justice Department to postpone a criminal charge for three years over claims that the company failed to maintain an effective anti-money-laundering program under the Bank Secrecy Act.
The settlement carries an estimated gross financial penalty of $964 million. After applying credits from previous regulatory settlements, the amount Block is expected to pay drops to $764 million. The company confirmed that it has already allocated funds to cover the obligation.
The federal investigation dates back to 2023, when the Justice Department and Securities and Exchange Commission began examining Block’s compliance framework and disclosures following allegations from short seller Hindenburg Research. The SEC closed its independent investigation in March without recommending any enforcement measures.
Hindenburg accused Block of inflating Cash App’s reported user numbers through duplicate and fraudulent accounts. It also alleged that inadequate customer verification procedures allowed criminals to exploit the platform for scams, money laundering and other unauthorized financial activity.
Block rejected the accusations, arguing that the report contained misleading and inaccurate claims.
In April 2025, New York’s financial regulator separately fined the company $40 million after identifying significant weaknesses in its compliance operations. The regulator found that Block’s backlog of suspicious transaction alerts grew from approximately 18,000 in 2018 to more than 169,000 by 2020.
The regulator also discovered that one of the company’s screening systems failed to automatically prevent Bitcoin transfers to wallets associated with terrorism financing until exposure to those addresses crossed the 10% threshold.
The proposed federal settlement comes as Block’s Bitcoin trading operations on Cash App report weaker financial results. Lower transaction fees have contributed to a sharp reduction in the segment’s quarterly profitability.

Block’s Bitcoin Gross Profit Drops 50% in Q3

Block generated $52 million in gross profit from its Bitcoin ecosystem during the third quarter, down by half from $104 million in the same period a year earlier. Revenue from the Bitcoin business also decreased 11% to $1.8 billion.
The company linked most of the decline in gross profit to reduced fees on selected Bitcoin transactions, following its decision to make certain trades cheaper for Cash App customers.
Elsewhere, Block continued to record growth across its broader operations. Overall gross profit rose 22% to $3.24 billion, driven largely by stronger performance in Cash App’s lending and payment services.