The $200 Billion Proof Point 💰

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Block announced on January 20 that it has provided more than $200 billion in credit to customers across Cash App Borrow, Afterpay, and Square Loans.

Here's the number that destroys the "too risky" narrative: 70% of Cash App Borrow customers have FICO scores below 580. 

Traditional banks would reject them automatically.

Block approves them and achieves 97% repayment rates.

Nearly 100 million Americans remain excluded from affordable credit by backward-looking scoring models. Block just demonstrated at institutional scale that the models are wrong.

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The Data That Changes Everything

Block's announcement wasn't just a milestone. It was proof of concept for an entirely different approach to underwriting.

The company's internal analysis shows its models can approve 38% more loans at identical loss rates compared to traditional credit scoring.

Not slightly better. Not marginally improved. Thirty-eight percent more approvals with the same risk profile.

The performance data across Block's three lending products:

Cash App Borrow

• Short-term loans averaging 21 days. 

• 97% repayment rates despite borrowers having low FICO scores.

Afterpay: 

• 96% of installments paid on time. 

• 98% of purchases incur no late fees.

Square Loans: 

• Less than 3% loss rates. 

• 58% going to women-owned businesses. 

• 34% to minority-owned businesses.

Square Financial Services, Block's in-house bank, has originated more than $20 billion in loans since inception.

"Traditional lenders use scale to be more selective; we use it to be more inclusive while managing risk responsibly," said Brian Boates, Risk Lead at Block. 

"Our near real-time underwriting models don't just expand access. They create better outcomes for both customers and our business. This isn't theoretical; we've proven it by scaling to $200 billion in lending while maintaining consistent loss rates.".

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Why Traditional Underwriting Fails

Block's credit infrastructure uses near real-time behavioral data instead of delayed credit bureau reports.

Cash App analyzes earning, saving, spending, and repayment patterns across 58 million monthly actives to generate an internal Cash App Score for each customer. 

When customers use Cash App for their paycheck, spending, savings, and investments, Block develops a comprehensive financial picture.

Internal testing shows Cash App's underwriting models deliver stronger predictive accuracy than traditional credit scoring across revolving credit and longer-term loans. 

Based on recent analysis, Cash App's models can approve 30% more auto loans at identical loss rates compared to conventional methods.

For context on the traditional lending gap: Federal Reserve data shows only 53% of small business applicants receive full financing from traditional sources. 

Online lenders approve 43% of applicants with credit scores below 620 versus just 15% at large banks.

The median small business holds only 27 days of cash reserves.

For operators in stigmatized industries with consistent transaction flow, Block's approach evaluates actual financial behavior rather than industry classification or credit history length.

Stablecoin Infrastructure Reaches the Point of Sale

Ingenico, one of the world's largest payment terminal manufacturers, announced a partnership with WalletConnect to enable stablecoin payments at point-of-sale.

Merchants with Android payment terminals can now accept five stablecoin currencies including USDT, USDC, and EURC from more than 700 wallets.

"Stablecoin acceptance has already over the last few years become more mainstream in cross-border money transfers," Ingenico CEO Floris de Kort told American Banker. "It's becoming more mainstream in ecommerce. What's left? That's the point of sale."

The JD Power data tells the adoption story:

92% of U.S. merchants accept payments via digital wallets. That's up 4 percentage points since 2024.

19% of U.S. small businesses now accept cryptocurrency. Up 4 percentage points from 2025.

37% of merchants have a favorable view of cryptocurrency.

33% of non-accepting merchants said they would likely accept crypto if their payments provider offered the option.

Tony DeSanctis of Cornerstone Advisors framed Ingenico's strategy directly: "They are very much building the train tracks before there are many trains that want to take the trip. The benefit is being able to tell your merchants you have the ability to accept stablecoins should the demand ever become significant."

And stablecoin infrastructure is scaling across multiple dimensions.

The global stablecoin market reached approximately $317 billion in market cap. Transaction volumes hit $33 trillion in 2025, up 72% year-over-year.

Stablecoin-backed card payments reached an $18 billion annualized run rate. That's 106% compound annual growth since January 2023.

More than 20,000 merchants globally now accept Bitcoin payments directly. That's nearly double the approximately 11,000 at the start of 2025.

The Fight Over Stablecoin Yield

As infrastructure scales, a regulatory battle is underway that could affect how operators use stablecoins for treasury management.

The Senate Banking Committee postponed its markup of the CLARITY Act on January 15 after Coinbase CEO Brian Armstrong publicly withdrew support.

The central issue: provisions that would restrict stablecoin yield programs.

The banking lobby secured language restricting digital asset platforms from directly offering yield rewards except as part of user activity like transactions and staking. Wall Street bankers argued that allowing crypto companies to offer yield on stablecoins threatens the banking system.

Multiple senators from both parties expressed concerns about allowing yield even through activities. Proposed amendments would have further restricted crypto companies' ability to offer yields of any sort on stablecoin deposits.

The stakes are significant. 

Coinbase reported $355 million in stablecoin-related revenue in Q3 2025 alone.

"I've spoken with leaders across the crypto industry, the financial sector, and my Democratic and Republican colleagues, and everyone remains at the table working in good faith," Chairman Tim Scott said in a statement after postponing the hearing.

The bill's 278-page draft attracted 137 proposed amendments. 

Companies had roughly 58 hours between the text dropping and the planned hearing start. That timeline collapsed when industry participants flagged provisions addressing DeFi regulation, SEC jurisdiction, and stablecoin rewards that hadn't appeared in previous drafts.

Summer Mersinger, CEO of the Blockchain Association, characterized the postponement as "a moment of recalibration, not an end point."

If you're using stablecoins for treasury purposes and earning yield on those holdings, the outcome of this legislation matters for you.

The markup has not been rescheduled. 

The Senate Agriculture Committee delayed its own related markup until late January. The bill is expected to change before any future vote.

The fight between banks and crypto companies over who gets to offer returns on dollar-denominated deposits will shape the economics of stablecoin treasury strategies.