Jack Dorsey's Block Gifts One Bitcoin to Lucky ComplexCon Attendee in Los Angeles
Key Takeaways
- •Block gifted one whole bitcoin, valued at $85,000 at the time, to a fortunate attendee at this year's ComplexCon in Los Angeles.
- •Block's Cash App booth hosted a fishing game called "Lightning Lake," giving festival visitors the chance to win small amounts of bitcoin.
- •The activation was designed to introduce pop-culture fans with no prior crypto experience to bitcoin through what Block describes as "culture, shopping and play."
- •Block has long promoted bitcoin adoption through Cash App and Square point-of-sale terminals that accept the cryptocurrency via the Lightning Network, and it recently launched an advertising campaign encouraging people to spend bitcoin.
- •Celebrities including North West, daughter of Kanye West, and rapper French Montana were spotted playing the bitcoin fishing game at the event.
Jack Dorsey's Block has taken its bitcoin adoption push to new lengths, gifting one whole bitcoin to a fortunate attendee at this year's ComplexCon in Los Angeles.
The NYSE-listed fintech giant attended Complex Networks' yearly event over the weekend in a bid to introduce complete newcomers to the leading cryptocurrency through — in its own words — "culture, shopping and play." ComplexCon, a weekend festival blending music, art, fashion and streetwear culture, is geared toward pop-culture fans rather than crypto insiders — the newcomers Block says it wants to reach.
Block's Cash App operated a stall at the event featuring a fishing game dubbed "Lightning Lake," which gave attendees the chance to win small amounts of bitcoin.
the was bitin at Lightning Lake
— Bitcoin at Block (@BitcoinatBlock) October 5, 2026
But one fortunate player at the booth was lucky enough to scoop up an entire coin, worth $85,000 at the time.
"We wanted bitcoin to feel approachable, tangible and fun," Maria Pesce, Head of Bitcoin Marketing at Block, told Bitcoin Magazine. "People could go from never having used bitcoin to paying with it, all in a trip around the lake."
She added: "At Block, our goal is to make bitcoin everyday money, and ComplexCon gave us a chance to introduce bitcoin to a new audience through culture, shopping, and play."
Block — the payments company formerly known as Square — has long pushed for bitcoin adoption through its companies and products: Cash App allows users to send, receive and buy bitcoin, while Square point-of-sale terminals accept the leading cryptocurrency via the Lightning Network, a payments layer built on top of bitcoin that makes transactions fast and cheap enough for everyday use. Earlier this month, the company also debuted an advertising campaign urging people to use bitcoin as a medium of exchange, a spending-first pitch that the Lightning Lake activation brought to life on the festival floor.
Dorsey, who co-founded Twitter and stepped away from it in 2021 to focus his efforts on payments and bitcoin adoption, has repeatedly said he wants the cryptocurrency to become the global currency and "everyday money."
The activation even piqued the interest of celebrities at the event: North West, daughter of Kanye West, and rapper French Montana were spotted at Lightning Lake trying their hand at fishing for bitcoin.
This article first appeared on Bitcoin Magazine and is written by Mathew Di Salvo.
