Block Inc., the payments and financial-services company founded by Jack Dorsey, has been approved for inclusion in the S&P 500, adding one of the market’s most prominent bitcoin-aligned businesses to the benchmark equity index. The San Francisco-based firm, valued at about $50 billion according to market commentary, holds 8,584 bitcoin on its balance sheet. Its admission means passive funds tracking the S&P 500 will gain indirect exposure to the cryptocurrency when the change takes effect. Block’s inclusion crowns a month in which mainstream institutions deepened their involvement with digital assets. Earlier in July, Italy’s UniCredit began marketing a structured product tied to BlackRock’s spot Bitcoin exchange-traded fund, and Russia’s state-controlled Sberbank said it would launch bitcoin and broader crypto custody services for customers.