Square Launches Bitcoin Retail Payments for Local Merchants

about 17 hours ago

KEY FACTS: Square, the payments platform owned by Jack Dorsey's Block Inc., has launched a feature enabling over 4 million U.S. merchants (excluding New York) to accept Bitcoin payments directly at the point of sale, integrating a secure Bitcoin wallet into its dashboard for buying, selling, holding, or withdrawing BTC. The service offers fee-free transactions until 2026, after which a 1% fee applies, aiming to bridge cryptocurrency with everyday retail. This move, backed by Dorsey’s Bitcoin advocacy and Block’s 8,692 BTC treasury, aligns with a projected 82% surge in U.S. crypto payment adoption by 2026, positioning Square as a pioneer in mainstreaming digital assets for small businesses.

Source: Jack Dorsey, Square, Bitcoin

Square Launches Bitcoin Retail Payments for Local Merchants

Square, the ubiquitous payments platform owned by Jack Dorsey's Block Inc., has unveiled a feature allowing local businesses across the United States to accept Bitcoin (BTC) payments right at the point of sale. This is an integrated wallet solution that lets merchants hold, buy, sell, and even withdraw the world's leading cryptocurrency directly through their familiar Square dashboard. As Bitcoin's price hovers around $122,668, this launch is timely for digital assets, to bridge the gap between Wall Street speculation and Main Street transactions.

Announced on Wednesday via Block's investor relations portal, the service marks Square's most ambitious push yet into the Bitcoin ecosystem. For years, the company, known for its compact card readers and seamless mobile payments, has flirted with cryptocurrency. Now, with over 4 million merchants relying on its platform, Square is positioning itself as the gateway for Bitcoin's real-world utility. "This is Bitcoin coming to Main Street," the announcement declared, emphasizing how small businesses can now dip their toes into crypto without the hassle of separate exchanges or complex setups.

At its core, the new feature is elegantly simple, designed for the harried coffee shop owner or boutique retailer who might otherwise shy away from crypto's technical complexities. Merchants can enable Bitcoin acceptance with a few taps in the Square app, allowing customers to pay with BTC via QR codes or wallet scans at checkout. A standout element is the automatic conversion option. That is, businesses can opt to have a portion of their daily sales instantly swapped into Bitcoin, shielding them from fiat volatility while building a digital asset reserve.

Once accepted, the Bitcoin lands in a dedicated, secure wallet embedded within Square's existing merchant dashboard. From there, users gain full control, buying more BTC with fiat earnings, selling holdings back to cash, or withdrawing to external wallets for long-term storage. It is a far cry from the fragmented experience many businesses face today, where crypto payments often require juggling multiple apps and risking security pitfalls.

To sweeten the deal and encourage early adoption, Square is waiving all processing fees for Bitcoin transactions through the end of 2026. Come January 1, 2027, a modest 1% fee kicks in, which is competitive with traditional card processing rates and a bargain compared to many crypto gateways. However, the service is currently limited to U.S.-based sellers, with New York State notably excluded due to its stringent regulatory framework. International merchants will have to wait, though Block has hinted at global expansions in future updates.

This integration builds on Square's long-standing Bitcoin affinity. Back in 2020, the company made waves by adding BTC buying and selling to its Cash App, the peer-to-peer payment service that has become a crypto entry point for millions. More recently, Block revealed plans to fully embed Bitcoin payments into Square by 2026, a timeline that's now ahead of schedule. CEO Jack Dorsey, a vocal Bitcoin maximalist who once famously tweeted that the cryptocurrency could become the "native currency of the internet," has been the driving force behind these initiatives. Dorsey's philosophy, that Bitcoin represents financial sovereignty and an alternative to centralized banking, permeates Block's strategy, from its corporate treasury (which holds a hefty 8,692 BTC, making it the 13th-largest public holder globally) to experimental projects like the open-source Proto Rig mining system aimed at slashing the energy costs of Bitcoin production.

Meanwhile, the U.S. regulatory landscape for digital assets has thawed considerably in recent years, with clearer guidelines from the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) and a friendlier stance from the Federal Reserve toward blockchain innovation. What was once dismissed as a fringe technology is now increasingly viewed as a legitimate asset class, fueling a resurgence in crypto's practical applications. Payments, in particular, are emerging as the killer use case, outpacing even decentralized finance (DeFi) in consumer surveys.

Research from eMarketer noted that the U.S. crypto payment usage is forecasted to surge by 82% between 2024 and 2026, driven by falling transaction fees, improved wallet interoperability, and growing merchant confidence. A recent YouGov poll across the U.S. and United Kingdom revealed that a majority of respondents now see payments as the top real-world benefit of cryptocurrency, eclipsing investments or remittances. "Consumers are ready," the survey's analysts noted, pointing to a shift where crypto is no longer just for speculators but for everyday spenders seeking faster, borderless transactions.

Tech giants are piling on, blending crypto with cutting-edge artificial intelligence to supercharge adoption. Google's freshly announced Agent Payments Protocol, for instance, is set to enable AI agents to handle payments seamlessly using stablecoins. In an AI-driven economy, these agents could negotiate deals, book services, or even tip creators, all settled in digital assets without human intervention. It's a vision where Bitcoin and its stablecoin cousins become the invisible plumbing of commerce, much like how credit cards faded into the background decades ago.

PayPal, the e-commerce behemoth, is equally aggressive. Just last month, it expanded its peer-to-peer crypto transfers, letting users send Bitcoin, Ethereum (ETH, currently at $4,461), or its own PYUSD stablecoin (pegged at $1) to friends and family worldwide. This comes atop PayPal's earlier forays into crypto buying and checkout options, signaling that even legacy fintech players see digital assets as indispensable. Meanwhile, for merchants in crypto-skeptical regions.

Block's recent milestone, joining the S&P 500 index, which sent its stock soaring 9% in after-hours trading, further boosts its crypto ambitions. With a market cap north of $100 billion, the company has the resources to iterate rapidly, perhaps integrating AI-driven fraud detection or yield-generating BTC staking next.

For now, U.S. entrepreneurs outside the Empire State can start onboarding today, turning their next latte sale into a slice of the Bitcoin pie.

Information Sources:

If you found the article interesting or helpful, please hit the upvote button and share for visibility to other hive friends to see. More importantly, drop a comment below. Thank you!

This post was created via INLEO. What is INLEO?

INLEO's mission is to build a sustainable creator economy that is centered around digital ownership, tokenization, and communities. It's built on Hive, with linkages to BSC, ETH, and Polygon blockchains. The flagship application, Inleo.io, allows users and creators to engage & share micro and long-form content on the Hive blockchain while earning cryptocurrency rewards.