Square Just Supercharged Crypto Commerce—4 Million U.S. Merchants Can Now Accept Bitcoin

Jack Dorsey’s fintech empire flips the switch on Bitcoin payments—no intermediaries, no apologies.

The Mainstream Crypto Inflection Point

Square’s 4 million-strong merchant network just became a Bitcoin onboarding ramp. Coffee shops, boutiques, freelancers—all can now bypass card networks and settle in satoshis.

Why This Isn’t Just Hype

The move crushes two barriers at once: consumer access (via Cash App integration) and merchant adoption (zero technical setup). Suddenly, ‘number go up’ meets ‘revenue go brrr.’

The Catch (Because Finance Always Has One)

Volatility hedging? Transaction speed? Tax headaches? Square’s betting merchants will trade those concerns for the PR boost—and a cut of that sweet, sweet crypto bro spending.

One thing’s clear: the ‘magic internet money’ experiment just got its biggest real-world stress test.

The payments run over digital assets

Digital payments are entering a new phase as crypto and traditional finance begin to converge. Just days after Ripple and Mastercard announced their RLUSD stablecoin pilot for fiat settlements, another alliance has emerged to push blockchain payments forward. 

The Blockchain Payments Consortium (BPC), formed by Fireblocks, Polygon, Stellar, Solana, TON, Mysten Labs, and Monad, aims to standardize stablecoin transactions across networks and financial systems.

The BPC aims to unify fragmented blockchains under shared standards for faster, safer, and interoperable payments. Today’s networks operate in isolation, creating friction in global transfers. The consortium plans to change that by making on-chain payments as seamless as legacy systems like SWIFT or Mastercard. With over $15 trillion settled on-chain in 2024, coordination is now urgent.

At the same time, Square is expanding its role in the digital payments ecosystem. As regulators and banks move closer to blockchain settlement, initiatives like BPC and Square’s expansion show how mainstream finance and crypto infrastructure are beginning to merge.

BTC at checkout, instant and fee-free

The new feature, simply called bitcoin Payments, is integrated directly into Square’s point-of-sale system and powered by the Lightning Network. Customers can now pay in Bitcoin by scanning a Lightning invoice QR code, while merchants can choose to settle in BTC or U.S. dollars, depending on their risk appetite.

For now, Square is waiving processing fees through 2026, with a flat 1% fee taking effect in January 2027. The system supports instant settlement, automatic reporting, and integrated tax tracking inside the merchant dashboard.

Square CEO Jack Dorsey confirmed on X that sellers can now transact “BTC to BTC, BTC to fiat, fiat to BTC, or fiat to fiat,” signaling full interoperability between crypto and traditional payments.

our sellers can now receive btc to btc, btc to fiat, fiat to btc, or fiat to fiat. https://t.co/NnLsd3fgEb

Small-business friendly, big-business scale

Each individual Bitcoin transaction is capped at around $600, with a daily limit of $15,000 per seller. Refunds cannot be issued back on-chain, since Bitcoin transactions are final, but will instead be processed via digital gift cards for the USD value of the purchase.

As you receive bitcoin it will be stored in your Square bitcoin wallet. If you'd like to MOVE it into self custody, you'll be able to do so manually (max $15k per day or $50k per week).

Because Bitcoin payments bypass card networks entirely, merchants also avoid chargebacks—one of the most costly issues in retail. This makes the feature especially attractive for small businesses facing high card fees and fraud risk.

Square’s broader Bitcoin strategy

Alongside Bitcoin Payments, Square also launched Bitcoin Conversions, a feature allowing sellers to automatically convert up to 50% of their daily card or ACH revenue into BTC held in a Square-managed wallet. Conversion fees are 1% for standard users and 0.5% for premium accounts.

The rollout currently covers U.S. merchants only, but Square hinted at global expansion pending regulatory approvals. The exclusion of New York vendors reflects the state’s strict BitLicense requirements.

Bitcoin enters everyday commerce

Square’s move blurs the line between crypto and traditional finance, bringing Bitcoin payments to coffee shops, barbers, and local venues across the country. With Lightning Network support, payments settle in seconds—no cards, no banks, no middlemen.

For years, Bitcoin has been framed primarily as an investment or store of value. Square’s integration could change that narrative, transforming it into a practical, day-to-day payment option embedded in one of the world’s most widely used merchant platforms.

Also read: FTX Withdraws Plan to Block Repayments in 49 Nations