Square Merchants to Accept Bitcoin Payments Enabled by Dorsey's Block Starting by 2026
Tech giant Block, Inc., founded by Jack Dorsey, has unveiled its much-anticipated Bitcoin payments feature for merchants using Square. At the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas on May 27, the new offering was debuted at the BTC Inc. merchandise store.
The launch is set for the second half of 2025, with expectations for full availability in 2026 for all eligible Square sellers providing regulatory approvals are obtained. This rollout enables merchants using Square hardware to accept Bitcoin payments via the Lightning Network, Bitcoin's layer-2 protocol designed for faster and lower-cost micro transactions.
Customers can complete purchases by scanning a QR code, while Square's backend handles real-time exchange rate calculations and confirmations, ensuring near-instant settlement. Merchants can opt for Bitcoin receipt or automatic conversion to fiat currency at the point of sale, a development that further expands upon Square's Bitcoin Conversion tool introduced in 2024.
Serving nearly 4 million merchants across the US, Block, Inc. stands as the leading merchant acquirer in terms of seller numbers. According to Bitcoin Product Lead at Block, Miles Suter, this capability signifies a crucial step towards realizing Bitcoin's original purpose as a peer-to-peer payment system.
Expanding on Block's broader push to integrate Bitcoin into day-to-day finance, the Bitcoin payments feature complements offerings like Bitkey self-custody wallet, Proto's decentralized mining venture, open-source development arm Spiral, and Cash App's burgeoning role in retail Bitcoin adoption.
Previously, Dorsey pointed out that Bitcoin might become obsolete if it did not transition from a store of value to a functional payment method. The company confirmed its commitment to enabling Bitcoin payments through Square and Bitkey, further signifying its dedication to this transformation.
The introduction of Bitcoin payments on Square comes following some challenging periods for Block, Inc., including layoffs of approximately 1,000 employees in early 2024 and the reduction of 931 jobs in March due to weaker-than-expected earnings in Q4 2023.
- Tech giant Block, Inc., plans to make Bitcoin transactions more accessible for merchants by adding a new Bitcoin payments feature to Square in the second half of 2025.
- Bitcoin's layer-2 protocol, the Lightning Network, will be utilized for faster and lower-cost micro transactions when using the new Bitcoin payments feature on Square.
- With regulatory approvals, Square will offer Bitcoin receipts or automatic conversion to fiat currency at the point of sale, using real-time exchange rate calculations and confirmations.
- Bitcoin Product Lead at Block, Miles Suter, believes this Bitcoin payments feature is a significant step towards realizing Bitcoin's original purpose as a peer-to-peer payment system, aligning with Block's broader efforts to integrate Bitcoin into daily finance.
