Square Enables Bitcoin for 1 Million US Merchants

Block Inc.’s Square has now enabled approximately 1 million U.S. merchants to receive Bitcoin payments by default. A company team member shared the milestone, which stems from an auto-enrollment initiative launched on March 30 that activated BTC acceptance for qualifying American businesses without requiring manual signup. During the highest point of the rollout, a fresh merchant joined every eight seconds.

The system relies on the Lightning Network for near-instant transactions. Merchants obtain USD settlements by default, which reportedly eliminates exchange-rate volatility. Buyers may submit BTC through Lightning, after which the platform converts funds in the background; sellers retain the ability to disable the option.

During the Bitcoin Conference in Las Vegas, Block detailed further efforts to position bitcoin as circulating everyday money instead of solely a store of value. On the Nakamoto Stage, Bitcoin Product Lead Miles Suter stated that BTC “must circulate, not just sit still,” and warned that the cryptocurrency forfeits its core purpose if it fails to operate as peer-to-peer cash.

Suter presented adoption data showing that, at the time of his remarks, more than 800,000 Square merchants had received the automatic BTC enrollment. He noted that a new business was enabling the feature every eight seconds.

Square is introducing a tap-to-pay Bitcoin option that uses NFC hardware together with the Lightning Network, removing the need for QR codes and providing zero processing fees through 2026. The firm’s wider plan focuses on embedding bitcoin throughout its products.

Cash App now permits users to turn peer-to-peer transfers into BTC automatically, collect 5% Bitcoin Back rewards when spending at Square merchants, and pull out as much as $10,000 daily or $25,000 weekly. Block unveiled a revised Bitkey hardware wallet equipped with a touchscreen and a 2-of-3 multisig setup intended to make self-custody more accessible.

The announcements coincided with Block’s Q1 2026 proof-of-reserves disclosure, which listed holdings of 28,355.05 BTC valued at roughly $2.2 billion.