What happened?
The payment service Square, under Block, plans to launch Bitcoin payment features in the second half of 2025, aiming for a full rollout to all eligible merchants by 2026. This service will utilize the Lightning Network for instant settlement, allowing merchants to choose to receive Bitcoin or instantly convert it to fiat currency.
This new feature will make Bitcoin payments more convenient and cheaper. Consumers can pay by simply scanning a QR code, while Square will handle all the technical details. The experience of the fast-food chain Stake n’ Shake has confirmed that using Bitcoin payments can reduce transaction fees by about 50%, while transaction speeds are also faster than credit cards, which is a significant advantage for both merchants and consumers.
The launch of Bitcoin payment features by Square is part of Block's long-term strategy in the Bitcoin space. They have previously supported Bitcoin buying and selling through Cash App and developed self-custody wallet Bitkey and mining product Proto, among others. This move further solidifies Block's leading position in promoting Bitcoin as a tool for everyday payments.
Square will promote the popularization of Bitcoin payments.
Led by Jack Dorsey, financial services company Block (the parent company of Square) is actively advancing the application of Bitcoin payments. At the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas, Square announced and demonstrated its new Bitcoin payment feature, which is expected to gradually roll out in the second half of 2025, with the goal of fully opening this service to all eligible Square merchants by 2026, pending regulatory approval.
This new feature will allow merchants to accept Bitcoin payments through existing Square hardware and utilize Bitcoin's second-layer scaling network, the Lightning Network, to achieve near-instant transaction settlement.
The Lightning Network is a 'second layer' payment protocol built on the Bitcoin blockchain. You can think of it as a fast lane specifically designed to handle small, frequent Bitcoin transactions, making these transactions faster and cheaper.
For consumers, the payment process will be very simple, requiring only a QR code scan to complete. Square will handle the complex technical details, real-time rate calculations, and confirmation notifications in the background. Merchants can choose to hold the received Bitcoin or automatically convert it to fiat currency instantly.
Block continues to deepen its layout in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
Miles Suter, Block's head of Bitcoin products, stated that they hope to provide merchants with more payment options to achieve economic empowerment. Suter emphasized, 'We believe in an open, decentralized, fair, fast, and low-cost monetary system that is suitable for everyone, which is what we want to bring to Square merchants.'
This also builds on Square's existing Bitcoin-related products. Square had previously launched a feature allowing merchants to automatically convert a portion of their daily sales into Bitcoin.
In addition, Block's popular peer-to-peer payment app Cash App supports the buying, selling, and transfer of Bitcoin. Block is also developing a Bitcoin mining product called Proto and has launched a self-custody Bitcoin wallet called Bitkey, as well as supporting open-source projects promoting Bitcoin adoption through Spiral.
At the Bitcoin 2025 conference, Dan Edwards, the COO of the American fast-food chain Stake n’ Shake, shared their successful experience in adopting Bitcoin payments.
He stated that since starting to accept Bitcoin payments in all their restaurants worldwide on May 16, they have halved their payment processing fees. Edwards noted, 'Our experience with Bitcoin so far is that it is faster than credit cards, and when customers choose to pay with Bitcoin instead of credit cards, we save about 50% in processing fees.'
He emphasized that this is a 'win-win' situation for customers, merchants, and the Bitcoin community.
This innovation demonstrates Square and Block's confidence in Bitcoin's potential as a payment tool and indicates that Bitcoin payments may become more widespread and convenient in the future.
References: cointelegraph, bloomberg, coindesk
