Block’s Square Enables Default Bitcoin Payments for About 1 Million U.S. Merchants

Eligible sellers in the United States have had the feature turned on by default since March 30, letting customers pay over the Lightning Network (Bitcoin payment scaling system) while merchants receive U.S. dollars through real-time conversion.

BTC

Summary

Block’s Square has automatically activated Bitcoin payments for roughly 1 million eligible merchants in the United States. Since March 30, customers have been able to pay through the Lightning Network (Bitcoin payment scaling system), while merchants settle in U.S. dollars using real-time conversion. The setup lowers direct Bitcoin price exposure for sellers because the crypto is converted at the time of payment, while still expanding Bitcoin’s use as a payment option at mainstream point-of-sale businesses.

Terms & Concepts
  • Lightning Network: A Bitcoin payment scaling system that enables faster and lower-cost transactions by processing activity off the main blockchain.
  • Real-time conversion: A payment process that instantly converts Bitcoin into U.S. dollars at checkout, helping merchants avoid holding the cryptocurrency.
  • Bitcoin payments: Transactions in which customers use Bitcoin to pay for goods or services, either directly on-chain or through faster secondary systems like Lightning.