Merchants Using Square Can Now Accept Bitcoin Payments

Square is letting the first merchants on its network accept bitcoin payments.

The company is now allowing some sellers to accept Lightning Network -powered BTC payments from customers, Owen Jennings , executive officer and head of business at Square’s parent company, Block , wrote in a Tuesday (July 22) post on social platform X.

“Today we’re onboarding our first few Square sellers for the new native bitcoin acceptance experience,” he wrote. “This is the way!”

boom.

today we’re onboarding our first few @Square sellers for the new native bitcoin acceptance experience

this is the way!

— OBJ (@owenbjennings) July 22, 2025

Square plans to make the service available to all merchants on its platform by next year, CoinDesk reported Wednesday (July 23).

Square offered a pilot version of the system at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas in May, letting attendees make purchases in bitcoin by scanning a barcode, the report said.

Square sees Lighting as key to its effort to widen bitcoin payments adoption, something that has typically been hindered by slow speeds, according to the report. Lightning gets around this by creating micropayment channels that can handle a transaction away from the main bitcoin blockchain.

Block announced the plans for Square’s bitcoin payment acceptance in May.

“When a coffee shop or retail store can accept bitcoin through Square, small businesses get paid faster, and get to keep more of their revenue,” Block Bitcoin Product Lead Miles Suter said at the time. “This is about economic empowerment for merchants who like to have options when it comes to accepting payments.”

Meanwhile, PYMNTS examined stablecoin payments this week following the passage of the GENIUS Act Friday (July 18).

“The GENIUS Act gives stablecoins legal legitimacy, so long as they play by traditional financial rules of 1:1 reserve backing, anti-money laundering (AML) compliance, and dual charter options through state or federal regulators,” PYMNTS reported Monday (July 21).

The digital dollars enterprises use to pay contractors in Venezuela or settle trade balances in Nigeria may no longer be Wild West tokens but financial instruments recognized by the U.S. economy, the report said.

Also this week, Block joined the S&P 500, replacing Hess after its $53 billion acquisition by Chevron .