Block Inc. to Launch Bitcoin Payments on Square via Lightning Network

• The Bitcoin Product Lead of Block, Miles Suter, states that this is related to economic empowerment for merchants.
• The firm further added that it is going to roll out new privacy and security features to its self-custody Bitcoin wallet Bitkey

Block Inc. is planning to launch Bitcoin payments on Square, the payment processing arm of the firm. The rollout will start this year ahead of a full introduction in the next year. The firm publicized the plan at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in Las Vegas on May 27

The firm also demonstrated the feature at the BTC Inc. merchandise store. Merchants can accept BTC payment via the current Square hardware using the Lightning Network. The Lightning Network is the faster and lower-cost layer-2 scaling network of Bitcoin

The Chairman of Block Inc., Jack Dorsey, posted on X stating that Merchants can choose to hold the Bitcoin, or auto-convert it to fiat in real time. The firm also revealed that it anticipates rolling out after June 2025, reaching all eligible Square sellers by the next year

This initiative is created on the current Bitcoin Conversions feature of Square that permits merchants to convert sales into Bitcoin. Customers can simply scan a QR code, and Square will manage the technicalities behind the scenes, and, Lightning permitting, near-instant settlement

New Privacy And Security Features

The Bitcoin Product Lead of Block, Miles Suter, states that this is related to economic empowerment for merchants who seek options while accepting payments. The firm further added that it is going to roll out new privacy and security features to its self-custody Bitcoin wallet Bitkey, which it introduced in 2023

Bitkey is designed in a way that makes self-custody more accessible without traditional seed phrases. At the same time, the operating chief of American fast food chain Stake n’ Shake, Dan Edwars, mentioned that:

“The company has reduced its payment processing fees by half by adopting Bitcoin payments. The experience with Bitcoin has already been faster than credit cards. When customers choose to pay in BTC rather than credit cards, we are economizing 50% in our processing fees.”

Earlier this month, Stake n’ Shake publicized that it will start accepting Bitcoin as payment at all restaurant locations around the globe starting on May 16

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