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Square has turned on Bitcoin payments by default for eligible US businesses. Sellers did not have to raise a hand, fill out a form, or sit through a webinar.
The feature costs merchants 0% in processing fees through December 31. After that, a flat 1% fee kicks in.
Square, the payments platform owned by Block, Inc., began auto-enabling Bitcoin acceptance on March 30, 2026. The full rollout across eligible sellers is scheduled to be complete by November 10, 2026.
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That reach matters. Square’s merchant network includes over four million sellers.
Payments run over the Lightning Network, a layer built on top of Bitcoin designed for fast, cheap transactions.
The practical upshot is near-instant settlement.
By default, merchants receive US dollars. The Bitcoin a customer sends is converted automatically at the moment of payment. Sellers who actually want to hold Bitcoin can choose to keep it instead.
The fee schedule is straightforward. Processing is free through December 31, 2026, and moves to a flat 1% starting January 1, 2027.
There are guardrails. Individual transactions are capped at approximately $600, and each seller faces a daily ceiling of about $20,000.
Geography also limits the reach. The service is unavailable in New York and certain other jurisdictions.
On the hardware side, Square says no new equipment is needed. The feature plugs into existing tools like Square Register and Invoices, along with Square’s apps.
Square is also letting businesses convert up to 50% of eligible daily card sales into Bitcoin.
The move reflects Block’s ongoing effort to embed crypto into everyday commerce. CEO Jack Dorsey and Bitcoin product head Miles Suter are steering the initiative.
The pitch tackles two complaints small businesses tend to have about accepting Bitcoin: volatility and operational hassle. Automatic dollar conversion addresses the first. Integration with existing Square tools addresses the second.
Shifting from opt-in to on-by-default is the bigger philosophical change.
For merchants, the near-term calculus is simple. Through December 31, accepting Bitcoin costs nothing in processing fees, requires no new hardware, and pays out in dollars unless the seller says otherwise.
The approximately $600 transaction cap and roughly $20,000 daily ceiling limit high-value use cases, and the exclusion of New York and other jurisdictions shows regulation still shapes where this can operate.
