Ex-PayPal Chief Unveils Bitcoin-Powered ‘Money Grid’ for Global Merchant Adoption

Lightspark, the Bitcoin (BTC) remittance infrastructure provider led by former PayPal President David Marcus, has announced Grid Global Accounts. Its mission is to facilitate global remittances in Bitcoin, stablecoins, and dollars with AI support.

In partnership with Visa, the API-based product will enable instant payments to 175 million merchants across 14,000+ banks and 65+ countries. Additional features include branded Visa debit cards, native Bitcoin and stablecoin support (for sending, receiving, and converting), and AI agent integration.

Bitcoin remittances via Grid Global Accounts

Notably, agentic support allows users to delegate transactions while maintaining ultimate control of their wallets. Essentially, users get to program a set of instructions for the AI of their choice, including spending limits, approved payees, and revocable permissions. For instance, a user must manually authorize transactions exceeding their set threshold.

This last feature prevents instances of AI turning rogue and making unauthorized transfers. Just today, an AI agent reportedly deleted a startup’s entire database in under 9 seconds while attempting to complete a task.

Speaking at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas today, Marcus said the API would soon be available for iOS developers this week. He gave the example of using it on WhatsApp to communicate and transact simultaneously.

While users make remittances, Lightspark works in the background to ensure compliance, prevent fraud, enable stablecoin issuance, and facilitate seamless settlements.

The 2026 “De Minimis” push

Another company making waves in fostering Bitcoin remittances is Jack Dorsey’s Block (formerly Square). Different from the API-based Grid Global Accounts, the Block focuses on point-of-sale merchant payments.

Speaking at the same conference today, Block’s Head of Digital Assets Policy, Janessa Lopez, said:

“Any time somebody uses bitcoin as a form of money, it should be treated as that.”

Dorsey supported this statement, adding his disapproval of tax exemptions on stablecoin payments only.

Dorsey, alongside the Bitcoin Policy Institute (BPI), has been instrumental in spearheading the “Bitcoin is Everyday Money’ campaign for the “De Minimis” push. Current IRS rules deem even $5 Bitcoin payments a “taxable event” – burdening merchants and crypto intermediaries with paperwork for trivial settlements.