Square reaches one million US merchants accepting $BTC via lightning network

Square has just reached a symbolic milestone. One million American merchants can now accept Bitcoin.

Not a grand announcement. Rather, an automatic activation that began on March 30. Eligible vendors woke up with the Bitcoin option enabled by default in their payment system. No need to click, sign up, or fill out a form. Square, a subsidiary of Block Inc., simply flipped the switch for everyone.

Lightning Does the Heavy Lifting

The Lightning Network handles the transactions. Almost instant settlement, minimal fees. But here’s the thing: customers pay in Bitcoin, merchants receive dollars. Zero exposure to BTC price for the coffee seller who just wants to cash in without dealing with volatility.

The conversion happens in the background. Automatically. Merchants who dislike the idea can opt out, but Square bets that the majority will just let it run. Why refuse an additional payment option if it costs nothing?

At the peak of adoption, a new business was activating the feature every eight seconds. Miles Suter, Bitcoin Product Lead at Block, presented the figures at the Bitcoin conference in Las Vegas. His message: stop just hodling. Spend.

Block wants BTC to circulate as everyday currency, not just as a speculative asset in a cold wallet. Suter hammered this point during his presentation. The team has worked on tools to make Bitcoin payments as simple as a card tap.

NFC Payment and Zero Fees Until 2026

Block unveiled a new tap-to-pay feature. Standard NFC hardware, Lightning Network on the backend. No more scanning pixelated QR codes under poor lighting. You tap your phone, it’s done.

Processing fees? Zero until 2026. Block absorbs everything to speed up adoption. After 2026, we’ll see. But for now, it’s free.

The Cash App ecosystem integrates into the system. Users can automatically convert their peer-to-peer payments into BTC. Your friend pays you back 20 dollars for dinner? It can arrive as Bitcoin in your wallet without lifting a finger.

And there’s a rewards program. 5% Bitcoin Back at Square merchants. Not huge, but it’s BTC that accumulates with every purchase. Block is trying to create a loop: you spend Bitcoin, you earn some, you spend again.

Withdrawals go up to 10,000 dollars per day and 25,000 dollars per week. Enough so that heavy users don’t feel restricted.

Block also released an updated hardware wallet. The Bitkey. Touchscreen, 2-of-3 multisignature security model. The idea is to make self-custody less intimidating for people worried about losing their private keys.

Two signatures out of three to validate a transaction. You lose one element, you’re not doomed. The hardware wallet has a touchscreen to make the experience less archaic than old models with two buttons and a monochrome screen.

Block published its proof of reserves report for the first quarter of 2026. 28,355.05 BTC in the vaults. About 2.2 billion dollars at the current value. Transparency is part of the strategy. Showing that they really have the Bitcoin they claim to have.

No fractional reserve banking with cryptos. At least, not officially. Block wants to prove they’re playing fair.

Automatic activation for a million merchants changes the game. Previously, accepting Bitcoin was a voluntary move. Now it’s opt-out instead of opt-in. It completely reverses the adoption dynamic.

Merchants who don’t care will just leave the option active. Those who are against it will have to actively disable it. It’s pure nudging.

Miles Suter didn’t provide a figure on how many merchants have actually received a Bitcoin payment since activation. Just the number of activations. It remains to be seen how many of these millions of options will actually be used.

Block is betting big on Lightning. Not on the main Bitcoin blockchain where fees can explode and confirmations take hours. Lightning allows instant microtransactions. That’s what makes the idea of buying a coffee in BTC viable.

Block’s bet is that the infrastructure is ready. That people will start spending if it’s made easy for them. That automatic conversion to dollars will reassure hesitant merchants.

The Las Vegas conference served as a launchpad for a whole ecosystem of products. Bitkey, tap-to-pay NFC, Bitcoin Back rewards, Cash App integration. Block is building a complete stack.

The ultimate goal seems clear: to make Bitcoin a usable daily currency, not just an asset you hoard hoping the price will rise. Suter repeated this message several times. Make BTC circulate.

The 28,355 BTC in Block’s reserves show they have skin in the game. It’s not just a service they’re offering to others. They’re accumulating too.