Square Reaches 1 Million U.S. Merchants Accepting Bitcoin Payments via Lightning Network

According to Nikil Suter, who leads Square's crypto efforts, the payments platform has enabled one million U.S. merchants to accept Bitcoin payments as of May 2026. The auto-enrolment feature launched on March 30, 2026, uses the Lightning Network to allow customers to pay in Bitcoin while merchants receive U.S. dollars through near-instant settlement, with no additional hardware setup required.

Block confirmed that processing fees have been waived through 2026 to accelerate adoption. Suter noted that a new business activates the Bitcoin payment feature every eight seconds. The company has also launched a 5% Bitcoin Back rewards program at Square merchants to drive recurring usage.