Square Enables Lightning Payments for 4M Merchants with '0% Bitcoin' Button
Block has activated Bitcoin payments across its Square merchant ecosystem, giving about 4 million sellers a '0% Bitcoin' button to accept Lightning Network transactions at the point of sale. The feature appears aimed at reducing on-platform processing friction and routing micropayments over Lightning so customers can pay with BTC in seconds rather than waiting for on-chain confirmation.
This rollout could accelerate retail adoption of Bitcoin by lowering cost and speed barriers for everyday purchases, while also expanding Lightning liquidity and developer attention. For merchants, it presents a new checkout option that competes with card fees and tokenized payments; for consumers, it makes spending BTC more practical. Risks remain around price volatility and UX integration, but the change is a clear signal that major payments platforms are betting on Lightning as a real-world rail for crypto payments.