Bitcoin keeps getting battered, but one company is quietly putting it behind the checkout counters of 4 million small businesses.
Square, Block’s payments platform, completed its full rollout of Bitcoin payments on November 10: more than 4 million U.S. merchants that accept payments with Square will have Bitcoin payments automatically enabled if they’re eligible. Customers scan a QR code and pay over the Lightning Network, with funds arriving in seconds. Merchants receive U.S. dollars by default, but can choose to keep the Bitcoin instead. They can also automatically convert up to 50% of their daily sales into Bitcoin to hold. Fees are waived through the end of this year; starting January 1, 2027, a 1% fee applies.
Let’s be clear about the numbers: 4 million refers to the size of Square’s merchant network, not the number of merchants already accepting Bitcoin. New York State is not included yet. The limit is about $600 per transaction and about $20,000 per day.
In my view, the significance isn’t how much more Bitcoin this will sell today, but the path it opens up: for the first time, Bitcoin has made its way to brick-and-mortar checkout counters in a way that lets merchants accept it by default without changing a thing. To see whether it succeeds, don’t focus on the 4 million figure. Watch how many merchants keep the feature enabled after fees kick in on January 1, and whether merchants who automatically convert their sales are actually holding the Bitcoin. $BTC is currently around $73,600, down about 1.5% over the past 24 hours, and still moving within the $73,000–$75,000 range.
Data as of: 2026-11-11 07:15 UTC
For informational purposes only; this is not investment advice.
Square, Block’s payments platform, completed its full rollout of Bitcoin payments on November 10: more than 4 million U.S. merchants that accept payments with Square will have Bitcoin payments automatically enabled if they’re eligible. Customers scan a QR code and pay over the Lightning Network, with funds arriving in seconds. Merchants receive U.S. dollars by default, but can choose to keep the Bitcoin instead. They can also automatically convert up to 50% of their daily sales into Bitcoin to hold. Fees are waived through the end of this year; starting January 1, 2027, a 1% fee applies.
Let’s be clear about the numbers: 4 million refers to the size of Square’s merchant network, not the number of merchants already accepting Bitcoin. New York State is not included yet. The limit is about $600 per transaction and about $20,000 per day.
In my view, the significance isn’t how much more Bitcoin this will sell today, but the path it opens up: for the first time, Bitcoin has made its way to brick-and-mortar checkout counters in a way that lets merchants accept it by default without changing a thing. To see whether it succeeds, don’t focus on the 4 million figure. Watch how many merchants keep the feature enabled after fees kick in on January 1, and whether merchants who automatically convert their sales are actually holding the Bitcoin. $BTC is currently around $73,600, down about 1.5% over the past 24 hours, and still moving within the $73,000–$75,000 range.
Data as of: 2026-11-11 07:15 UTC
For informational purposes only; this is not investment advice.
