Cash App makes bitcoin more usable for everyday payments. Starting today, the app will let you pay with Bitcoin instantly – even if you don’t have any – by automatically converting your USD balance on the app to bitcoin for the merchant.
In a series of app features announced today, the app will now use bitcoin locally, pay in USD over the Lightning Network, and send or receive stablecoins. All of these updates are part of Cash Releases, the platform’s first overall rollout of new features that the company shared Bitcoin Magazine.
With the new ‘Bitcoin Payments with USD’ feature, users can make instant bitcoin payments even if they don’t have BTC. Cash App will automatically convert USD from a user’s balance to bitcoin for the merchant.
In other words, this makes Bitcoin payments available to all 58 million monthly users of the Cash App without taxable events or diminishing their Bitcoin holdings.
Square merchants also benefit from them without fees or chargebacks and the network works without intermediaries. Users can choose any payment path – USD to USD, BTC to BTC, BTC to USD or USD to BTC – all powered by the open Bitcoin network. It will encourage merchants to ask customers to pay in bitcoin to avoid card fees.
The system works anywhere bitcoin is accepted, connecting millions of users for fast, low-cost, limitless payments.
Cash App’s bitcoin card
On top of this bitcoin payment feature, Cash App rolled out a Bitcoin card. Following Square’s bitcoin payments launch, the map shows the location of local merchants that accept BTC, letting customers pay instantly via Lightning QR codes.
About 20% of Americans are open to using bitcoin for everyday transactions, the company said, and Cash App wants to make that transition seamless for both consumers and businesses.
In addition to all this, Cash App introduces stablecoin support. Customers can now send and receive digital dollars globally.
Stablecoins maintain a one-to-one value with the US dollar while enabling near-instant transfers. Cash App will automatically convert received stablecoins to USD.
“Bitcoin was created to be peer-to-peer cash, and Cash App is building tools to make it work as intended – fast, open and without borders,” said Miles Suter, Bitcoin Product Lead at Block.
When asked about stablecoins and whether they could compete with Bitcoin, Suter said Bitcoin Magazine that “legacy fiat systems are Money 1.0: Slow, expensive, closed systems with bank hours and limits. Bitcoin is Money 2.0, the ultimate goal: truly decentralized, open and permissionless. Stablecoins are Money 1.5, a pragmatic tool and a meaningful improvement from traditional financial rails, but we do not see them as a competitor to bitcoin.”
He described stablecoins as a complementary tool for users, offering speed and stability, while bitcoin remains the foundation of the platform.
Cash App will also enhance their Auto Invest feature, the company said. Scheduled bitcoin purchases now carry no fees or spreads, making it easier and more affordable for users to invest regularly.
“Standard one-time purchases have fees and spreads,” Suter said, “but we’ve built an entire ecosystem of ways to stack bets for free, like Auto Invest, Paid In Bitcoin and Round Ups. The goal is to give customers more options to build their bitcoin position at an affordable price.”
Since 2018, Cash App has helped over 24 million active users buy bitcoin, with features like Paid In Bitcoin enabling automated conversion of direct deposits to BTC.
Bitcoin payments via Square
Earlier this week, Square rolled out Bitcoin payments to US merchants, allowing around 4 million merchants to accept BTC through their terminals without processing fees until 2027.
The system enabled instant transactions via the Lightning Network, which was first piloted at Compass Coffee in Washington, DC. Merchants could receive Bitcoin, convert it to USD, or automatically convert a portion of daily sales to BTC.
When asked about criticism that platforms like Square or Cash App might centralize Bitcoin, Suter said: “If you want access to the fiat banking system today, you need a centralized provider. The end goal is self-deposit, which is why we built Bitkey. We’re building auto-sweeps for self-deposit, which will roll out later, and a deep Bitkey integration with 20-Square will come around self-paying or receiving the fund, or as you receive self-payment, convert from daily card sales.”
Jack Dorsey’s Block Inc., formerly known as Square, has evolved into a full-stack Bitcoin company spanning payments, mining, open source software and self-custodial solutions.
Through subsidiaries such as Cash App, Bitkey, Proto, Spiral and Tidal, Block is driving Bitcoin adoption across both consumer and developer ecosystems.
The company holds over 8,780 BTC and continues to deepen its integration with Bitcoin, aligning its business strategy with the network’s long-term growth.
According to Suter, the company envisions Bitcoin becoming everyday money and a universal financial infrastructure that enables truly global commerce.