It’s getting easier to get your hands on Bitcoin. And Jack Dorsey’s payments company Block aims to go a step further for Square retail customers thanks to a new feature announced Wednesday.
The company said that stores using its Square tech will now be able to automatically convert a portion of daily sales into the cryptocurrency, in tandem with Block's own Cash App product for consumers.
Block—which rebranded from Square Inc. in 2021—is the company behind both popular payment products.
Square sells businesses—anything from restaurants to clothes shops—hardware and point-of-sale technology to receive payments. Mobile platform Cash App lets users send and receive money, including via Bitcoin.
In today’s announcement, Block said its new feature, Bitcoin Conversions, will allow Square users with a Cash App account the ability to receive between 1% to 10% of their store’s revenues in Bitcoin.
Block’s announcement added that sellers will pay a 1% fee for each conversion that is made from daily sales to Bitcoin.
“Block believes that Bitcoin is an instrument of economic empowerment and provides a way for people around the world, including business owners, to participate in a global monetary system,” the announcement read.
“According to direct feedback from Square sellers, many are interested in Bitcoin and believe it presents a wide range of use cases, such as long-term savings and diversifying their businesses’ holdings.”
In a separate announcement, Block also announced this week that it had finished work on a new three-nanometer chip for Bitcoin miners. Miners are large operations that process transactions on the Bitcoin network. The new chip will allow “mining operators of all types to survive and thrive,” Block said.
Jack Dorsey founded Twitter—now known as X—and most recently was its CEO until 2021. He left the social media platform to focus all his efforts on Bitcoin-related products.
Edited by Andrew Hayward