Square finished its bitcoin rollout to US sellers. New York is shut out, and free processing ends in 51 days
Square's bitcoin checkout reached its Nov. 10 finish date as BTC fell below $73,000. The 4 million figure is Square's whole network, and the 0% fee turns into 1% on Jan. 1.
Square's rollout of bitcoin payments to eligible US sellers hit its finish date on Tuesday, but not everyone gets in, and the free period is short. Block's payments arm set November 10 as the end date for a rollout that began March 30, and bitcoin news accounts on X reported on Tuesday that it was complete. Sellers pay a 0% processing fee only until December 31, 2026. After that the fee becomes 1%, and businesses in New York cannot use the feature at all, Square's own support page says.
The launch also came on a bad day for the coin. Bitcoin fell below $73,000 on Tuesday for the first time since August after a hotter-than-expected inflation report, CoinDesk reported.
What "4 million merchants" really means#
The figure on X was "about 4 million merchants." That number describes Square's whole US seller network, not how many sellers are eligible for bitcoin or actually take it, TokenPost reported. Square decides eligibility on its own and checks it again from time to time. A seller who is not eligible cannot opt in, according to the support page.
No one has published independent figures on how many shops are using it. So the honest headline is that bitcoin is now switched on by default for Square's eligible US sellers outside New York. That is still a large network, but it is not 4 million live bitcoin checkouts.
The rules sellers get#
Most of the important limits are in Square's help pages, not in the posts celebrating the launch. Here is what Square's bitcoin payments support article says.
| Rule | What Square says |
|---|---|
| Processing fee | 0% through Dec. 31, 2026, then 1% |
| New York | Not available to New York businesses |
| Per-sale cap | About $600 worth of bitcoin |
| Daily cap | $20,000 |
| Chargebacks | Not supported |
| Default payout | US dollars, converted at once |
Customers pay over the Lightning Network, a faster payment layer built on top of bitcoin. Sellers get dollars by default but can choose to keep bitcoin instead. Sellers can also have Square turn up to 50% of daily sales into bitcoin automatically, TokenPost reported.
The fine print that could bite#
Two rules could matter more than the fee. First, Square does not handle disputes or chargebacks for bitcoin sales. If a customer has a problem, the seller and the buyer must sort it out between themselves, Square says. Card payments come with a dispute process. These do not.
Second, there are taxes. Sellers who choose to keep bitcoin are responsible for capital gains taxes if the coin rises in value before they sell it, Square says. It will report the details on a Form 1099-DA. A seller who kept bitcoin from a sale in late September, when the coin traded in the mid-$80,000s according to CoinDesk, would now be holding a loss.
Square's page does not explain why New York is left out. It simply lists the state as not available.
How the rollout unfolded#
Block's bitcoin product lead, Miles Suter, announced the start on March 30, and CEO Jack Dorsey reposted it, Cointelegraph reported at the time. Square also posted about it to sellers on its official r/SquareOfficial Reddit community, promising 0% fees through 2026 and no need to hold bitcoin.
- Auto-enabled bitcoin payments start reaching eligible US sellers
- Target date to finish the rollout
- Last day of 0% processing fees
- 1% processing fee applies
Source: Cointelegraph, Square Support
Block is also a holder of the coin. It had 8,883 bitcoin on its balance sheet at an average cost of $32,939 each, Cointelegraph reported in March, citing BitcoinTreasuries.net data.
The reaction on X#
Bitcoin Magazine, one of the largest bitcoin news accounts, announced that Square had "officially enabled" bitcoin acceptance for about 4 million US merchants. The post drew hundreds of likes within hours.
VirtualBacon, a crypto commentator, argued that the zero-fee period gives shops a real reason to switch the option on. That is the key test. Merchants will see whether customers use it before the 1% fee starts.
Bitcoin News framed the day as Square reaching its November 10 target for the phased rollout.
Bad timing for the price#
The rollout lands in a rough stretch. Bitcoin hit $69,000 for the first time on November 10, 2021, exactly five years ago. On Tuesday it traded only about $4,500 above that level, CoinDesk noted. Fourteen public companies have sold a combined 108,247 bitcoin this year, led by miners such as MARA, which once pledged to hold every coin it mined, CoinDesk reported, citing Lookonchain.
That is the real contrast in Tuesday's news. Square is betting that ordinary shoppers will spend bitcoin at the corner store. Meanwhile, the companies that hold the most bitcoin keep selling. The next seven weeks of free processing may show whether the checkout bet pays off.
Cite this article
Patrick Karsh. “Square finished its bitcoin rollout to US sellers. New York is shut out, and free processing ends in 51 days.” 567 Business. Published 2026-11-11. https://567business.com/news/square-bitcoin-payments-us-sellers-new-york
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