Block (XYZ) Touts Bitcoin as ‘Everyday Money' With 800,000 Merchants Now Accepting It

Block (XYZ) unveiled a broad bitcoin product push at Bitcoin 2026 aimed at driving transactional use and merchant acceptance. The company said 800,000 Square merchants now have bitcoin payments auto-enrollment (a new merchant activates the feature every eight seconds) and introduced tap-to-pay via NFC + Lightning, zero processing fees through 2026, Cash App auto-conversion and larger withdrawal limits, and a Bitkey hardware wallet with 2-of-3 multisig. Block also published Q1 proof-of-reserves showing 28,355.05 BTC (~$2.2B), boosting transparency. Collectively, these moves could increase on‑chain and Lightning transactional volume, strengthen user self-custody flows, and are broadly positive for bitcoin’s adoption and market demand.