Cash App, the digital wallet, is broadening its services beyond Bitcoin. The fintech company Block, which operates Cash App, announced through its Bitcoin product lead, Miles Suter, that the payments and banking platform will soon enable users to send and receive stablecoins, as reported by Coins2Day. A Block spokesperson confirmed that access to stablecoins, which are cryptocurrencies tied to assets such as the U.S. Dollar, is scheduled for release early in the upcoming year.
TL;DR
- Cash App will soon allow users to send and receive stablecoins, tied to assets like the U.S. Dollar.
- Users will get a blockchain address linked to their account for stablecoin transactions.
- Cash App will also enable payments to merchants using Bitcoin, converting cash to Bitcoin.
Suter did not say which stablecoins or which blockchains Cash App intends to support. “Our principles are to be chain and coin-agnostic right now, and to go where customers lead,” he said. “We’re not going to support 100 coins and 100 chains.”
He also mentioned that every user would receive a blockchain address linked to their account. Stablecoins directed to this address would be exchanged for dollars inside Cash App, and any dollars leaving the platform for a blockchain address would be re-converted into stablecoins.
“If I were founding Cash App today, I would build it on stablecoin rails natively,” Suter said.
Bitcoin to stablecoins
Block, the company behind the customer checkout service Square, identifies itself as a Bitcoin-centric organization. Its cofounder, Jack Dorsey, who also cofounded and formerly led Twitter, is a prominent advocate for Bitcoin. The fact that Dorsey and Block are contemplating support for stablecoins indicates that even staunch Bitcoin supporters can't overlook the recent excitement surrounding these crypto assets.
In the last twelve months, stablecoins have emerged as a highly discussed area in Silicon Valley, second only to AI. In February, the prominent fintech firm Stripe closed finalized a $1.1 billion acquisition of the stablecoin venture Bridge. Subsequently, in July, President Donald Trump signed signed the Genius Act into legislation, establishing a regulatory structure for entities issuing stablecoins. Furthermore, in October, the major payments corporation Mastercard initiated discussions regarding the acquisition of stablecoin businesses BVNK and Zerohash.
“I think Bitcoin is so unique, but I want to make sure I’m aware of everything that’s going on in the space,” said Suter, the Bitcoin product lead at Block.
Block announced Thursday that Cash App users will be able to pay merchants using Bitcoin, in addition to its stated intention of adding stablecoins to the platform. Users will not be required to possess the cryptocurrency within Cash App. Instead, when a customer scans a merchant's QR code, the platform will convert the customer's cash into Bitcoin and then transmit it to the merchant.