Bitcoin on regular Cash Apps

[Z-tight]

Op, maybe you should share a link to this story. To those who do not know, Cash App has integrated BTC into their system a long time ago, as way back as 2018. You can buy BTC and you can also sell BTC for USD in-app. You can also send and receive BTC on-chain in Cash App, it's not a new feature.

So, i don't know what op is talking about, but since BTC is adopted in Cash App, then you could always use it to pay bills, provided the recipient accepts BTC on-chain.

[bitcoin-shark]

Introducing Bitcoin as an option on payment apps would certainly boost its adoption and awareness while expanding user choice; many banking apps already offer bitcoin wallets and investment options, but in my view, this undermines its fundamental nature—namely, anonymity and independence from banking systems.

[Hamza2424]

Personally, I think this move goes on to show another port folio in Bitcoins usefulness. Now imagine cash apps allowing it's users to settle bills with Bitcoin without having to hold Bitcoin. One can't help but ask is this diversity deviating from what Bitcoin was create to achieve?

Wait a second, so we don't have to hold or own any bitcoins and we can pay our bills in BTC? That means our fiat will be used to buy BTC, and then it will be sent to the receiver's side on-chain and probably into their Cash App. Haha, well, I haven't heard a better way to summarize this paradox.

This is not adoption, it's just basic conversion. But if someone really holds fiat in this app, why do they even have to use BTC as a payment option? The BTC payment option is for Bitcoin holders. I always wanted to pay my electricity bills in Bitcoin, but I don't want to because that would be like telling them I own Bitcoin. With these increasing breaches, the next thing these hackers will be doing is attacking those authorities to get all the data about us and where we live haha. No thanks.

[Odusko]

Introducing Bitcoin as an option on payment apps would certainly boost its adoption and awareness while expanding user choice; many banking apps already offer Bitcoin wallets and investment options, but in my view, this undermines its fundamental nature—namely, anonymity and independence from banking systems.

While reading on this from sources, I think the bitcoin payment gateway is a USD pair third-party liquidity providers, this make the whole cash app bitcoin thing to sound as more of a promotion for cash app presence in the cryptocurrency market, and less of real bitcoin adoption, alot have to be considered going dealing with this services that not truely decentralized payment gateways but claims to be just ti lure customers into letting go of their money to any third-party.

[FinneysTrueVision]

One that caught my eye was Jack Dorsey's cash app announcing  that users would soon be able to pay their bills using Bitcoin.

It would have been great if you had included a source for this because I couldn’t find any information about it. This would be a useful product for so many people and I could see CashApp or Square introducing this feature some time in the future. Yes, it might be a custodial payment app, but that doesn’t mean you have to hold your Bitcoin inside CashApp all the time. Just long enough to complete your payment would be enough.

It would be better if there was no centralized intermediary, but most service providers are never going to accept Bitcoin directly if we’re being realistic.

[Z-tight]

Personally, I think this move goes on to show another port folio in Bitcoins usefulness. Now imagine cash apps allowing it's users to settle bills with Bitcoin without having to hold Bitcoin. One can't help but ask is this diversity deviating from what Bitcoin was create to achieve?

Wait a second, so we don't have to hold or own any bitcoins and we can pay our bills in BTC? That means our fiat will be used to buy BTC, and then it will be sent to the receiver's side on-chain and probably into their Cash App.

Like i pointed out in my earlier post in this thread, i don't think the op fully understands the information they've shared in this topic. Cash App adopted BTC a long time ago, so you can hold/buy/sell/send/receive BTC through the app, but it is not recommended to do so, for obvious reasons. So, if there is any agency that accepts payments for bills in BTC, then you could always make such payments through Cash App, by sending BTC from your app into their wallet address.

[blockman]

One can't help but ask; if millions of people use Bitcoin without necessarily owning it, are payment companies finally finding a new way to keeping control over Bitcoin?

That's not control but a purpose. In El Salvador, it's a legal tender so they also pay their bills in bitcoin. But those companies doesn't have a way to control Bitcoin. What we see here is the use case of bitcoin and the usefulness of it that it's not just an asset to hold for a long time but, we can use it just like the regular cash that we pay for our things. Don't make yourself confused with it and the things to be complicated because from the very start, this is what satoshi wants and that's to be a peer to peer transaction and that involves using bitcoin as payment.

[Z-tight]

That's not control but a purpose. In El Salvador, it's a legal tender so they also pay their bills in bitcoin.

BTC is no longer a legal tender in El Salvador. And even when it was, their citizens hardly used BTC for anything, let alone to pay their bills. So many of them only downloaded Chivo wallet because of the $30 bonus you got for doing so.

[Zlantann]

That's not control but a purpose. In El Salvador, it's a legal tender so they also pay their bills in bitcoin. But those companies doesn't have a way to control Bitcoin. What we see here is the use case of bitcoin and the usefulness of it that it's not just an asset to hold for a long time but, we can use it just like the regular cash that we pay for our things. Don't make yourself confused with it and the things to be complicated because from the very start, this is what satoshi wants and that's to be a peer to peer transaction and that involves using bitcoin as payment.

You are right that some businesses or people pay bills with Bitcoin in El Salvador. But the law that made Bitcoin a legal tender in El Salvador was amended in 2025. Now, Businesses are not under any obligation to accept Bitcoin as payment for goods and services. There are some reasons why the use of Bitcoin as a currency is not popular. Government policies and price volatility are some of them. Investors now prefer to hodl it and make a profit when the price appreciates. Hopefully,  BTC will become less volatile in the future, as there are indications that it could become stable.

[Kitewarden]

For the question about control, I would look at whether users can withdraw their BTC to a wallet of their choice. Paying bills is convenient, but the ability to leave the app matters too. Does the proposed feature preserve that option, or is Bitcoin only available within the provider’s payment system?

[Patikno]

One can't help but ask; if millions of people use Bitcoin without necessarily owning it, are payment companies finally finding a new way to keeping control over Bitcoin?

Technically no.  And one question: how can a person spend Bitcoin without even owning it?  At some point, they need to buy BTC, store it to the app's wallet, and make a purchase using the app.  In a buy-and-use-as-payment-for-purchases scenario, the person owns Bitcoin when he buys it and uses it to pay for a purchase, so we cannot say that a person is using Bitcoin without owning it in this scenario.  It is a short-term ownership, but the person still owns the Bitcoin until he spends it.

Maybe, he is referring to third-party services that act as a medium for transactions between buyers and sellers. Furthermore, maybe he is also referring to sellers of goods or services that accept Bitcoin. Of course, buyers who spend money still need to own Bitcoin to make transactions, but sellers and third-party services don't need to own it. Cmiiw.

[Hamza2424]

Like i pointed out in my earlier post in this thread, i don't think the op fully understands the information they've shared in this topic. Cash App adopted BTC a long time ago, so you can hold/buy/sell/send/receive BTC through the app, but it is not recommended to do so, for obvious reasons. So, if there is any agency that accepts payments for bills in BTC, then you could always make such payments through Cash App, by sending BTC from your app into their wallet address.

Hmm bro, even if OP doesn't know the whole story, I know what I found when I explored it more. I am even more surprised to know that they have this option, but for what haha? Like, who is really benefiting from this except the app on both sides haha?

Like, if I don't have BTC, I can buy it with fiat and then send it to the receiver, and the receiver can then get it directly in fiat after automatic conversion haha.

It's a completely useless app in my sight.

[blockman]

That's not control but a purpose. In El Salvador, it's a legal tender so they also pay their bills in bitcoin.

BTC is no longer a legal tender in El Salvador. And even when it was, their citizens hardly used BTC for anything, let alone to pay their bills. So many of them only downloaded Chivo wallet because of the $30 bonus you got for doing so.

Thanks bro, I thought that it's still a legal tender there. I've just confirmed and did a research about it and you're right. I think that I've missed this news last year, I haven't seen any news about it or I was too busy on other things at that time.

You are right that some businesses or people pay bills with Bitcoin in El Salvador. But the law that made Bitcoin a legal tender in El Salvador was amended in 2025. Now, Businesses are not under any obligation to accept Bitcoin as payment for goods and services. There are some reasons why the use of Bitcoin as a currency is not popular. Government policies and price volatility are some of them. Investors now prefer to hodl it and make a profit when the price appreciates. Hopefully,  BTC will become less volatile in the future, as there are indications that it could become stable.

Yes, I just saw some articles about it. Thanks to both of you, it's no longer mandated by law in El Salvador that bitcoin should be used as a legal tender and means of payment. I guess that Bukele did his job in introducing it to his countrymen and to the world that it's possible. Just like people there who used to pay bills in bitcoin, we also did that here in the Philippines because of coins.ph that allowed us to. They have the bills payment option long time ago and they have removed it, but now it's back on the app although it has to be converted first in our local fiat unlike before it can be done directly from the balance of their btc wallet.

[Joy- maker]

Jack Dorsey's cash app and other payment companies decide to allow people to pay bills directly using Bitcoin it would be a welcome development.  I know some apps already allow users to pay bills using Bitcoin, and other cryptocurrencies, but if more mainstream payment platforms adopt this approach it could make Bitcoin more using for everyday transactions and encourage wider adoption, mind you, every advantage also come with its own disadvantage.  Which bring us to this question, what if this companies are not genuinely promoting Bitcoin financial freedom, but simply created another way to control how people access and spend their bitcoin?

[joniboini]

Which bring us to this question, what if this companies are not genuinely promoting Bitcoin financial freedom, but simply created another way to control how people access and spend their bitcoin?

Trying to guess their intent is a fool's errand imo. We can only see what they're doing with how they structure the KYC and stuffs like that. I'm not sure control is the right word either since you're the one who decide whether you should use apps or straight up spend your sats from your wallet to the merchants of your liking. I'm sure we'll see more merchants accepting Bitcoin through various payment gateways. Some of them probably require KYC since it relies on a 3rd party, but those focused on privacy and control probably won't look at them at all.

The question is whether using Bitcoin as payment method is illegal or not. I'm sure many would happily add crypto payment gateway if the government allowed them to do so. CMIIW.

[Orpichukwu]

Some people used Bitcoin for payment transaction while some others will not doing the same but prefers to hodl Bitcoin. Probably that is happening but some people will still keep Bitcoin and sell if the price is high. I don't think those companies control over Bitcoin, maybe they control their own Bitcoin. Diversity is not deviating the reason Bitcoin created but people will choose what matters to them and no one can force them to follow the other people.

All this innovation and expansion these companies are doing is just a campaign to attract Bitcoin holders to their platforms where they can get their hand on their holdings and take away ownership from them, where you pay a higher fee than you should have when spending, and you also need to pass verification before you can spend your Bitcoin, which is far beyond what we visioned Bitcoin for, and centralised service is not what to trust with my Bitcoin I rather prefer to use a service which accept direct deposit than send and pay extra charges.

[X-ray]

The question is whether using Bitcoin as payment method is illegal or not. I'm sure many would happily add crypto payment gateway if the government allowed them to do so. CMIIW.

Cash app is region locked to united states and crypto payment in united state is legal, even FinCEN treat merchant payment acceptance for goods or services as not a money transmitter.

Cash app itself is a money transmitter but they already licensed across all the states and allowed to offer bitcoin payments.

That aside, bitcoin payment in the united states is quite common thing, tons of companies did it before cash app.

[Z-tight]

Like, if I don't have BTC, I can buy it with fiat and then send it to the receiver, and the receiver can then get it directly in fiat after automatic conversion haha.

That is not true. You can send BTC from your wallet address in Cash App into another external wallet. It is a normal on-chain transaction, and the recipient receives BTC into their own wallet and not fiat.

I have said this countless times already in this topic. For example, you can send BTC from your Cash App account into your Electrum wallet. Cash App also supports BTC LN tx's. However, i am not recommending Cash App for BTC users, just stating the facts.

[Fivestar4everMVP]

One can't help but ask; if millions of people use Bitcoin without necessarily owning it, are payment companies finally finding a new way to keeping control over Bitcoin?

Forgive me but I am a bit lost here, how does a person use or pay bills using bitcoin without actually owning bitcoin? Is it that the person makes payment in fiat or any other means and the system auto converts the funds into bitcoin or how does this work? I would appreciate more explanation on this.

It's actually a win for bitcoin if major bill payment apps integrates bitcoin and make it an integral part of their payment options, if this gets adopted  and the bitcoin network starts seeing hundreds of millions of transactions every day, this won't be a win for bitcoin alone, it would also be a big win for both the bitcoin miners and the community at large.
But I don't see how anyone can transact/pay bills in bitcoin without directly or indirectly owning/holding bitcoin.