Twitter Co-Founder, Jack Dorsey’s Square, has started onboarding merchants to its new Bitcoin acceptance feature. This is a significant step toward Bitcoin payments in the retail industry.
The rollout will allow participating businesses to accept Bitcoin using Square’s existing point-of-sale terminals, with transactions settled via the Lightning Network.
Bitcoin To Enter the US Retail Sector
This move follows months of internal development and testing. Merchants can now choose to receive Bitcoin directly or convert it to dollars at the point of sale.
The integration uses Square’s existing infrastructure, requiring no additional hardware.
boom.
today we’re onboarding our first few @Square sellers for the new native bitcoin acceptance experience
Square, a business unit of Block, serves over 4 million sellers and processes more than $200 billion in annual payment volume. The scale of this merchant base positions Square as a potential catalyst for mainstream Bitcoin use in US commerce.
Meanwhile, Square’s integration removes many past hurdles, including high fees, slow confirmations, and volatility risk. It offers a near-instant, low-cost payment experience while keeping Bitcoin in its native form.
Also, the development comes during a strong Bitcoin bull cycle. The asset trades above $118,000 after hitting new highs in 2025, driven by ETF inflows and growing institutional demand.
Square’s merchant feature could extend that momentum to the consumer economy.
Jack Dorsey, a vocal Bitcoin advocate, has long supported the idea of Bitcoin as a native internet currency. The ability to use BTC for everyday purchases, without needing third-party apps or conversion steps, brings that vision closer to reality.
If adoption scales, this could mark a shift from speculative use to real-world utility. Bitcoin would transition from a store of value to medium of exchange. This was an early goal of Satoshi’s whitepaper.
For now, Square’s merchant rollout is limited, with broader availability expected in 2026. But the onboarding has begun.
The European Central Bank (ECB) and European Commission are having a public dispute over MiCA and stablecoin regulation. The ECB believes that restrictions aren’t harsh enough, fearing US firms dominating the market.
The Commission disputed the ECB’s fears, alleging that it’s building up stablecoin-related fears to promote a controversial digital euro program. There are already signs of European irrelevance to Web3, and more restrictions likely wouldn’t help.
As one commentator, Mikko Ohtamaa, put it, it has good reasons to worry about the future:
“The EU had the first mover advantage with the regulation and they screwed it up. No EU stablecoin is internationally competitive because the inherited business unfriendliness that was baked into the MiCA by the lobbying efforts of banks and other legacy financial institutions,” he claimed via social media.
Most recently, Ethena Labs, too, pulled out of Europe after failing to get MiCA approval. These firms had no such problems in the US.
In an interesting twist, the ECB’s concern is not that MiCA is too harsh, thereby preventing innovation. As Politico claimed, it instead worries that existing regulations aren’t strong enough.
Instead, it acknowledged President Trump’s stated goal to use stablecoins to promote dollar dominance and fears that US assets could flood European markets. It wants to fight back head-on.
This is at the heart of the controversy between these EU institutions. The European Commission reacted with hostility to the ECB’s proposed MiCA changes.
That is, it seems that most EU institutions are satisfied with existing stablecoin regulations. Besides, if the ECB gets its proposed MiCA reforms, would that even matter?
The crypto markets reacted with shocking ambivalence to its recent rate cuts. Europe is in danger of falling behind in the global Web3 economy, and more restrictions aren’t likely to help.
Systems are still under pressure as users decry empty hands after the PUMP token sale. Based on this, Kraken co-founder Arjun Sethi announced plans that could help assuage affected users.
Meanwhile, Bybit continues to face backlash after the wildly oversubscribed meme coin sale, with users claiming they were rug-pulled despite showing up on time.
Kraken’s Arjun Sethi Promises PUMP Airdrop After Token‑Sale Glitch
Kraken co-founder Arjun Sethi pledged to provide an automatic airdrop of PUMP tokens to users who could not finalize their purchases during the recent Pump.fun public token offering, due to Kraken’s system limitations.
“We reviewed internal order logs and client activity to identify those affected. To make this right, Kraken will airdrop PUMP to impacted users once the token is live,” wrote Sethi.
Further, the Kraken Exchange executive articulated that eligibility would prioritize verified order intent during the sale window. This means users do not need to take any action as the distribution will be automatic and free of charge.
In hindsight, the launch generated intense demand, with Kraken sales fully allocated in less than a minute. Meanwhile, as BeInCrypto reported, Pump.fun raised $500 million as tokens sold out in a record 12 minutes.
According to Sethi, despite users’ timely attempts, Kraken’s system could not keep up with the reaction speed required to submit orders.
The move appears to be aimed at rebuilding confidence among Kraken’s user base. It could also help reinforce its commitment to fairness and platform resilience.
“Events like this highlight how important access, speed, and reliability are. We are continuing to invest in all three,” Sethi emphasized.
This comment from Mert Helius, a popular user on X and CEO of Web3 infrastructure platform Helius Labs, reflects cautious approval of Kraken’s proactive gesture, without discrediting user complaints entirely.
Notwithstanding, some users have voiced lingering concerns.
“Can you clarify this a bit? The sale appeared to be open for 15 minutes or so. If you tried to buy through the app, it just said ‘this token has low liquidity / add to favorites.’ Which clients are eligible exactly,” one user posed.
Kraken has not yet clarified whether only “on-screen” order attempts were counted. If so, it could exclude users who encountered ambiguous UI errors.
Welcome to the US Crypto News Morning Briefing—your essential rundown of the most important developments in crypto for the day ahead.]
Grab a coffee as we delve into market sentiment about XRP ETFs (exchange-traded funds) in the US. As prospects for this financial instrument continue to grow, experts have weighed in on the possible impact on Ripple’s XRP token.
Crypto News of the Day: XRP ETF Inflows to Reach $8.3 Billion, Standard Chartered Predicts
There has been much chatter this week in crypto about XRP ETFs, ranging from false rumors and reports to delays in key decisions. However, one thing appears certain: the conversation is growing more than ever.
In a recent US Crypto News publication, ETF analyst Eric Balchunas indicated they have raised their odds to 85%. Based on this, analysts offer diverging outlooks on how such a product might perform.
“XRP price could rise to $12.23 or $22.20 after ETF Approval if XRP ETFs Get 15% to 30% of Bitcoin ETF Inflows,” a popular account on X shared.
BeInCrypto data shows that XRP was trading for $2.22 as of this writing, down by almost 1% in the last 24 hours.
Against this backdrop, BeInCrypto contacted Standard Chartered for a commentary. The bank’s head of digital assets research, Geoff Kendrick, said it was challenging to predict precise inflow figures.
However, he indicated that comparative data from Europe could provide some guidance.
“The amount of eventual inflows to XRP ETFs is difficult to estimate. However, Bitwise has listed ETPs in Germany for XRP, Solana, Litecoin, BTC, and ETH, which may provide an apples-for-apples comparison,” Kendrick told BeInCrypto.
Drawing on his prediction of how an XRP ETF could perform and the associated impact on XRP price, Kendrick compared Bitcoin, Ethereum, and other altcoins.
Citing Bitwise data, the Standard Chartered executive noted that altcoins garner a larger percentage of ETP (exchange-traded product) net asset value (NAV) as a percentage of coin market capitalization than Bitcoin and Ethereum.
However, he acknowledged that this could be because fewer ETPs are available for altcoins. Kendrick added that NAV-to-market-cap ratios from already approved US spot ETFs provide a useful benchmark.
Based on these assessments, Geoff Kendrick projected that a US-listed spot XRP ETF could attract as much as $8.3 billion in inflows within its first year.
“Of the US spot ETFs approved so far, NAV as a percentage of market cap is 3% for Ethereum and just under 6% for Bitcoin. At current XRP market cap, that would imply a range of $4.4 billion to $8.3 billion as a future total NAV measure for an XRP ETF, which seems like a reasonable target range for inflows in the first 12 months,” Kendrick added.
Kendrick Sees Ripple Price at $8, Bitfinex Analysts Question Investor Interest for XRP ETFs
The Standard Chartered executive said he expects XRP price gains to keep pace with Bitcoin price growth targets.
He forecasted the Ripple price to rise to $8 by 2026, contingent on spot XRP ETF approvals in the US. This would constitute a 260% surge above the current price of $2.22.
“In real terms, XRP inflation is currently 6%, versus 0.8% for Bitcoin. As such, we target the XRP-USD price levels of $5.50 at end-2025, $8.00 at end-2026, $10.40 at end-2027, $12.50 at end-2028 and $12.25 at end-2029,” Kendrick explained.
Meanwhile, analysts at Bitfinex caution against optimism, saying that investor interest in a US-based spot XRP ETF may not match that witnessed in Bitcoin ETFs.
“We expect limited inflows into an XRP ETF as some investors may choose to broaden their exposure across available crypto ETFs. However it is unlikely to see the level of flows experienced by Bitcoin,” Bitfinex analysts told BeInCrypto.
The contrasting assessments reflect broader uncertainty over how altcoin ETFs might perform in a regulated US market.
Bitcoin’s dominance and changing regulatory attitudes toward digital assets still heavily influence the crypto market in the US.
So far, Grayscale, Wisdom Tree, Bitwise, Canary, and 21Shares have filed for XRP ETF approvals with the SEC. Bitwise’s application received official acknowledgment on February 18, triggering several timelines for approving, denying, or extending the application.
The final deadline is October 12, 240 days after official receipt. This date is equivalent to the ‘final deadline’ of January 10, 2024, for BTC ETF approvals, the day they were approved.
However, with other applications beyond XRP ETF pending approval, including Solana and Litecoin, Kendrick noted that other applications in the pipeline could affect the timeline for XRP ETF approval.
“Litecoin seems most likely to progress the fastest, providing early insight into how the new SEC leadership will treat altcoin ETFs,” Kendrick said.
As a hard fork of Bitcoin, Litecoin could already be viewed by the SEC as a commodity rather than a security. According to Kendrick, its similarity to Bitcoin may make it conceptually easier for investors to understand.
“We expect a wave of cryptocurrency ETFs next year, albeit not all at once. First out is likely the BTC + ETH combo ETFs, then probably Litecoin (because it is a fork of BTC, [therefore it’s a] commodity), then HBAR (because it’s not labeled security), and then XRP/Solana (which have been labeled securities in pending lawsuits),” Balchunas stated.
