Compass Coffee Was the World-First to Accept Bitcoin Payments via Square

• The Square project launched the first bitcoin payment in the United States, which was made by Compass Coffee.
• In this way, it tested Lightning payments in a real business.
• Miles Suter compared the simplicity of bitcoin payments to card payments.

Compass Coffee, an American coffee shop chain in Washington, DC, became the first merchant in the world to accept bitcoin payments through a regular Square terminal.

During DC Fintech Week, customers were able to pay with cryptocurrency using the Lightning Network, and all transactions were instantaneous.

Michael Haft, CEO and co-founder of Compass Coffee, said on social media platform X:

The pilot was the first real-world use of the new bitcoin payment system developed by parent company Block (led by Jack Dorsey). Square plans to begin a global rollout of the technology on November 10, when merchants will be able to accept bitcoin payments and convert up to 50% of daily sales into the cryptocurrency, with no processing fees for the first year.

Miles Suter, Head of Bitcoin Products at Block, said:

Experts call this event a breakthrough in the development of cryptocurrency payments. According to Pranav Agarwal, Independent Director of Jetking Infotrain India:

He explained that traditional card payments involve an issuing bank, a receiving bank, and a payment network, while “BTC payments can be self-custodial with just a single enabler like Square,” which can “unlock new value through loyalty programs, cashbacks, or lower prices as sellers don’t need to absorb high interchange fees.”

Despite the technological breakthrough, regulatory barriers remain. Dorsey recently called for the exemption of small bitcoin payments from federal taxes, continuing an initiative that has not previously made it through Congress but which Senator Cynthia Lummis said is “a work in progress.”

However, YZ Ng, product manager at UR, stressed that speed is only part of the equation:

He added that for crypto payments to be fully accepted, UX, merchant integration, and a clear regulatory framework need to work in concert:

We would like to remind you that recently, the Spanish coffee chain Vanadi Coffee approved the decision to create a $1.2 billion bitcoin reserve.