Cash App turns into a stablecoin rail for 60M users

Block's Cash App has begun rolling out USDC stablecoin payments to about a quarter of its nearly 60 million users, with plans to reach all users by the end of the week. Cash App will support $USDC on Solana, Ethereum, Polygon, and Arbitrum as a payments rail, while warning that blockchain transfers are irreversible and the feature is unavailable in New York and for sponsored accounts.

The move marks a notable shift for CEO Jack Dorsey, a longtime bitcoin-only advocate, who now acknowledges customer demand for stablecoins despite his ideological reservations. To start, Cash App users face caps of $2,000 daily and $5,000 weekly in sending limits, and a $10,000 weekly receiving limit in $USDC.

Payments Rail, Not a Yield Product

The integration treats stablecoins strictly as a payment method rather than investment infrastructure. Users can deposit Circle's $USDC from external accounts to fund their fiat Cash App balance, or withdraw funds as stablecoins to external accounts, using the blockchain as a modern transaction rail.

Each Cash App user gets a unique blockchain deposit address for $USDC transactions, meaning anyone with a standard Solana wallet can send $USDC to a Cash App account. Conversion between USDC and USD happens automatically within the app, with no separate crypto wallet to manage, no bridging between chains, and no gas fee anxiety.

That framing sits squarely inside the regulatory direction currently taking shape in Washington. Pending stablecoin legislation, including the CLARITY Act, is focused on treating stablecoins as payment instruments rather than investment contracts, a distinction Block appears to be deliberately leaning into.

Block's Bitcoin Layer Keeps Building

The $USDC rollout arrived on the same day Block (@BitcoinatBlock) made a series of $BTC-focused announcements. Block announced the launch of a new Bitkey hardware wallet with a secure screen, alongside new Cash App features for earning bitcoin automatically, and Proof of Reserves across Block's corporate treasury bitcoin holdings, and Cash App and @Square customer holdings.

The new Bitkey device has a secure touchscreen that serves as the verification layer for transactions and security settings. By integrating transaction approval and security controls into the hardware, Bitkey aims to give users full control over both funds and system integrity. The wallet continues to operate on a 2-of-3 multisignature model and removes the need for seed phrases.

At Bitcoin Las Vegas 2026, Block also demonstrated NFC tap-to-pay with @Square, showing how merchants can accept bitcoin as easily as any contactless card. Lightning Network enables near-instant settlement, while Square's integration handles the complexity behind the scenes. With 0% processing fees through 2026, merchants get paid faster and keep more of their revenue.

Together, the announcements show Block running two parallel tracks: a bitcoin-native infrastructure layer built around self-custody, merchant payments, and on-chain transparency, and now a stablecoin layer scaled to tens of millions of everyday users.

Sources:
CoinDesk: Block kicks off Cash App's phased stablecoin rollout to its nearly 60 million users
Block.xyz: Block launches Bitkey wallet with screen, automatic bitcoin earning on Cash App, and Proof of Reserves
Crypto Briefing: Block's Cash App rolls out USDC payments to 15 million users this week