Jack Dorsey’s Block Joins S&P 500 and Announces Bitcoin Payments

Jack Dorsey’s company Block has launched a pilot project for real-time cryptocurrency payments within the Square app. This was announced by the firm’s executive director, Owen Jennings.

boom.

today we’re onboarding our first few @Square sellers for the new native bitcoin acceptance experience

this is the way!

— OBJ (@owenbjennings) July 22, 2025

“Today we’re onboarding our first Square merchants to the new native bitcoin acceptance system,” wrote Jennings.

The service is based on Lightning Network technology, which ensures nearly instant transactions and low fees. All technical complexities are handled by Dorsey’s company, which will automatically convert digital gold into fiat, sparing sellers from unnecessary risks.

The initial testing of bitcoin payments took place at the Bitcoin 2025 conference in May. Participants were able to make purchases using the first cryptocurrency via QR code. A full-scale launch of the new feature in Square is expected by 2026.

Debut on the S&P 500

On July 23, Block officially joined the S&P 500 index. The company first announced this a week prior to the event.

“This is an important milestone that demonstrates the resilience of our business and the results of the work of thousands of people creating tools to expand economic opportunities across all our products — Square, Cash App, Afterpay, TIDAL, Proto, and Bitkey,” the firm stated in a release on July 18.

In the past seven days, Block’s shares have risen by more than 19%. The company’s market capitalization has approached $50 billion.

Earlier, on July 7, Jack Dorsey introduced the beta version of the decentralized messenger Bitchat.