4M Merchants To Accept Bitcoin

[umair]

A major new development is unfolding in the payments world as a leading payment service provider prepares to activate Bitcoin acceptance for roughly 4 million merchants. What makes this rollout particularly interesting is that the implementation is being built around the Lightning Network, meaning transactions can settle almost instantly and fees can potentially be much lower than traditional card rails or fintech processors.

For merchants, this could mark a meaningful financial difference. If a typical business pays around 1.5% to 2.9% per transaction in fees, shifting even a portion of volume to Bitcoin rails could reduce operating overhead in a noticeable way. The model being rolled out also includes an option for merchants to instantly convert incoming sats into fiat, meaning they do not need to hold volatile crypto if they don’t want to. This eliminates one of the biggest barriers that usually stops merchants from accepting Bitcoin: price instability.

For Bitcoin itself, the impact could be equally transformative. For years, Bitcoin has been discussed heavily as a store-of-value and long-term asset. Yes, it can function as money, but in real life usage it is still mostly held and not spent. If even a fraction of 4 million merchants start actively processing payments via Lightning, this could meaningfully shift Bitcoin’s utility narrative from passive investment to active medium of exchange. That’s the kind of adoption signal institutions and analysts watch closely.

Of course, adoption speed will vary by region, regulatory environment and merchant mindset. Some will wait and see. Some will experiment. Some will move fast.

Do you think this rollout will help Bitcoin evolve into everyday payment usage, or will most merchants still see it primarily as a settlement technology instead of a daily transaction method?