Square sets November launch date for bitcoin payments integration

Square announced that U.S. merchants will be able to receive Bitcoin payments starting November 10. The service is fee-free until January 1, 2027 after which a 1% transaction fee will kick in. Additionally, Square merchants can now convert up to 50% of their daily revenue into Bitcoin. - link

OUR TAKE: Honestly, what took so long?

Besides Saylor, Jack Dorsey is the most prominent Bitcoin billionaire and he already owns one of the biggest point of sale companies in the world. 

It’s been well over half a decade since Jack started publicly manifesting the Bitcoin-guru-guy persona, so why did it take that long to finally add BTC payments to his lead product?

TL;DR: while they won’t come out and say it, there’s probably 2 big reasons for the delay: technical and regulatory snags.

It’s no secret that the regulatory landscape for anything bitcoin and crypto related has been quite hostile for the past several years.

Block, which owns Square, has recently been fined tens of millions multiple times for KYC/AML violations, so it’s no surprise that, when running toward bitcoin, the company encountered some hurdles.

Additionally, the crypto industry has only recently had its bureaucratic shackles broken with explicit endorsement from the Trump administration and favorable legislation with the the Clarity and GENIUS acts.

Secondly, there are significant technical hurdles to Bitcoin payments at scale.

Bitcoiners once fought a whole war over the block size with increased on-chain payments at the heart of the argument. The resolution was that technologies like the Lightning network would allow better payments scaling.

But Lightning is just difficult to work with, especially for peer-to-peer payments.

While Lightning has enjoyed moderate volume and modest success, it’s still got a long way to go as a “trustless” way to scale last-mile payments.

So Square had multiple headwinds pushing against it to finally roll out Bitcoin payments across the platform.

But the real question still remains: will anyone actually use this feature?

-CBS

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The International Exchange invests in Polymarket

The New York Stock Exchange’s parent company, the Intercontinental Exchange (ICE) has invested $2 billion into crypto-powered prediction market Polymarket. The investment values the company at $8 billion and makes Shayne Coplan, Polymarket’s founder and CEO, the youngest self-made billionaire. Polymarket recently got the nod from regulators to service U.S. customers. - link

SpaceX’s bitcoin holdings cross $1 billion

Elon Musk’s SpaceX holds 8,285 BTC, a trove that briefly eclipsed $1 billion in value this week. Musk’s other industry-leading company, Tesla, also holds 11,509 BTC (~$1.39 billion) that it purchased in February 2021. - link

DDC Enterprise raises $124 million for Bitcoin treasury, with $3 million investment from CEO

DDC Enterprise (DDC) has secured $124 million in a new equity financing round at $10.00 per Class A share, 16% above its October 7 closing price, led by PAG Pegasus Fund, Mulana Investment Management and OKG Financial Services, with CEO Norma Chu personally committing $3 million. - link

Antalpha advances interim loan ahead of $250 million convertible note for Nakamoto

KindlyMD (NAKA) has entered a strategic partnership with Antalpha to develop bespoke financing solutions for its Bitcoin treasury vehicle, Nakamoto Holdings, and has signed a non-binding letter of intent for a $250 million five-year secured convertible note facility.  - link