The payments app will support multiple stablecoins and networks at launch.
Cash App is adding support for stablecoins for the first time, expanding its service offerings beyond Bitcoin.
The payments platform, a subsidiary of Block, which was co-founded by Jack Dorsey, said in a press release shared with The Defiant that users will soon be able to send and receive stablecoins directly in the app, marking its biggest crypto update since introducing Bitcoin trading in 2018.
Miles Suter, Bitcoin product lead at Block, noted in the press release that “Cash App is – and always will be – bitcoin-first by design,” adding that the company sees stablecoins as a “complementary option for our customers and an improvement from legacy fintech payment rails.”
A spokesperson for Cash App told The Defiant that the app “will support multiple stablecoins and networks at launch,” though details haven’t yet been disclosed.
Cash App Doubles Down on Crypto
The move positions Cash App, which had around 58 million active users and roughly 8 million who trade Bitcoin through the app in Q3, to compete more directly with its rival PayPal, which also rolled out its own stablecoin in August 2023.
Earlier this year, The Defiant reported that crypto exchange Kraken also launched Krak, a payments app entering the same arena dominated by PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App.
Alongside the stablecoin rollout, Cash App also unveiled a new feature allowing customers to make Bitcoin payments in U.S. dollars through the Lightning Network, a Layer 2 built on the Bitcoin blockchain. The feature enables users to pay invoices in U.S. dollars while merchants receive BTC on the Lightning Network.
The update also includes a “Bitcoin Map” to locate merchants accepting Bitcoin payments.
Source: https://thedefiant.io/news/tradfi-and-fintech/jack-dorsey-cash-app-adds-stablecoins