Dorsey is a Bitcoin maxi, but the new feature will use Solana’s network.
Bitcoin maximalist Jack Dorsey is among the orange coin’s most outspoken advocates.
But his company Cash App won’t be using the leading crypto network for its new stablecoin feature, instead settling with Solana — at least to begin with.
Cash App, a unit of Block, on Thursday said users would be able to soon send stablecoins. A spokesperson for the company told Decrypt that the new feature would “support multiple stablecoins and networks” when it becomes available — likely next year.
“For the first time, Cash App will soon provide access to stablecoins, allowing customers to send and receive digital dollars nearly anywhere in seconds,” the company added in a statement.
Solana’s public relations team confirmed on X that it would power payments with USDC on Cash App. It retweeted a video of USDC issuer Circle’s CEO and co-founder Jeremy Allaire demonstrating a payment.
Solana is the crypto network behind the sixth biggest digital coin by market capitalization, SOL. It is favored for sending stablecoins, minting NFTs, and even playing games because transactions are fast and inexpensive. Stablecoins are available on a number of other blockchains, including Ethereum, Tron, and Solana.
Stablecoins are digital tokens pegged to the value of fiat money — typically U.S. dollars. Their use has increased following U.S. President Donald Trump’s signing of the GENIUS Act, which established a long-sought regulatory framework for issuing and trading the cryptocurrencies.
JP Morgan, Meta, Amazon and the U.S. state of Wyoming, among others, have issued or are working on issuing the tokens — with the hope of accelerating payments leveraging blockchain infrastructure.
Separately, Cash App on Thursday announced new Bitcoin features. The payments app will later this month allow people to send payments using the Lightning Network. Even if users do not hold Bitcoin, they will be able to select an option so businesses receiving a payment can get BTC instead of dollars.
“Once available, eligible customers will be able to turn their USD into Bitcoin payments with just a tap,” Cash App said in a statement.
“After scanning a Lightning QR code, customers can toggle the ‘Cash’ currency option within Cash App, which will pull the funds from their USD Cash balance. While the customer is spending dollars, merchants will still receive Bitcoin.”
The Lightning Network allows users to send Bitcoin cheaply and quickly by skirting around the main blockchain.
Dorsey, who founded Twitter — now X — but left the company to focus his energy on Bitcoin products, has long said that he wants the leading cryptocurrency to be used as “everyday money.”
Cash App also on Thursday unveiled a map feature allowing users to see which businesses in their area accept Bitcoin. Earlier this month, Block enabled Bitcoin payments for four million merchants globally via its Square point-of-sale products.
“We believe that Bitcoin is the future of the financial ecosystem, but to truly become everyday money, it needs to be more flexible and easier to use,” Block’s Bitcoin Product Lead Miles Suter said in a statement.
He added in a post on X: “The foundation of Cash App 1.0 is fiat already. Stablecoins are just upgraded fintech rails. Our implementation is chain and coin agnostic.”
