Square Launches AI Voice Ordering and Integrated Bitcoin Payment Solution for Merchants

Square, the payment solution by Block, has launched new features aimed at enhancing the merchant experience. These innovations include AI-driven voice ordering tailored for restaurants, improvements to its AI assistants—which now provide localized insights—and a robust Bitcoin integration for both accepting and holding cryptocurrency.

Restaurants and cafes using Square can now leverage AI to handle incoming calls. This is particularly advantageous for cloud kitchens (delivery-only venues) and other delivery-focused businesses, allowing them to assign order-taking, customization requests, and menu inquiries to the AI. The system can field questions like, “What are your specials today?” or “Make my food spicy but skip the dairy.”

While competitors like Yelp and Kea are also working on voice AI solutions for restaurants, Square asserts that its system stands out by seamlessly integrating with its payment and kiosk infrastructure, thereby streamlining order management for eateries.

Moreover, Square is introducing Grubhub integration to simplify third-party delivery orders, a revamped kiosk interface for quick access to frequently ordered menus, and an AI-powered inventory management system tailored to help restaurants optimize their supplies.

The point-of-sale provider is enhancing its Square AI assistant, which debuted earlier this year as an open beta. This improved bot can now provide local insights, such as weather updates, nearby events, and industry trends.

Previously, the assistant could generate visualizations based on merchant data and queries, but now Square enables users to save these visualizations as auto-updating widgets on their dashboards.

In addition, Square is introducing features such as access to conversation history with Square AI and a dedicated dashboard within its mobile app for merchants.

Bitcoin Integration

Jack Dorsey, co-founder of Block, is a strong advocate for Bitcoin. Last year, Square began allowing merchants to convert a portion of their daily earnings into Bitcoin. The company is now rolling out a comprehensive Bitcoin solution for sellers, which includes a dedicated wallet.

To promote Bitcoin adoption, businesses will be able to accept the cryptocurrency directly through their point-of-sale systems without any processing fees for the first year. Starting in 2027, a processing fee of 1% will apply.

Additionally, Square is launching a complete Bitcoin wallet that allows users to buy, sell, hold, and withdraw Bitcoin from their dashboards.

Initially, Square allowed retailers to convert 1% to 10% of their daily earnings to Bitcoin. With the new Square Bitcoin feature, merchants can now choose to convert up to 50% of their daily income. Since the program’s launch, users have collectively acquired 142 Bitcoins, equating to over $17 million at the time of this writing.

“The Bitcoin tools we’re developing at Square meet two crucial needs: ensuring sellers never miss a sale and providing them with powerful financial tools that help manage and grow their finances,” Miles Suter, Head of Bitcoin Product at Block, explained.

“We aspire to make Bitcoin payments as simple as card payments, allowing small businesses access to financial management resources that have traditionally been available only to larger corporations. Through Square and Cash App, we cater to both sides of the transaction, positioning Square uniquely to turn Bitcoin into everyday currency, not just a store of value—while helping sellers future-proof their operations,” he added.

While a growing number of online merchants now accept Bitcoin, a large portion of transactions still revolve around speculative trading. Per a survey by eMarketer, the number of U.S. users utilizing cryptocurrency for payments is expected to rise to 7.1 million by 2026. Block aims to leverage this increasing acceptance of cryptocurrency with its latest offerings for merchants.