US Bitcoin payments are getting real as retail rails push $2M a day on-chain

 The rise of integrated retail payment apps is quietly shifting crypto adoption from speculative investing to everyday transactions, as U.S. merchants and fintech platforms prepare to push millions in daily Bitcoin and Ethereum flows directly onto public blockchains.

Walmart’s OnePay app, now integrated with Zero Hash, represents a major inflection point. Through this partnership, the retail giant can enable Bitcoin and Ethereum trading, hosted wallets, and on-chain deposits and withdrawals for millions of users. If activated, these features could generate up to $2 million in daily Bitcoin transactions—roughly the equivalent of retail-scale inflows rivaling small ETF sessions but sourced entirely from consumer spending rather than institutional allocation.

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The dynamic mirrors Shopify’s crypto integrations, where merchants can already accept USDC on Base with support for refunds, delayed capture, and receipts—key operational features that make crypto as seamless as card payments. Meanwhile, Cash App’s Lightning Network and on-chain support have turned its user base into an on-ramp and off-ramp for crypto commerce, enabling peer-to-peer and merchant payments with minimal friction.

Steak ’n Shake’s Q2 data showed a 10.7% increase in same-store sales after adopting Bitcoin Lightning payments, cutting processing costs by 50% compared to card networks—proof that consumer interest and merchant economics align.

The potential scale of OnePay’s rollout is enormous: with 10 million active users, even 1% monthly crypto participation could route more than $2 million daily through on-chain settlements. While ETFs remain the dominant flow drivers, retail-led adoption through checkout apps could create a steady, organic channel of Bitcoin and Ethereum demand that reflects real-world utility rather than market speculation.

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The toggle that determines how deep this shift goes lies in product design—if OnePay enables external transfers, everyday shopping could soon light up the Bitcoin and Ethereum networks with measurable retail activity.