Lightspark, the Bitcoin remittance infrastructure company led by former PayPal President David Marcus, has launched Grid Global Accounts, an API product built for cross-border transfers and payments in Bitcoin, stablecoins, and U.S. dollars. The company is positioning it as a global payment rail with AI support for merchant adoption.
Through a partnership with Visa, the new system is designed to enable instant payments to 175 million merchants, spanning more than 14,000 banks across 65-plus countries. The product also includes branded Visa debit cards and native support for Bitcoin and stablecoins, including sending, receiving, and conversion functions.
AI agents can execute payments, but users keep wallet authority
A central feature of Grid Global Accounts is delegated payment execution. Users can assign transactions and purchases to AI agents while keeping final control over their wallets. They can set spending limits, define approved payees, and grant permissions that can later be revoked. If a transaction exceeds the preset threshold, manual user approval is still required.
Speaking at the Bitcoin 2026 conference in Las Vegas, Marcus said the API would be available to iOS developers this week. He used WhatsApp as an example of how messaging and transactions could happen in the same interface. Behind the scenes, Lightspark said it handles compliance, fraud prevention, stablecoin issuance support, and settlement.
Block backs tax relief for small Bitcoin payments
Another company pushing Bitcoin-based payments is Jack Dorsey’s Block, formerly Square. Its focus differs from Grid Global Accounts, centering on point-of-sale merchant payments rather than an API stack. At the same conference, Block Head of Digital Assets Policy Janessa Lopez said, “Any time somebody uses bitcoin as a form of money, it should be treated as that.”
Dorsey backed that view and said he opposes tax exemptions that apply only to stablecoin payments. Alongside the Bitcoin Policy Institute, he has been part of the “Bitcoin is Everyday Money” campaign tied to the “De Minimis” push. Under current IRS rules, even a $5 Bitcoin payment can count as a taxable event, creating paperwork obligations for merchants and crypto intermediaries handling small transactions.