OnePay, the fintech company majority-owned by Walmart, is preparing to add in-app crypto functionality that will allow customers to directly buy, sell, and hold bitcoin (BTC). The move could significantly reduce the barrier for mainstream U.S. consumers to access bitcoin through a familiar financial app rather than a dedicated crypto exchange. According to CNBC, the service is expected to launch later this year through a partnership with crypto infrastructure provider Zerohash.
Founded in 2021 by Walmart and Ribbit Capital, OnePay has been steadily building what it describes as an “everything app” for digital finance. Its product lineup already includes savings accounts, payment cards, buy now-pay later tools, and even wireless plans. Adding bitcoin custody and trading expands that ecosystem further and places OnePay in the same category as established U.S. fintech apps that have already introduced crypto access for retail users.
That group includes names such as PayPal, Venmo, and Cash App, all of which already let users purchase digital assets in some form. OnePay is therefore not entering unexplored territory. Instead, it is joining a broader trend in which large consumer finance apps increasingly treat crypto access as a normal extension of digital payments, savings, and personal finance features.
What makes OnePay especially notable is its connection to Walmart’s enormous retail network. The article notes that Walmart serves 150 million weekly shoppers in the United States. If even a fraction of those users encounter bitcoin functionality through the OnePay app, the reach could exceed that of many competing platforms. In practical terms, this gives OnePay a distribution advantage that pure crypto-native apps often struggle to match.
The integration may also let users convert bitcoin into dollars for more practical everyday use. The report suggests that funds could potentially be used for ordinary spending, whether for purchases at Walmart stores or for paying down card balances. That kind of flow matters because it brings bitcoin closer to a consumer finance environment where buying, holding, converting, and spending can happen inside one app instead of across several disconnected services.
Why fintech platforms keep moving toward bitcoin
From a broader industry perspective, OnePay’s decision fits a pattern already visible across major U.S. finance apps. The original report points out that nearly every app ranked above OnePay in Apple’s App Store finance category already offers some type of bitcoin trading. Examples include PayPal and Cash App. In other words, among leading fintech platforms in the U.S., crypto access is increasingly becoming a baseline competitive feature rather than an experimental add-on.
That trend was reinforced in July, when PayPal said it would allow U.S. small businesses to accept more than 100 cryptocurrencies, including bitcoin, through its online payments platform. The fee structure was also highlighted: merchants would pay a promotional rate of 0.99% during the first year, rising to 1.5% afterward. Both levels were described as being below the average U.S. credit card processing cost, a pricing detail that helps explain why mainstream payment firms continue to expand crypto-related services.
For consumers and merchants alike, this matters because crypto is being framed less as a niche speculative tool and more as part of a broader payments and commerce stack. Once major fintech platforms support buying, selling, accepting, and converting digital assets, the distinction between “crypto app” and “finance app” starts to narrow. OnePay’s bitcoin rollout should be understood in that context.
Although OnePay operates as a separate entity, its strongest advantage comes from how deeply it is embedded in Walmart’s existing retail infrastructure. The article emphasizes that the service appears directly at checkout, both online and in physical stores. That type of distribution is difficult to replicate. Many crypto companies need to persuade users to sign up, complete verification, fund accounts, and learn a new interface before those users can even begin interacting with bitcoin. OnePay, by contrast, can surface crypto functionality inside a shopping and payments ecosystem consumers already use.
This is why the article describes the platform as potentially one of the most accessible on-ramps for everyday Americans to interact with bitcoin. The significance is not only that another company will offer BTC trading. It is that one of the world’s largest retailers is increasingly treating bitcoin as something that belongs within mainstream commerce, not outside it.
OnePay’s product suite and what crypto adds to it
OnePay is not a single-purpose wallet or trading app. According to the article, it is better understood as a suite of connected financial tools. Its existing lineup includes a digital wallet for payments and rewards, OnePay Later as a buy now-pay later product powered by Klarna, and OnePay Cards, which include both a debit card and a rewards credit card that lets users earn points on purchases.
Seen through that lens, adding bitcoin is not just about listing an asset. It is about extending a broader consumer finance platform. A user who already manages spending, installments, cards, and rewards within OnePay may soon also manage crypto exposure there. That shifts the platform closer to the “everything app” model referenced in the report, where multiple financial functions live inside the same interface.
The timing also looks favorable for OnePay. CNBC reported that the app is now ranked No. 5 among free finance apps in Apple’s App Store. It is listed ahead of JPMorgan Chase, Robinhood, and Chime. For a growing fintech platform, that ranking suggests meaningful user momentum and broad visibility, both of which can help support adoption when new features such as crypto trading are introduced.
Importantly, the app will not stop at bitcoin. The article states that OnePay will also support trading in Ethereum (ETH). That means its initial crypto offering is expected to cover at least the two most recognizable digital assets in the market. This is consistent with the approach often taken by regulated or mainstream finance apps: start with the largest and most widely recognized crypto assets before considering a broader asset rollout.
Overall, OnePay’s upcoming support for bitcoin and ethereum matters for more than product expansion. It combines a major retail ecosystem, mainstream consumer finance distribution, checkout integration, and digital asset access in one place. If the launch proceeds as planned, OnePay could become an important new bridge between everyday U.S. retail consumers and the crypto market, while also signaling that bitcoin’s role inside mainstream commerce continues to deepen.