Cryptocurrency retail checkout features two levers that can move quickly: merchant rails to reduce processing costs, and consumer apps to switch between purchasing and spending cryptocurrencies.
Walmart's OnePay sits at the intersection of both, with its recent zero-hash partnership allowing the app to support Bitcoin and Ethereum transactions, hosted wallets, peer-to-peer transfers, and on-chain deposits and withdrawals if the operator enables these features.
According to Zero Hash documentation, storage will be performed by the Zero Hash entity and execution will be supported by the associated liquidity services department. Pricing can include spreads in addition to platform fees.
Hinge is a decision that allows for external transfers, as in the walled garden model balances are concentrated in an omnibus wallet. In contrast, an open model moves a portion of daily purchases to a public network where activity is visible.
OnePay's distribution channel is all about scale.
Synchrony is rolling out a Walmart card built into the OnePay app. This provides a native wallet to later add cryptocurrency funds and transfers if switched on.
Walmart's extensive proximity to U.S. households reduces the cost of acquiring payment apps associated with the retailer's checkout, according to company documents. Calculating conversions is easy. Multiply user eligibility by activation, purchase rate, and average tickets.
If 10 million active users are eligible, half of them have crypto enabled, the monthly purchase rate is 1.0 percent, and the average ticket is $150, the flow would mean approximately $1.7 million to $2.5 million in Bitcoin purchases per day, depending on asset share.
U.S. Spot Bitcoin Exchange Traded Funds regularly record net flows in the hundreds of millions each day, so app-driven purchases of that size are small compared to intense ETF sessions, but they are continuous and sourced from retail actions rather than model-based allocators.
The checkout side of the story has already been done elsewhere.
According to Shopify and Coinbase, merchants will be able to accept USDC at Base within Shopify Payments using a delayed capture, refund, and receipt protocol that mirrors card operations, reducing the operational gap between cryptocurrencies and existing systems.
Users can purchase up to $100,000 each week and send cryptocurrencies to external wallets. In September, the company added peer-to-peer crypto capabilities, a transition covered by a broader product push alongside fee incentives to PYUSD.
Cash App supports Lightning sending and on-chain transfers within consumer limits. These product selections turn a cryptocurrency off-ramp into a two-way rail with access to Menpool and, in the case of stablecoins, a predictable denomination for sellers.
The pricing and latency forces are stable enough to frame the scenario. According to the L2fees dashboard, the average Ethereum transaction fee is around 40 cents, while layer 2 fees for simple sends and swaps range from roughly 4 to 20 cents.
Bitcoin's Lightning Network processes payments in sub-seconds with minimal fees in typical situations, but on-chain confirmations remain probabilistic at around 10 minutes with fees depending on congestion.
This split sets up a practical menu of Lightning for Bitcoin, Layer 2 or stablecoin rails for the Ethereum ecosystem, and stablecoins for fiat-like denominations.
Steak 'n Shake serves as a live case study in culture and operations. According to a company statement regarding the Lightning rollout on May 16, the chain Same-store sales in the second quarter increased approximately 10.7% quarter-over-quarter, a recognition from Bitcoin users.
Management explained that processing costs were reduced by approximately 50% compared to cards on launch day. Share of global Bitcoin transactions according to company comments.
Chain communication regarding Ethereum acceptance is not formalized, so the perspective of asset selection and subsequent reactions takes precedence over technical differences in registers.
The technical issue for retailers is not whether Bitcoin or Ethereum can process checkout payments. This configuration reduces refund friction, orchestrates back-office systems, and maintains unit economics.
A simple flow model shows how OnePay's launch interacts with ETF-driven price formation and on-chain activity. This table translates user funnel input into daily Bitcoin purchase flows, not as a prediction, but as a benchmark against ETF numbers that traders monitor daily.
| Eligible active substance (U) | Encryption is enabled | monthly purchaser | average ticket | Estimated BTC purchases per day (USD million) |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 5,000,000 | 30% | 0.5% | $75 | 0.19 |
| 5,000,000 | 30% | 1.0% | $150 | 0.75 |
| 10,000,000 | 50% | 1.0% | $150 | 2.50 |
| 10,000,000 | 50% | 2.0% | $150 | 5.00 |
| 20,000,000 | 50% | 1.0% | $150 | 5.00 |
| 20,000,000 | 50% | 2.0% | $150 | 10.00 |
Whether these purchases are registered on-chain depends on the product scope. Displaying zero hash material Partner platforms enable on-chain deposits and withdrawals. If OnePay launches without that feature, market makers will still need to acquire cryptocurrencies to fulfill customer orders, but balances will remain off-chain in omnibus custody.
When on-chain transfers are enabled, self-custody and withdrawals to exchanges add address activity and memory pool load in the case of Bitcoin, and routing to layer 2 or bridge paths in the case of Ethereum, tying retail purchases to visible network metrics.
Price disclosure influences repeat behavior.
According to Zero Hash, affiliated liquidity services can quote prices with a spread above the reference rate, and the platform can charge its own fees.
Retail cohorts are responsive to round-trip costs, so lower all-in spreads tend to increase purchase rates when combined with checkout benefits, but higher spreads reduce repeat tickets.
While KYC tiers and rolling limits are set per transaction limit, in reality, the key constraints on network liquidity are external transfers, supported networks such as Lightning, and the presence of certain Layer 2 and waiting periods associated with card or ACH funding.
The merchant readiness story is now less about raw throughput and more about operations. According to Shopify, the framework covers refund flow, partial capture, and receipt status, controls that card systems have built over decades.
For Bitcoin, Lightning resolves the confirmation time for payment events, allowing merchants to later move them to cold storage or payment accounts. In the case of Ethereum, Layer 2 and stablecoins reduce the fee and latency profile to what consumers can tolerate, and stablecoins avoid the price conversion step for fiat-denominated businesses.
Retail optics will continue to influence which assets end up on counters.
Bitcoin brings community energy that translates into earned media and early adoption, which is reflected in the Steak and Shake quarter. Ethereum brings a builder base and optionality through a layer 2 network that is cheaper or faster than the base layer.
Stablecoins present a third path to framing decisions as internet funds rather than asset tribal choices. The practical outcome for most large retailers will be a combination of Lightning for active Bitcoin consumers, stablecoins for e-commerce and kiosks, and selective support for Ethereum routed over layer 2 to meet fee and latency goals.
heading question It's about product changeovers and back-office design, not technology availability. Checkout can now use Lightning, USDC on Base in Shopify Payments, or equivalent rails.
OnePay has a pathway that allows you to offer transactions, storage, and remittances through Zero Hash once you have your trust company's approval and turn on Zero Hash settings. ETFs remain the benchmark for comparing retail app flows when determining price impact.
The setting that determines whether retail demand reaches the public network is the external transfer at the start.
