# Block puts Bitcoin use ahead of price in campaign focused on buying, payments and self-custody

By Riza Dagoc

Canonical URL: https://www.tokenpost.com/news/business/38648
Published: 2026-10-23T03:42:16.000Z
Updated: 2026-10-23T03:42:16.000Z
Section: Business

> Block’s Bitcoin does campaign targets 60 million curious Americans, emphasizing purchases, payments and self-custody. The company is using practical demonstrations to encourage adoption.

Block has launched a consumer Bitcoin advertising campaign focused on buying, payments and self-custody, seeking to reach Americans interested in Bitcoin through practical uses and firsthand experience.

The campaign presents everyday use as a way to broaden adoption. It connects consumers’ frustrations with the financial system to another way of holding and moving money, then encourages them to explore it themselves.

In an October 22 interview with Bitcoin Magazine, Maria Pesh, who leads Bitcoin marketing at Block, said the company’s Bitcoin does campaign targets 60 million Americans who are curious about Bitcoin but have yet to take their first step. Launched this month, it is Block’s first mass-consumer Bitcoin advertising campaign and challenges marketing centered on price speculation and empty promises, she said.

“Bitcoin works now, and it’s a tool,” Pesh said. The ads begin with common financial frustrations and introduce Bitcoin as an option worth exploring. Rather than explaining mining or blockchain mechanics, they show Bitcoin being used, aiming to prompt curiosity.

Pesh said customer feedback helped shape the campaign, recalling a Square seller who described Bitcoin as “more honest money.” She acknowledged that Bitcoin does not solve every financial problem, but said it gives consumers another way to hold and move their money, with greater choice over how they do so.

For consumers concerned about living costs, Pesh highlighted Bitcoin’s fixed supply and the ability to hold it directly. She described it as money that people can access with an internet connection, without backing from a government or political body. The aim, she said, is to show people dissatisfied with the existing system that they have another option.

Block’s products provide ways to put that choice into practice, Pesh said, citing Bitcoin purchases through Cash App, merchant acceptance through Square and self-custody through BitKey hardware. She also highlighted 0% Bitcoin payment processing fees through Square as part of the company’s efforts to connect consumer access with merchant use.

As an example of hands-on marketing, Pesh described Lightning Lake at the culture and commerce event ComplexCon. Block built a space with real water and more than 200 rented trees, using NFC technology to let visitors fish for Bitcoin rewards. Participants could keep their Bitcoin or spend it at a Square-powered shop that accepted only Bitcoin. Pesh said visitors who paid through Cash App over Lightning described the experience as easy and natural.

The broader goal is for Bitcoin to work in the background without requiring users to understand its technical foundations, Pesh said, comparing that experience with sending email without understanding IP addresses. Giving consumers a reason to be curious, followed by opportunities to explore and use Bitcoin, is central to the marketing approach, she said.