South Africa: Pick n Pay switches to bitcoin (BTC) lightning

Bitcoin (BTC) is on its way around the world: the South African group Pick n Pay, a chain of food stores, now accepts this method of payment. Pick n Pay had previously tested bitcoin lightning in 10 stores in the Western Cape with pre-screened testers, then expanded this possibility to other stores. This can only delight the “Surfer Kids” of Bitcoin Ekasi who have already started their purchases and posted an adorable video on twitter.

The group Pick n Pay currently owns 16% of the grocery market share and has a network of nearly 2,000 stores in 7 countries on the African continent.

The children of Bitcoin Ekasi go shopping with their bitcoin wallet

Why is this announcement important?

While bitcoin is advertised as dead or dying (see for example Olivier Bossard’s recently published comic), it is important to know that it is used in other countries. You can indeed already pay your bills in bitcoin, your taxes, rent or buy real estate, go shopping… But all this is only possible in certain states of the United States, El Salvador, Switzerland, etc., but much less in Europe, which dreams of CBDC. They would therefore have us believe that bitcoin is impractical, energy-intensive, that it is the currency of terrorists, fraudsters, to impose a centralized digital currency on us.

Fast transactions thanks to bitcoin lightning

As the Pick n Pay spokesperson put it: The transaction is as simple and secure as with a debit or credit card. Customers scan a QR code from the app and accept the rand conversion rate on their smartphone at the time of transaction. Fees for each transaction are minimal and take less than 30 seconds “.

Pick N Pay bitcoin africa

Large-scale deployment in group stores

By integrating the Lightning Payments API of CryptoConvert, Pick n Pay becomes the first major retailer in Africa to use the Lightning network: we know the rules of the market and other stores will certainly follow this adoption. With 1732 stores, including 144 outside South Africa (Botswana, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Lesotho, Namibia and Swaziland), Pick n Pay is a growing group. Pick n Pay, which also owns discount grocery store Boxer, plans to open 73 new stores and 61 for Boxer by February 2023. The ability to pay with the lightning bitcoin wallet is a real step forward in the adoption of this technology.

The Bitcoin Ekasi Surfer Kids

The Bitcoin Beach community in El Salvador has given birth to other identical communities around the world, especially in disadvantaged (and unbanked) communities. This is the case of Bitcoin Ekasi in South Africa: driven by Herman Vivier, his wife and via his non-profit association “The surfer Kids”. 50 children from the Townships benefit from support: ” the main objective is to teach children about surfing and bitcoin, in order to promote their personal and financial autonomy. I manage the organization (behind the scenes, as much as possible) while the coaches, teacher and lifeguards manage the day-to-day program “. Bitcoin Ekasi is also supported by the Satoshi Store. The collections are sold only in bitcoin and 50% of the profits are donated to the association.

While Europeans sleep waiting for CBDCs, other economically less advantaged countries or communities have realized the importance of financial independence that bitcoin (BTC) provides. The African continent continues to develop and many events take place there, such as the Dakar Bitcoin Days which will notably welcome Herman Vivier (but not only!).

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