Executive Summary
Square activated Bitcoin payments across 4 million U.S. merchant locations, while South Africa’s MoneyBadger bridge connected Bitcoin wallets to national QR rails covering roughly 650,000 Scan to Pay and 30,000 Zapper merchants. Pick n Pay reported an average R1.4 million (~$81k) in monthly Bitcoin payments over the past 12 months, with volumes up over 44% since March, an average ticket of ~R422 (~$25), and 1,600+ customers last month. Lightning performance improved, with Wallet of Satoshi averaging 1.4 seconds for self-custody transfers, 31% faster invoice payments, and significantly reduced variability.
1) Merchant & Enterprise Adoption
Retail acceptance is widening across national chains and regional ecosystems, with early revenue lifts reported by adopters.
- Pick n Pay supports three payment paths—direct Lightning (Blink, Blitz, Aqua), the MoneyBadger bridge for QR compatibility, or exchange wallets (Luno, VALR, Binance)—and reports a 12‑month average of R1.4m in monthly Bitcoin volume, >44% growth since March, ~R422 average ticket, and 1,600+ customers last month.
"Bitcoin is now a functional tender type within South African retail."
- Deven Moodley, Pick n Pay Executive Head
- Bootlegger Cafés accept Bitcoin via direct Lightning, MoneyBadger bridge, and exchange wallets, mirroring the multi‑rail approach.
- El Salvador’s Bitcoin Coast lists 200 recently verified businesses for food, lodging, and services, indicating dense local acceptance.
- Steak n Shake reports more than 15% same‑store sales growth six months into its Bitcoin rollout and is pursuing expansion to El Salvador.
"Our same-store sales have now risen by more than 15%."
- Steak n Shake
2) Payment Infrastructure
Interoperable QR and Lightning rails are scaling acceptance while shifting transactions onto open standards.
- MoneyBadger bridges Lightning wallets to South Africa’s QR networks (Scan to Pay ~650k merchants; Zapper ~30k), enabling Bitcoin at hundreds of thousands of stores; workflow: link wallet, scan merchant QR, confirm payment.
- Square rolled out a Bitcoin payment option at 4 million U.S. locations; the company stated "Bitcoin payments are now live".
- Cash App deprecated internal P2P rails in favor of open LNURL; cross‑app Lightning payments (e.g., Blink to Cash App) have been tested successfully.
- Merchant on/off‑ramps advanced: Mavapay and BTCPay Server built an open‑source fiat‑to‑Bitcoin bridge for merchant acceptance, while BitSpenda added instant Bitcoin‑to‑Mobile Money off‑ramps.
3) Usage Metrics
Volume and speed indicators point to growing retail throughput and lower user friction.
- Pick n Pay processed an average R1.4m (~$81k) in monthly Bitcoin payments over the past 12 months; volumes have grown >44% since March; average ticket ~R422 (~$25); 1,600+ customers used Bitcoin at tills last month.
- Wallet of Satoshi reports 1.4‑second average between self‑custody wallets, 31% faster Lightning invoice payments, and two‑thirds less timing variability.
- Mavapay processed over $600,000 in cross‑border Lightning payments, indicating practical utility for remittances and commerce.
- BTC Map indexed its 1,000th Square‑tagged merchant just 10 days into tracking, with ~1,500 more in the backlog.
4) Regulatory & Policy Developments
Institutions are testing operational integration while advocates seek to reduce tax friction on small payments.
- The Czech National Bank made its first digital asset purchase and created a $1 million test portfolio including bitcoin, a USD stablecoin, and a tokenised deposit to gain hands‑on experience across key management, approvals, crisis scenarios, security, and AML.
- Block launched a campaign advocating the removal of friction by ending capital gains taxation on everyday Bitcoin payments.
5) Strategic Outlook
Scale now hinges on reach plus reliability; this week’s signals show both expanding across markets.
- Square’s 4M‑location footprint and Cash App’s shift to open Lightning rails increase the surface area for cross‑app interoperability and merchant acceptance in the U.S..
- South Africa’s QR‑bridge model across ~680k merchants, supported by measurable throughput at Pick n Pay, demonstrates a replicable path to mass retail acceptance without new hardware.
- Capacity building is scaling: Bitcoin Beach Grants are supporting 42 circular economies across 19 countries with 0.5–5.0 million‑sat grants paired with training and sustainability support.
- Human capital pipelines are strengthening through engineering mentorship and merchant education (500+ engineers mentored; 1,000+ students trained; support for 34 circular economies).
Sustained progress on interoperable rails (QR bridges, LNURL), faster settlement, and practical policy frameworks points to Bitcoin’s continued maturation as a payment rail. The combination of broad acceptance capacity, improving UX performance, and growing operational competence suggests increasing readiness for everyday, low‑friction transactions across diverse markets.
