MoneyBadger's integration with Scan to Pay and Zapper extends Bitcoin spending to roughly 680,000 South African merchant locations, while grassroots projects in Ekasi, Ekiti and Anambra deepen circular economies and measurable usage. The brief also covers new guides, USSD wallets, Bitcoin-only travel platforms, concrete fee-savings data, China's reaffirmed ban on digital assets and the Africa Bitcoin Circular Economy Summit 2025 in Mauritius.
Executive Summary
South African payment rails delivered the clearest expansion signal this week, as MoneyBadger's partnerships with Scan to Pay and Zapper opened Bitcoin spending at hundreds of thousands of merchant locations nationwide, including about 650,000 Scan to Pay and 30,000 Zapper merchants. Grassroots circular-economy projects in Nigeria and South Africa continued to deepen, with more than 57 shops in Bitcoin Ekasi and over 40 businesses in Anambra now accepting Bitcoin and supporting daily use and youth mentorship. New infrastructure ranged from step-by-step guides at major café chains to USSD-based wallets and Bitcoin-only travel booking platforms, while Lightning service Tando reported notable monthly fee savings for its users. Against this backdrop, China's central bank reaffirmed its ban on digital assets, underscoring the uneven regulatory environment for Bitcoin as a medium of exchange.
1) Merchant & Enterprise Adoption
Merchant acceptance advanced along both national payment rails and localized circular economies.
- In South Africa, MoneyBadger reports that users can now spend BTC at hundreds of thousands of locations nationwide via partnerships with existing QR payment networks, including approximately 650,000 Scan to Pay merchants such as Clicks and Engen, and about 30,000 Zapper merchants including Spur, Wimpy and Yuppiechef. BitcoinFriendlySA published a 2025 guide highlighting 31 top places to spend bitcoin in South Africa, further surfacing Bitcoin-accepting stores across the country for consumers.
- Grassroots work in Nigeria’s Anambra region is described as having led to a real transformation, with more than forty businesses now accepting Bitcoin payments and dozens of young people receiving mentorship that continues to shape their careers and financial confidence. @BitcoinAnambra
2) Payment Infrastructure
Payment infrastructure developments focused on practical user flows, connectivity-aware wallets, and Bitcoin-native travel and mapping tools.
- BitcoinFriendlySA and MoneyBadgerPay shared detailed guides that show customers how to pay with Bitcoin at Bootlegger Cafés and at any Zapper merchant, with BitcoinFriendlySA characterizing MoneyBadger as the most reliable Bitcoin payment option for most users at most stores.
- In Ekiti, Nigeria, the Bitcoin Ekiti team visited onboarded merchants to deliver new visibility materials such as posters and signage, and Lightning QR codes powered by Blink, with the explicit goal of supporting more than 10 active Bitcoin merchants, boosting their confidence in daily BTC transactions, increasing local visibility so customers can spend sats, and leveraging tools like Blink, Cashwyre and btcmap to make grassroots adoption easier and more accessible.
- Responding to underwhelming growth in internet connections in parts of Africa, the creator of Machankura explained that the Bitcoin wallet was built to work on old USSD technology, enabling usage in environments where data connectivity is limited.
- Accommodation platform Airbtc is promoting stays that can be paid 100% in Bitcoin, listing top accommodations from oceanfront villas and city suites to apartments and hotels, and featuring specific properties such as an apartment in downtown San Salvador that guests can explore and book directly with BTC.
3) Usage Metrics
Available metrics this week highlight fee savings and the growing density of African circular economies.
- Lightning-based service Tando reports that last month it saved users a total of Ksh 135,500 in fees, equivalent to nearly 1,000,000 sats returning to users' pockets.
- In South Africa's Bitcoin Ekasi project, more than 57 shops have been onboarded to accept Bitcoin payments, and students have been provided BTC to use for daily payments at these merchants.
- In Nigeria's Anambra initiative, outreach efforts are credited with more than forty businesses now accepting Bitcoin payments, alongside mentorship for dozens of young people whose careers and financial confidence are being shaped by their involvement in the Bitcoin ecosystem.
4) Regulatory & Policy Developments
Regulatory signals remained restrictive in key markets, with China reiterating its stance against digital asset payments.
- China's central bank reaffirmed its ban on digital assets, stating that virtual currencies, including stablecoins, are illegal and are not recognized as legal tender.
- Following a 28 November meeting with key government and regulatory bodies, the People's Bank of China highlighted risks such as money laundering and fraud and pledged to continue cracking down on crypto-related activities.
5) Strategic Outlook
This week's developments reinforce a dual-track path for Bitcoin payments: large-scale integration via incumbent merchant networks in some jurisdictions, and grassroots circular economies supported by connectivity-adapted tools in others.
- National-scale QR integrations in South Africa, where MoneyBadger's partnerships extend BTC spending to roughly 650,000 Scan to Pay merchants and 30,000 Zapper merchants, illustrate how plugging into existing payment networks can rapidly broaden Bitcoin's retail reach. Particularly noteworthy is the strong bottom-up bitcoin adoption movement of South Africa boasting a growing number of grassroots meetups, technology companies, education initiatives and circular economy projects in tandem with one of the most conducive bitcoin payment environments.
- Grassroots projects such as Bitcoin Ekiti and the Anambra initiative, which emphasize merchant enablement, visibility materials, mentorship and tools like Blink, Cashwyre and btcmap, show how local teams are building circular economies centered on everyday Bitcoin spending.
- Connectivity-aware wallets like Machankura, travel platforms like Airbtc and community efforts such as Bitcoin Ekasi indicate that infrastructure is being designed both for low-bandwidth environments and for Bitcoin-native commerce in areas ranging from townships to international travel corridors.
Taken together, the spread of Bitcoin spending via large merchant aggregators in South Africa, emerging circular economies in places like Ekasi, Ekiti and Anambra, and infrastructure adapted to connectivity constraints and travel use cases, points toward Bitcoin's evolving role as a practical payment rail built on both enterprise integrations and local networks. As grassroots projects focus on quality onboarding, education and everyday transactions, while major jurisdictions such as China maintain restrictive stances that limit formal usage, these dynamics will shape how and where Bitcoin can function as a mainstream payment system over the long term.
