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Bitcoin Payment Adoption Tracker
by kemal 101 sources
Monitors Bitcoin adoption as a payment medium and currency worldwide, tracking merchant acceptance, payment infrastructure, regulatory developments, and transaction usage metrics
Airbtc
Bitcoin Babies⚡️🇰🇪
Joe Nakamoto ⚡️
Major Adoption News
South Africa — OzowPay merchants prompted to activate Bitcoin payments (ZAR payout)
MoneyBadgerPay posted a call for OzowPay merchants to activate Bitcoin payments with payouts in ZAR, noting the capability is powered by MoneyBadgerPay. Supporting coverage was linked in posts, including an IT News Africa announcement page and other article links shared by MoneyBadgerPay .
Why it matters: This frames Bitcoin acceptance as an add-on to an existing merchant payments stack (OzowPay), with a settlement option explicitly denominated in local currency (ZAR) .
Travel (Africa-focused operator) — Travelwings accepts Bitcoin via MoneyBadgerPay
Bitcoin Babies reported that TravelwingsZA / travelwingsuae accepts Bitcoin directly via MoneyBadgerPay. The same post describes Travelwings as having HQ in the UAE and operating across Africa (including Kenya), and notes bookings can be paid via MPESA, with a “workaround” involving Tando.
Why it matters: This extends Bitcoin acceptance into travel bookings via a named processor path (MoneyBadgerPay) while also pointing to hybrid payment workflows (MPESA + a Tando-assisted workaround) for users already anchored in mobile money .
Brazil — Airbtc highlights a Bitcoin-paid stay in Florianópolis
Airbtc promoted an “Oceanfront Apartment” in Florianópolis, Brazil as a “Bitcoin stay pick,” describing the accommodation and positioning it as “paid in Bitcoin” . Listing link: https://airbtc.online/properties/amazing-oceanfront-flat/.
Why it matters: This is a consumer-facing example of Bitcoin checkout applied to accommodation and longer-stay travel use cases .
Payment Infrastructure
Merchant checkout stack (food & retail) — BTCPayServer + POS + automatic routing to cold storage
Bitcoin Coast highlighted Tunco Veloz Pizzeria as accepting Bitcoin using BTCPayServer on a Bitcoinize POS machine, adding that “every sat goes straight to their air-gapped cold wallet” via a routing path described as Lightning → Boltz → Liquid. The post also states the pizzeria offers 15% off to Bitcoiners . Location link shared: https://maps.app.goo.gl/i3ssNvE3ah6GkNsF9?g_st=ic.
Why it matters: This is a concrete example of a merchant configuring both (1) point-of-sale acceptance and (2) a described post-payment treasury flow, alongside an explicit incentive (discount) to drive payment usage .
Lightning paycodes + discoverability layer — repeatable “#spedn + Blink.sv + BTC Map” pattern
Across multiple accounts, merchant acceptance is repeatedly packaged as:
- #spedn tag
-
A Blink.sv pay code (e.g.,
ruthkwamboka@blink.sv,mamastacy@blink.sv,sarahnutritives@blink.sv) - A BTC Map merchant listing URL for location/verification
Why it matters: This is an operational onboarding template: a standardized payment identifier plus a public listing link that can be shared socially to drive repeat spend and merchant discovery .
Wallets and onboarding mechanics — “claim link” giveaways and a Caribbean Lightning wallet
- BlitzWalletApp promoted a giveaway flow where users receive a DM “claim link,” and can “tap it” to “get Bitcoin” in under 60 seconds” . Tando added an incentive for a Kenyan M-Pesa user to claim a Blitz Gift and post a screenshot (offering 21 KES**) .
- Bitcoin Coalition Canada highlighted LNFlash as a Bitcoin Lightning wallet/app “built in the Caribbean, for the Caribbean,” “born in Jamaica,” and framed it for Canadians with family in the region .
Why it matters: These posts emphasize user acquisition and practical payment UX—both instant claim-based onboarding and a region-specific Lightning wallet positioned for cross-border family use cases .
Machine-to-machine payments narrative (opinion/positioning)
SATOSHI SOMOS TODOS argued that Bitcoin was designed for a world where “humans and machines share the economy” and that AI agents can use Bitcoin even if they can’t use banking rails .
Regulatory Landscape
No regulatory or legal changes affecting Bitcoin payments were included in the provided sources for this period.
Usage Metrics
No transaction volume figures, adoption statistics, or growth metrics were included in the provided sources for this period.
Emerging Markets
Kibera — repeated merchant promotion around “daily sats circulation”
Afribit Kibera repeatedly promoted a merchant with pay code ruthkwamboka@blink.sv and a BTC Map listing (merchant 32012) . A separate Kibera-area merchant listing highlighted mamastacy@blink.sv with BTC Map merchant 33357.
Why it matters: The repeated “pay code + BTC Map link” packaging is designed for ongoing, local circulation rather than one-off announcements (e.g., “Daily sats circulation!!” framing) .
Eastlands & Dachar — groceries, snacks, and health products paid in sats
BitBiashara highlighted multiple merchants accepting sats via Blink paycodes and BTC Map listings:
- Sarah Nutritives (Eastlands) — “Chia seeds, paid in sats,” pay code
sarahnutritives@blink.sv, BTC Map: http://btcmap.org/merchant/34428 - Manu Groceries — BTC Map: http://btcmap.org/merchant/31118
- Grandsmatt (Dachar) — BTC Map: http://btcmap.org/merchant/31116, including “From supermarket aisle to sats sent”
- Chips pot — “Sausage paid for in sats,” BTC Map: http://btcmap.org/merchant/28406
- Viwa accessories — “Electric extension bought with Bitcoin,” BTC Map: https://btcmap.org/merchant/31121
Why it matters: This broadens the observed spend categories beyond a single vertical (groceries, snacks, health products, and small goods), all using consistent Lightning-oriented identifiers and listings .
Ekiti community (#BitcoinEkiti) — everyday foodstuff spending framed as circular economy
BitcoinEkiti posted examples of local spending with Blink paycodes and BTC Map links, framing it as “spending sats locally” to “keep the circular economy alive” . One example highlighted “Everyday patronage in the community at TS Foodstuff” and included a BTC Map listing link (merchant 32556) . Another post similarly shared a BTC Map listing (merchant 30969) alongside the same “spending sats locally” framing .
Why it matters: The emphasis here is not just acceptance, but repeated day-to-day patronage tied to community circulation language .
Victoria Falls account — “Bitcoin, the everyday money!” message attached to a merchant listing
Bitcoin Victoria Falls shared a merchant pay code aliceluzendo@blink.sv with a BTC Map listing (merchant 25606) and the phrase “Bitcoin, the everyday money!” .
"Bitcoin, the everyday money!"
El Salvador — Medium of Exchange event programming and a Bitcoin Beach merchant spot
- Bitcoin Berlín SV promoted the Bitcoin Medium of Exchange Experience (MOE) in Berlín, El Salvador, listing activities (including a Bitcoin fútbol tournament) and a schedule link: https://www.satlantis.io/c/64/Medium-of-Exchange-Experience. A later post said the football tournament “kicked off” with teams competing for Bitcoin prizes .
- Joe Nakamoto posted a “wow, bitcoin accepted here” merchant spot at Pura Surf, Bitcoin Beach, stating the merchant uses IbexPay and the payer used Blink wallet.
Why it matters: Events and “merchant spot” content both function as payment adoption accelerants—one by structured programming around medium-of-exchange usage and the other by showing an executed payment flow (processor + wallet) in a named locality .
Adoption Outlook
Momentum this period is strongest in two lanes:
- Scaled merchant enablement signals in South Africa, where OzowPay + MoneyBadgerPay messaging positions Bitcoin checkout with ZAR payouts inside a mainstream merchant payments context .
- Grassroots, repeatable Lightning acceptance mechanics across multiple localities—consistently presented as #spedn + Blink.sv paycodes + BTC Map listings, often paired with “daily circulation” language to encourage ongoing use .
The main gap remains measurement: the sources show many acceptance and enablement signals, but provide no transaction volumes or adoption statistics for this period.
Bitcoin Sisonke
Martin Saposnic
Steve Lee
Major Adoption News
South Africa — reported scale-up to “national-scale infrastructure” + measurable merchant impact
Blink Wallet’s weekly brief frames Bitcoin adoption as moving from “pilot projects to national-scale infrastructure” . The same brief reports 700,000 new merchant touchpoints in South Africa and a reported 18% sales lift for Steak ’n Shake .
Why it matters for payments viability: The combination of (1) a large increase in merchant touchpoints and (2) a sales-lift claim provides a rare, business-outcome-oriented signal (beyond one-off demos) about merchant-side incentives to keep Bitcoin checkout available .
The brief also highlights a mix of payment and merchant ecosystem participants, including OzowPay and MoneyBadgerPay (listed together), TravelwingsZA, and BitcoinEkasi.
Payment Infrastructure
Lightning wallet tooling — agent wallet initialization via MoneyDevKit (LDK-based)
A post notes that MoneyDevKit (described as lightningdevkit-based) supports agent wallet initialization with:
npx @moneydevkit/agent-wallet init
Significance: This is explicit developer tooling aimed at making Lightning-enabled wallets easier to initialize programmatically, potentially widening where Bitcoin payments can be embedded (e.g., in software agents or automation workflows) .
Lightning usage proofs — first-time payments and “powered by Lightning” merchant rails
Several posts continue to emphasize Lightning as the payment rail:
- A user is shown making a first Lightning payment using the @blinkbtc app .
- A merchant post describes Bitcoin use “as Satoshi intended” and “Powered by Lightning,” listing the merchant identifier Ntombana@blink.sv and a BTC Map listing .
Significance: These are direct “payment executed” signals (consumer-side first payment + merchant-side Lightning acceptance framing), complementing merchant listing data with observed usage .
Regulatory Landscape
No regulatory or legal changes affecting Bitcoin payments were included in the provided sources for this period.
Usage Metrics
South Africa — merchant footprint and merchant performance signal
- 700,000 new merchant touchpoints (South Africa) reported in Blink Wallet’s weekly brief .
- 18% sales lift reported for Steak ’n Shake in the same brief .
Note: The sources do not provide transaction counts, payment volumes, or time-series breakdowns beyond these reported figures.
Emerging Markets
Kibera, Kenya — dense cluster of Blink paycodes + BTC Map listings (including a “first” claim)
Afribit Kibera promotes multiple merchants accepting Bitcoin via Blink.sv pay codes and BTC Map listings. One post describes btckiberashop in Kibera as “the first kibera merchant ever,” with pay code btckiberashop@blink.sv and a BTC Map listing .
Additional Kibera-area merchant identifiers and listings highlighted include:
- nifah@blink.sv (BTC Map: https://btcmap.org/merchant/33358)
- mamastacy@blink.sv (BTC Map: https://btcmap.org/merchant/33357)
- ruthkwamboka@blink.sv (described as “one of the top merchants in kibera”; BTC Map: https://btcmap.org/merchant/32012)
Afribit Kibera also explicitly highlights “Merchant to Merchant” payments in its #spedn promotion .
Significance: This is repeated, structured merchant promotion in a specific locality (Kibera), combining (1) a payment identifier (Blink pay code) and (2) a discoverability layer (BTC Map) to support repeat spend and verification .
Zambia — continued #SPEDN merchant onboarding pattern
Bitcoin Victoria Falls highlights a merchant in Zambia with Blink pay identifier kapolesa22@blink.sv and BTC Map listing https://btcmap.org/merchant/27275, tagged #SPEDN.
Significance: The same “pay code + BTC Map link” template seen elsewhere is being applied in Zambia, suggesting reusable onboarding/marketing mechanics across markets .
Grassroots commerce — direct “sats” payments for food and personal services (BTC Map linked)
- Eggs purchase paid in sats: Bitcoin Chama describes Mercy paying for eggs from a chicken coop using Bitcoin sats “by depositing the sats directly to the clan wallet,” with a listed zap merchant Nyarandi@8333.mobi and BTC Map link http://btcmap.org/merchant/33198.
- Haircut paid with Bitcoin: Calabar Bitcoin Club shares “Haircut paid for with Bitcoin,” listing merchant freshbarbs@blink.sv and location link http://btcmap.org/merchant/34422.
Additional retail examples in the sources include:
- Sarah Nutritives (Eastlands): a customer buys an antibacterial soap and “paid in sats,” listing sarahnutritives@blink.sv and BTC Map link https://btcmap.org/merchant/34428.
- Bliss hair salon: promoted with pay identifier Winniesalon@blink.sv and BTC Map link http://btcmap.org/merchant/26698, tagged #spedn .
Adoption Outlook
This period combines top-down scale signals (a South Africa brief reporting 700,000 new merchant touchpoints and a reported 18% sales lift for a major restaurant chain) with bottom-up, locality-driven onboarding (multiple Kibera merchants promoted with consistent Blink paycodes and BTC Map listings) .
Two cross-region patterns stand out in the sources:
- Standardized merchant activation toolkit: repeated pairing of Blink.sv identifiers with BTC Map links across Kibera and Zambia (and additional examples elsewhere) .
- Lightning enablement extending beyond consumers to developers: continued emphasis on Lightning at checkout and the emergence of agent-oriented tooling (MoneyDevKit init command) that could lower integration friction for payment-capable applications .
Bitcoin Dua
calle
Bitcoin Archive
Major Adoption News
Nigeria / Kenya / South Africa — Mavapay launches a multi-currency, cross-border app
Mavapay says it launched the Mavapay Money App in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa, enabling users to save, send, and spend Bitcoin, dollars, and local currencies across borders (powered by Mavapay APIs).
Why it matters: This positions Bitcoin as a practical rail inside a consumer-facing cross-border payments product (alongside fiat currencies), rather than only as an on-premise merchant checkout option.
Cash App / Square (location not specified) — SATS display changes to a ₿-prefixed format
A post claims Cash App and Square will now display SATS with a ₿ symbol, giving the example: “100 SATS become ₿100.”
Why it matters: Denomination and display choices can reduce friction for small payments by making satoshi amounts easier to read at checkout—relevant for day-to-day spend flows where “BTC” units may feel too large.
South Africa — “how to spend BTC” guide shared ahead of Adopting Bitcoin Cape Town
A “complete guide” on how to spend BTC in South Africa was shared in the context of Adopting Bitcoin Cape Town, including examples of people paying at Pick n Pay and Bootlegger.
Why it matters: Practical “where and how to pay” guides help convert conference attention into real transactions by reducing discovery and workflow uncertainty for visitors and locals.
Payment Infrastructure
Cape Town, South Africa — Lightning developer ecosystem activity and “no stablecoin rails” messaging
Mavapay says its CEO spoke at the Lightning Developer Bootcamp in Cape Town, describing Lightning as “winning the African settlement race” and framing Mavapay as enabling faster, cheaper cross-border payments—without stablecoin rails.
Why it matters: The emphasis on Lightning-based settlement (and explicitly not using stablecoin rails) highlights ongoing infrastructure competition for cross-border payments and reinforces Lightning’s positioning as a payments-first network in parts of Africa.
#Bitcoin-only event (location not specified) — NFC “Bolt card” setup and programming demo
At a #Bitcoin-only event, @Sluslami (Bitcoin Ekasi) and @abcptza were shown demonstrating how to set up and program an NFC Bolt card.
Why it matters: Bolt card tooling supports tap-style payment experiences; hands-on setup sessions indicate continued focus on improving point-of-sale usability and operator know-how.
Software tooling (location not specified) — “27 kb bitcoin ecash wallet for your agent”
A post points to a GitHub repo described as a “27 kb bitcoin ecash wallet for your agent”: https://github.com/cashubtc/cashu-skill
Why it matters: Lightweight wallet components can lower integration overhead for payment-capable software agents, potentially expanding where and how Bitcoin payment flows get embedded.
Regulatory Landscape
No regulatory or legal changes affecting Bitcoin payments were included in the provided sources for this period.
Usage Metrics
No transaction volume figures, adoption statistics, or growth metrics were included in the provided sources for this period.
Emerging Markets
Ekiti State, Nigeria — local services: haircut paid with sats via Lightning
Bitcoin Ekiti highlighted a neighborhood haircut service paid with sats using #spedn and Diamond@blink.sv, with a BTC Map listing: https://btcmap.org/merchant/31453
Why it matters: Personal services (not just retail goods) are a recurring “real-life” Lightning spend category—useful for assessing whether payments are moving beyond demos into routine commerce.
Merchant adoption (location not specified) — #SPEDN + Blink paycodes + BTC Map listings continue
Several posts continue promoting merchants accepting Bitcoin via Blink paycodes and BTC Map listings:
- Presos Food and Drinks (presosfoodanddrinks1@blink.sv) with BTC Map listing https://btcmap.org/merchant/20487
- febbyblankets (febbyblankets@blink.sv) with BTC Map listing https://btcmap.org/merchant/24762
Why it matters: The repeated packaging of (1) a Lightning address/paycode and (2) a discoverability layer (BTC Map) supports verification and repeat spending—key for measuring real payment viability over time.
Tanzania (TZ) — sats support link promoted at #abct26
A sats payment link was shared for artist @manlikekweks (https://pay.bbw.sv/manlikekweks) in a #abct26 context, alongside “Tz🇹🇿 Stand Up.”
Why it matters: Public Lightning payment links for creators are a direct “value transfer” use case that can function independently of card networks—especially relevant where cross-border support is common.
Adoption Outlook
Signals this period cluster in two areas:
- Africa-forward Lightning payments momentum — Mavapay’s multi-country app launch and its “faster, cheaper” Lightning settlement framing (without stablecoin rails) reinforce Lightning’s positioning for cross-border payments in Nigeria, Kenya, and South Africa.
- Everyday spend enablement — continued #SPEDN merchant promotion using Blink paycodes + BTC Map (including services like haircuts) and hands-on Bolt card setup activity point to ongoing work to make Bitcoin payments easier to execute and easier to find.
The main gap remains measurement: the sources provide adoption signals (launches, merchant listings, and demos) but no transaction or growth metrics to quantify usage changes this period.
calle
Cashu
The Bitcoin Historian
Major Adoption News
Dachar — “Bitcoin-only” retail positioning at Grandsmatt
Grandsmatt (Dachar@blink.sv) was promoted as accepting only Bitcoin (“No cash, no card—just Bitcoin”) and is listed on BTC Map (http://btcmap.org/merchant/31116) . Additional posts show the same merchant taking Bitcoin for breakfast and everyday shopping.
Significance: “Bitcoin-only” messaging is a stronger commitment than “also accepts,” and the repeated day-to-day contexts (breakfast, drinks, routine shopping) emphasize Bitcoin being used for ordinary purchases rather than one-off demos .
Zambia — #SPEDN merchant promotion tied to Blink + BTC Map
Bitcoin Victoria Falls highlighted a merchant account (susanhandongwe@blink.sv) accepting Bitcoin with #SPEDN, linked to BTC Map (https://btcmap.org/merchant/28302) .
Significance: The post pairs a payment identifier (Blink address) with a discoverability layer (BTC Map), a repeatable pattern that lowers friction for spenders verifying where Bitcoin is accepted .
Local commerce — additional verified spend contexts (BTC Map-linked)
The period also included multiple “paid in sats” merchant posts tied to BTC Map listings:
- Manu Groceries (Manubosco@blink.sv): fresh mangoes “paid in sats,” BTC Map: http://btcmap.org/merchant/31118
- Haven food court (Haven@blink.sv): “Breakfast first, Bitcoin always,” BTC Map: http://btcmap.org/merchant/26695
- Chips pot (Jaredonsongo@blink.sv): Lightning payments highlighted, BTC Map: http://btcmap.org/merchant/28406
- Pokpixelstudio (Pokpixelstudio@blink.sv): sats for DTF printing (T-shirts), BTC Map: https://btcmap.org/merchant/5376
Significance: These posts broaden the visible “Bitcoin-at-checkout” surface area across everyday categories (groceries, food service, snacks, and printing services), with explicit payment handles and map listings supporting repeat use rather than unverifiable claims .
Payment Infrastructure
Offline NFC payments — smartphone to POS terminal
A post amplified by calle stated that Bitcoin can now be sent offline between a smartphone and a POS terminal via NFC. calle added that this kind of UX can yield “extreme privacy as a byproduct of good UX” .
Significance: Offline NFC-based flows target a key operational constraint for retail payments—connectivity—while framing usability and privacy as outcomes of the checkout experience .
“Tap to pay” demos (CashuBTC / calle)
CashuBTC posted a “Tap to pay. With Bitcoin.” demonstration , and calle described it as “faster than fiat” .
Significance: Tap-to-pay framing mirrors familiar card UX, which can help Bitcoin payment interactions fit existing expectations at point of sale (noting the “faster than fiat” phrasing is presented as a claim) .
Lightweight Lightning gateway for small businesses — CashuPayServer
Nicolas Dorier described a new project, CashuPayServer, positioned as a simplified Lightning gateway that uses Cashu mints’ Lightning capability to accept Bitcoin anonymously. He said it is compatible with the BTCPayServer Greenfield API (supporting WooCommerce “out of the box”), can be run by unpacking a .zip on “a $3/month PHP hosting,” and can install as a WordPress plug-in (with auto-configuration alongside the BTCPay plugin) . He also described withdrawal options (Lightning address, BOLT-11 invoice, or cashu tokens) and autowithdrawal support; it is “free and open-source,” with self-custody possible when running your own mint .
He emphasized that for more sophisticated needs, users should run BTCPayServer, which he described as “better and battle-tested” .
Significance: The project is explicitly aimed at reducing operational overhead for merchants who want to accept Bitcoin payments without standing up more complex infrastructure, while keeping compatibility with an existing plugin ecosystem via API alignment .
Regulatory Landscape
E-commerce KYC pressure (region not specified in source)
Nicolas Dorier said a “new regulation” results in e-shops “trying to KYC you” when buying goods with Bitcoin, and noted that the regulation targets payment gateways providing gateway services for third parties—not merchants running self-custodial infrastructure like BTCPayServer. He also noted that running BTCPayServer “is not always easy,” citing complexity (VPS, Docker, node operations—though possible without) .
Significance: The post frames regulation as potentially pushing merchants away from third-party gateways (where KYC may appear) and toward self-hosted payment stacks—while acknowledging that self-hosting can be a barrier for small or new merchants .
Usage Metrics
Program-scale provisioning (food program)
Praia Bitcoin Brazil stated it secured a new location for a chicken farm, with “10,000 eggs for the kids per year purchased + the fruits for Sats program” .
Significance: While not a transaction-volume statistic, the quantified provisioning (10,000 eggs/year) is a concrete indicator of sustained program operations connected to a sats-denominated initiative (“Sats program”) .
Data gaps this period: No transaction volume totals, merchant counts, or Lightning payment growth figures were provided in the sources.
Emerging Markets
Kenya (rural) — sats used as labor rewards in an agricultural project
Bitcoin Chama described routinely rewarding members with sats for farm work (e.g., transplanting vegetables) and said it plans to scale by leasing “an even bigger piece of land” .
Why it matters: This is a direct “Bitcoin-for-work” payment use case tied to ongoing production activity, not just customer checkout .
Zambia — merchant acceptance promoted with #SPEDN
Bitcoin Victoria Falls promoted a Blink-addressed merchant (susanhandongwe@blink.sv) with BTC Map listing https://btcmap.org/merchant/28302.
Why it matters: It shows the same operational toolkit (address + listing + hashtag) appearing in additional markets, supporting discovery and repeat spending .
Bolivia (mentioned explicitly) — payment demo plus rollout constraint
A user posted “Pagando con @fedibtc” (paying with @fedibtc) . bitcoinr3 reposted a comment referencing #Bolivia and stating “pero sin cajero @k1elsalvador que no llevará a #Bolivia,” implying a constraint on bringing/rolling out that “cajero” to Bolivia .
Why it matters: The posts combine a payment demonstration with a note about geographic availability constraints (Bolivia), highlighting how rollout logistics can shape real payment access .
Adoption Outlook
Across the sources, momentum is strongest in two areas:
- Grassroots merchant usage proofs: recurring “paid in sats” posts, many paired with Blink addresses and BTC Map listings, spanning everyday categories and, in at least one case, “Bitcoin-only” positioning .
- Checkout UX + merchant tooling: experimentation with NFC/tap-to-pay style interactions and a deliberate push toward simplified merchant gateways (CashuPayServer) aimed at lowering infrastructure burdens—set against regulatory pressure that may make third-party gateways less attractive for some e-commerce flows .
Miles 🌞
Nick Darlington
Silvia Tom ⚡
Major Adoption News
South Africa (Cape Town) — Bitcoin Lightning accepted for parking payments
Portswood Parking Garage (Waterfront) is reported to accept Bitcoin payments via Lightning: the user scans the parking ticket using MoneyBadger and completes payment in a Blink Lightning wallet, with a receipt shown .
Significance: Parking is a mainstream, service-category checkout. Ticket-scanning plus Lightning wallet settlement is a concrete “pay-in-the-wild” proof point for routine, non-retail payments .
Italy (Brescia) — conference ticketing promotes privacy-preserving Bitcoin rails (ecash)
Portal is presented as the official ticketing partner for The Italian Bitcoin Conference (@BitcareForum) on May 23 in Brescia, with ticket purchase framed around privacy using CashuBTC and Nostr .
"Using Ecash for tickets just makes sense."
Significance: Ticketing is a high-intent purchase flow where payment UX and privacy properties are explicitly marketed—positioning Bitcoin-native ecash as a checkout option for event commerce .
South Africa (Cape Town) — circular-economy milestone: merchant-to-merchant payments
Bitcoin Babies says it has spent a year branding shops, “injecting liquidity through our mothers,” and educating merchants—claiming momentum with the “engine officially roaring” . As an example of a “complete” cycle, it highlights the butcher paying the miller in Bitcoin .
Significance: Merchant-to-merchant circulation is a higher bar than consumer-only “spend demos,” because it indicates Bitcoin functioning inside local supply chains, not just at the retail edge .
Nigeria (Anambra State) — Blink-based merchant acceptance promoted as preferred payment option
A merchant labeled “sarioeventers” shares a Blink paycode (sarioeventers@blink.sv) and states “Bitcoin is preferred here!” alongside #SPEDN, with a BTC Map listing provided .
Significance: This is another example of the “paycode + map listing” pattern that reduces discovery friction for spenders and gives merchants a repeatable way to advertise acceptance .
Payment Infrastructure
South Africa — MoneyBadger positioned as a crypto payment layer for OzowPay merchants
MoneyBadgerPay says it is a new crypto payments solution for OzowPay merchants, describing Bitcoin spending as becoming “more practical and easy,” and links to a Moneyweb radio segment discussing the product .
Significance: Processor-to-merchant distribution (via an existing merchant network) can expand Bitcoin payment availability without requiring each merchant to integrate Lightning tooling independently .
Cross-market operational pattern — Blink paycodes + BTC Map listings + “#SPEDN”
Multiple posts continue to standardize “how to pay” and “where to find us” using:
- A Blink paycode (e.g., Winniesalon@blink.sv; Haven@blink.sv; Jennifermusya@blink.sv)
- A BTC Map merchant link for discoverability
- #SPEDN as the promotional tag for spending/use-at-checkout posts
Significance: This “acceptance kit” (paycode + map listing + spend tag) makes Bitcoin acceptance easier to verify, revisit, and share—supporting repeat transactions rather than one-off claims .
East Africa — tourism as an adoption channel for circular economies
GorillaSats promotes combining safari travel with visits to Bitcoin circular economies across East Africa, providing a trip customization link and naming multiple community initiatives it connects travelers to . It also says it has a “new Bitcoin look” and “many new features” on its website to make it easier to come to East Africa .
Significance: Travel packaging can concentrate spenders into spend-ready communities—potentially increasing transaction density and merchant revenue in local circular economies (as framed by the initiative) .
United States (platform/user stories) — “living on bitcoin” depends on fast on/off-ramps
Miles Suter says he has heard “incredible stories” of people using CashApp to live on bitcoin, including “high-stakes moments where fast on/off-ramps really mattered,” and invites people to reach out for an upcoming docuseries .
Significance: While not a merchant announcement, it emphasizes payment viability as a systems question—where day-to-day usability can hinge on conversion and settlement pathways in urgent scenarios .
Regulatory Landscape
No regulatory or legal changes affecting Bitcoin payments were included in the provided sources for this period.
Usage Metrics
No transaction volume figures, adoption statistics, or growth metrics were included in the provided sources for this period.
Emerging Markets
#BitcoinEkiti — merchant-to-merchant patronage inside a local circular economy
BitcoinEkiti frames a “merchant to merchant patronage” transaction: Tobias Ventures patronizing TS Foodstuff, describing it as “supporting ourselves” and “strengthening the local Bitcoin economy, one transaction at a time,” and tags #SPEDN with a BTC Map listing .
Why it matters: Merchant-to-merchant circulation is a direct signal of local economic reuse—Bitcoin moving between businesses, not only from consumers to merchants .
Bankless village context — Bitcoin “merry-go-round” savings payouts used for household goods
Bitcoin Chama describes a “merry go round” update where a member (Catherine) used her turn to buy two sofa seat sets, and posts a Lightning zap address for support . A separate update highlights “a village without a bank,” saying Bitcoin replaced “old cushions,” and also shares a zap address in that thread .
Why it matters: These examples connect Bitcoin/Lightning inflows to tangible household purchases in a bankless setting, illustrating a practical “payout-to-spend” loop rather than purely promotional acceptance .
Everyday small-ticket spending — food and personal services advertised as paid in sats/BTC
Posts highlight additional merchants accepting Bitcoin payments (often via Blink paycodes and BTC Map listings), including:
- Digital Mutura (food vendor): “Mutura paid in BTC” with a BTC Map link
- Haven food court: “Lunch at Haven, paid in Bitcoin” with a BTC Map link
- Bliss Hair Salon: “Getting pedicure and paying with Bitcoin” with a BTC Map link
- Chips pot: “When chips meet sats” with a BTC Map link
Why it matters: Small-ticket categories (food, salons) are a practical test of Lightning-style payment UX: fast checkout, low fees, and repeatability—especially when merchants provide standardized discovery (BTC Map) and payment identifiers (Blink paycodes) .
Adoption Outlook
This period’s strongest signals are execution-heavy, Lightning-oriented spending proofs across services and daily purchases—particularly in Africa—paired with consistent “merchant ops” packaging (Blink paycodes + BTC Map listings + #SPEDN) that makes acceptance easier to reuse and verify .
At the ecosystem level, momentum is also being framed in terms of distribution and enablement (MoneyBadger positioning itself as a payments layer for OzowPay merchants) and circular-economy maturity (explicit merchant-to-merchant payments) . The main gap this period is measurement: sources provided no transaction volumes or adoption statistics to quantify growth.
Airbtc
calle
Cashu
Major Adoption News
South Africa — Ozow launches crypto payments (incl. Bitcoin Lightning) via MoneyBadger
Ozow announced it has officially launched Crypto Payments, enabling merchants to accept payments from crypto wallets (including Bitcoin Lightning) and from exchanges including Luno, VALR, and Binance, via a single Ozow integration. The rollout is described as powered by MoneyBadgerPay, and MoneyBadger also confirmed an official partnership with Ozow .
Significance: A single integration that supports both Lightning wallets and major exchanges can reduce checkout fragmentation for merchants while expanding reachable payer sources (wallets + exchange balances) . Details were shared at: https://ozow.com/crypto-payments.
South Africa — TravelwingsZA enables Bitcoin Lightning payments for travel
MoneyBadgerPay stated that TravelwingsZA has enabled crypto payments for selected airlines, and that customers can now book and pay for travel with Bitcoin Lightning. TravelwingsZA promoted paying for flights and holidays with cryptocurrency.
Significance: Travel is a high-value, high-frequency purchase category; enabling Lightning as a payment option can broaden real-world spending beyond small-ticket retail into services and tourism-related payments .
United States — Steak ’n Shake reports sales uplift tied to Bitcoin acceptance
A post cited by Bitcoin Coalition Canada reported Steak ’n Shake store sales up 18%, crediting “growing support from our loyal customers and our #Bitcoin champions” . The Coalition framed the result as upside from accepting Bitcoin and integrating Bitcoin into overall operations.
Significance: Even when self-reported, an explicit sales lift narrative provides a business-facing adoption argument that payment acceptance can be commercially additive, not just experimental .
El Salvador — merchant longevity + event-driven “medium of exchange” focus
- Jungle Restaurant (El Tunco): Reported to have accepted Bitcoin since 2022 and described as one of the first restaurants in the area to adopt it . The restaurant reported its Bitcoin savings dramatically increased in purchasing power.
- Bitcoin Berlín (Berlín): Announced the Bitcoin Medium of Exchange Experience (MOE) running Monday to Wednesday next week in Berlín, with activities including Bitcoin workshops and Bitcoin talks. Full schedule: https://www.satlantis.io/c/64/Medium-of-Exchange-Experience.
Significance: The mix of long-running merchant acceptance (since 2022) and time-boxed events designed around spending can help validate ongoing merchant readiness and increase transaction density in specific localities .
Payment Infrastructure
South Africa — MoneyBadger expands as an enabling layer for Lightning acceptance
- Processor-to-processor enablement: Ozow’s Crypto Payments launch is described as powered by MoneyBadgerPay.
- Vertical expansion (travel): MoneyBadgerPay stated TravelwingsZA now supports Bitcoin Lightning payments .
- Payments at scale (distribution claims): MoneyBadger’s integrations are described as enabling customers to pay in Bitcoin at hundreds of thousands of stores nationwide, including Checkers, Engen, Makro, and Vodacom. Separately, Bitcoin Ekasi cited MoneyBadgerPay integrating Bitcoin into existing merchant POS systems, enabling Lightning payments at 700,000 locations nationwide.
Operationally, one described flow is: ask for the QR payment option at checkout, then scan using MoneyBadger, which connects to a chosen Lightning wallet (example: Blink) .
Lightning merchant “acceptance kit” continues: paycodes + BTC Map listings
Across multiple posts, merchants publicize a Lightning paycode (often @blink.sv) plus a BTC Map listing, frequently using #SPEDN:
- Kibera: btckiberashop@blink.sv with BTC Map location https://btcmap.org/merchant/31913.
- Kibera: bridgewayshop@blink.sv with BTC Map location https://btcmap.org/merchant/31907.
- Kibera: sokonimboga@blink.sv with BTC Map location https://btcmap.org/merchant/31917.
Significance: Publishing “how to pay” (paycode) alongside “where to find the merchant” (BTC Map) makes acceptance easier to verify and reuse by spenders, supporting repeat transactions rather than one-off demonstrations .
Lightning UX/standards — Bolt12 offers with static QR codes coming to cashu.me
CashuBTC stated that Bolt12 offers for Lightning payments with static QR codes are coming to cashu.me. callebtc amplified the push to “push bolt12 into the mainstream” .
Significance: Static-QR payment tooling can simplify the payer experience in merchant environments that prefer persistent signage over generating a new invoice each time .
Bitcoin-only travel rail framing — Airbtc
Airbtc described each listed property as “capital committed to a Bitcoin-only rail” . It emphasized that when a traveler pays for a stay in sats, the transaction happens with no fiat bridge, no chargeback risk, and no trusted third party. It also framed a circular-economy loop: Bitcoin is earned → spent → accepted again.
“Bitcoin doesn’t fail because blocks stop being mined. It fails if people stop using it as money.”
Regulatory Landscape
No regulatory or legal changes affecting Bitcoin payments were included in the provided sources for this period.
Usage Metrics
United States — reported store sales lift
- Steak ’n Shake reported store sales up 18%, attributed to customer support and “Bitcoin champions” .
South Africa — acceptance reach (distribution) claims
- MoneyBadger-enabled integrations were described as supporting Bitcoin payments at hundreds of thousands of stores nationwide (examples named: Checkers, Engen, Makro, Vodacom) .
- Bitcoin Ekasi cited MoneyBadgerPay enabling Lightning payments at 700,000 locations nationwide via POS integration .
On-the-ground spend proof (South Africa)
Nick Darlington shared a list of items paid for in Bitcoin (with receipts attached), including groceries, fuel, parking, and meals in Cape Town/Franschhoek (e.g., Pick n Pay, Checkers, Engen) .
Emerging Markets
South Africa — township-level merchant onboarding (Khayelitsha)
BitcoinLoxion highlighted a BTC Map listing as the first merchant to be accepting in Khayelitsha: https://btcmap.org/merchant/28321. A tour stop described coffee “paid with sats” at Sikis during the BitcoinLoxion tour (organized as part of abcptza) .
Kenya — repeated #SPEDN merchant activity (incl. merchant-to-merchant)
Afribit Kibera shared multiple small-ticket spending demonstrations tied to BTC Map listings and Blink paycodes:
- Sugarcane paid in sats (merchant-to-merchant framing) via sokonimboga@blink.svhttps://btcmap.org/merchant/31917.
- Mango paid in sats via sokonimboga@blink.svhttps://btcmap.org/merchant/31917.
- A T-shirt paid in sats at threewestcollection@blink.svhttps://btcmap.org/merchant/31915.
- A “merchant to merchant” payment highlighted using noony@blink.svhttps://btcmap.org/merchant/31923.
Separately, Bitcoin Chama posted that two hair-braiding merchants—bosibori@blink.sv and Kemunto@blink.sv—accepted Bitcoin payments (BTC Map location: http://btcmap.org/merchant/31768) .
Why it matters: The content increasingly shows merchant-to-merchant circulation alongside consumer spending, which is a key ingredient for local circular economies rather than isolated “pay once” use cases .
Nigeria — neighborhood services accepting sats
- Diamond (described as a “clean cut” service) accepted sats via Blink and is listed at https://btcmap.org/merchant/31453.
- Sario Eventers listed a Blink wallet address sarioeventers@blink.sv and BTC Map page http://btcmap.org/merchant/33767.
“Dachar” (as labeled in source) — everyday retail items paid in sats
₿itBiashara posted repeated spending demos at Grandsmatt in Dachar, showing payments “paid in sats” (e.g., yoghurt, Indomie, soda), with a BTC Map link http://btcmap.org/merchant/31116 and a Blink paycode label “Dachar@blink.sv” .
Adoption Outlook
This period’s signals are strongest in merchant enablement through intermediaries and repeatable acceptance patterns:
- South Africa continues to broaden Bitcoin’s checkout surface area through new rails and partnerships—most notably Ozow’s Crypto Payments launch (powered by MoneyBadger) and TravelwingsZA enabling Bitcoin Lightning for travel .
- Emerging-market activity remains highly operational: paycode + BTC Map listings, frequent small-ticket transactions, and growing emphasis on merchant-to-merchant circulation (Kibera examples) .
- Quantitative reporting is still limited, but the Steak ’n Shake 18% sales claim adds a business-outcome datapoint to the adoption narrative .
No regulatory developments were present in the sources, keeping the focus on execution (integrations, merchant onboarding, and demonstrated spending) rather than policy shifts.
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Documenting ₿itcoin 📄
Money⚡️Badger
Major Adoption News
South Africa (Cape Town) — merchant discovery push ahead of Adopting Bitcoin Cape Town
A Cape Town spending guide highlights 15 businesses where attendees can pay with Bitcoin, positioning the city as spend-ready for visitors . Examples cited include Bootlegger (coffee), Engen (fuel), Clicks (medicine), Thunderbrothers (car wash), Butler’s (pizza online), and Pick n Pay (groceries).
Significance: Curated “where to spend” lists reduce discovery friction for short-stay visitors and concentrate real-world payment attempts into a defined geography .
United States (Las Vegas, Nevada) — local businesses begin accepting Bitcoin
A report shared on X claims local businesses in Las Vegas are beginning to accept Bitcoin payments, described as part of a broader national trend where merchants seek to cut costs and attract customers.
Significance: Framing merchant acceptance around business drivers (costs, customer acquisition) is a recurring narrative for payment adoption, even when specific merchant names aren’t provided .
United States (Steak ’n Shake) — promotion bundling a meal with Bitcoin
A “Bitcoin Meal” promotion is described as including a burger, fries, and $5 in bitcoin.
Significance: Bundling bitcoin into a consumer offer can create a direct on-ramp from retail purchases to payment experimentation (especially when paired with messaging designed for mainstream audiences) .
El Salvador (El Zonte / Bitcoin Beach) — meetup designed around spending
A meetup announcement for Looking 2 Good in El Zonte explicitly encourages attendees to spend Bitcoin and meet other Bitcoin users .
Significance: Meetups that explicitly instruct “spend” can generate clustered transaction attempts and provide real-time feedback on merchant readiness and user payment UX in a specific location .
Payment Infrastructure
South Africa — POS-scale Lightning enablement via MoneyBadgerPay
Bitcoin Ekasi cites that MoneyBadgerPay integrated Bitcoin payments into existing merchant POS systems, enabling Lightning payments at 700,000 locations nationwide.
Significance: Integration into existing POS systems implies a distribution strategy that leverages established retail rails rather than requiring bespoke Bitcoin-only terminals, potentially widening reachable checkout points where the integration is activated .
Africa — feature-phone compatibility for Bitcoin financial services (Machankura)
Bitcoin Ekasi also notes that Machankura built a Bitcoin financial services provider that works on non-internet-connected feature phones, described as ubiquitous across Africa .
Significance: Feature-phone operability targets a common constraint for payments—device and connectivity limitations—by extending access beyond smartphones .
Cross-market merchant ops pattern — Blink paycodes + BTC Map listings
Across multiple merchant demonstrations, acceptance details are operationalized with a Blink.sv paycode and a BTC Map listing, often tagged #SPEDN:
- Akatsi, Ghana: Dora’s Food Joint shown accepting sats via Blink (dorasfoodjoint@blink.sv) with a BTC Map listing .
- Ekiti State, Nigeria: T & N Gas shown accepting sats (tosinegas@blink.sv) with BTC Map listing .
- Mozambique: Connectix Lda lists a Lightning paycode (connectix@blink.sv) and BTC Map listing .
Significance: Publishing both how to pay (paycode) and where to find the merchant (map listing) creates a repeatable “acceptance kit” that can support re-use and verification by spenders .
Peer-to-peer payment UX — “cash system in action” framing
Bitcoin Sisonke shares a P2P payment demonstration described as instant and secure, “powered by @blinkbtc,” alongside a Blink paycode and BTC Map listing .
"A peer to peer cash system in Action."
Regulatory Landscape
No regulatory or legal changes affecting Bitcoin payments were included in the provided sources for this period.
Usage Metrics
South Africa — MoneyBadgerPay transaction volume benchmark (contextualized against major retail rails)
MoneyBadgerPay states it is doing R1.5m per month in combined Bitcoin and non-Bitcoin transactions . The same thread contextualizes this as roughly equivalent to what Scan to Pay processes every hour, and claims Pick n Pay does twice that amount every hour.
Significance: These comparisons underscore that, even with active integrations and visible merchant directories, Bitcoin payment volume can remain small relative to high-throughput retail payment rails .
South Africa — acceptance reach metric
As an adoption-capability metric (not volume), Bitcoin Ekasi cites 700,000 locations enabled for Lightning payments through MoneyBadgerPay’s POS integrations .
Emerging Markets
Ghana (Akatsi) — food vendor spends: sats for everyday items
Dora’s Food Joint in Akatsi, Ghana is shown accepting Bitcoin as a medium of exchange via Blink, demonstrated with a purchase of fried eggs paid in sats .
Why it matters: Small-ticket food purchases are a direct test of speed and usability at the point of sale—especially when the merchant is listed for discovery on BTC Map .
Nigeria (Ekiti State) — essential goods (gas cylinders) paid with sats
A community member is shown paying T & N Gas “from wallet to gas cylinder,” with the merchant listed on BTC Map .
Why it matters: Expanding spend categories beyond food into household essentials increases the practical surface area of a local payment economy .
Mozambique — business services accepting Lightning
Connectix Lda (Informatica e Tecnologias) is listed as accepting Lightning payments with a Blink paycode and BTC Map entry .
Why it matters: Service-sector acceptance broadens Bitcoin spending beyond retail/food into B2C tech and business support categories (as presented in the source) .
Community circular-economy framing — “earn, save, spend & repeat”
Bitcoin Chama states its mission as: “Earn, save, spend & Repeat, all in Bitcoin” . It also describes rewarding members with sats for farm work participation and notes a change in how members are spending their sats (Obwanchani Chama referenced; location not specified in the post) .
Why it matters: These are signals of internal community circulation—where sats move as compensation and later spending—rather than one-off promotional acceptance posts .
Adoption Outlook
Signals this period are weighted toward operational merchant onboarding and spend demonstrations—especially via Blink paycodes + BTC Map listings across multiple countries and merchant categories . South Africa stands out for infrastructure scale claims (POS integrations enabling Lightning at 700,000 locations) and for clearer benchmarking that Bitcoin payment volume still trails mainstream retail payment throughput by a wide margin . No new regulatory developments were present in the sources, keeping the focus on execution: where Bitcoin can be spent today, and how quickly that footprint is becoming discoverable and repeatable through standard tooling .
Bitsavers Eduhub
Bitcoin House Bali
Bitcoin Berlín SV 🇸🇻
Major Adoption News
South Africa (Cape Town + Winelands) — more concrete “where to spend Lightning” options
Nick Darlington shared an on-the-ground spending list for Bitcoin Lightning in South Africa, spanning everyday categories (groceries, fuel, coffee, parking) and tourism-adjacent services . Examples include:
- Groceries: Pay at Pick n Pay by scanning the till QR via MoneyBadger (MB) + any Lightning wallet (or scan directly with Blink/Blitz/Layerz) .
- Fuel: Pay at Engen (Scan to Pay) using MB + any Lightning wallet; some wallets can scan directly, and “Total also works” .
- Food & drink:Bootlegger (MB + Lightning; MB recommended for tipping) ; Lazari / Vida & Vagabond via Zapper code → MB → Lightning wallet (or Blink/Blitz/Layerz) .
- Services & travel:Thunder Brothers Car Wash (direct Lightning invoice) ; Franschhoek Wine Tours offers 5% off when paying with BTC ; accommodation via Airbtc.online (example property link provided) .
Why it matters: This is less a single “new merchant” announcement and more a practical spend-path across large retailers and daily-life categories, anchored by specific payment flows (direct Lightning invoices, Zapper-to-Lightning, Scan-to-Pay-to-Lightning) .
Mozambique (Ponta do Ouro) — beach tourism merchant onboarding continues
Brasukas – Bar & Surf in Ponta do Ouro, Mozambique is now accepting Bitcoin via Lightning using a Blink.sv paycode (brasukasbar@blink.sv) . Bitcoin Famba describes it as the second merchant in Ponta do Ouro to accept Bitcoin .
Why it matters: Tourism-facing venues (bar/surf) can generate frequent small-ticket transactions; explicitly tracking “merchant #2” also signals an emerging local cluster rather than a one-off acceptance post .
El Salvador (Berlín) — “Bitcoin-only” event designed around day-to-day spend
The Berlín MOE Experience is promoted as a 3-day Bitcoin-only experience with no fiat and no credit cards. The event also highlights a tour through local landmarks, cafes, and shops that use Bitcoin for everyday transactions , with an example breakfast meetup at Friends Coffee where “Bitcoin even at breakfast” is emphasized .
Why it matters: Time-boxed “Bitcoin-only” events concentrate both merchant and user behavior around payments, functioning as a live test of practical medium-of-exchange readiness in a defined area .
Payment Infrastructure
South Africa — MoneyBadger as a bridge across existing QR rails
Several of the South Africa examples describe MB enabling Lightning payments via Zapper codes and Scan to Pay QR workflows (e.g., Vida/Vagabond via Zapper; Engen via Scan to Pay) . Direct Lightning invoices are also referenced (e.g., Thunder Brothers) .
Supporting discovery links were shared for finding acceptance points:
- BTC Map directory (South Africa view): https://btcmap.org/map#7/-28.99373/23.24707
- MoneyBadger store directory: https://www.moneybadger.co.za/stores
Kenya (JKUAT area) — Lightning positioned as a fee-reduction rail; merchant recruitment focus
Bitsavers Eduhub cites that a student in Kenya is likely to lose KES 400–2,400 per month to mobile money fees, adding that women entrepreneurs lose even more to transactional fees and related frictions . It positions the Bitcoin Lightning Network as offering near-zero fees, instant payments, “no daily limits,” and “no frozen accounts” .
The group says it is building a Bitcoin-powered circular economy around JKUAT and is recruiting female merchants to accept Bitcoin to reduce transaction fees and avoid fraud through reversals (commit link provided) .
Merchant UX pattern — paycodes + mapping for “how to pay / where to find it”
Across multiple posts, merchants share a Lightning Blink.sv paycode plus a BTC Map listing, typically tagged with #spedn—a repeatable pattern that makes acceptance operational and discoverable:
- Kibera: btckiberashop@blink.sv with BTC Map listing
- Kibera: bridgewayshop@blink.sv with BTC Map listing
- Kibera: sokonimboga@blink.sv with BTC Map listing
P2P acquisition tooling — Mostro app emphasizes no-KYC + Nostr
A Spanish-language post describes Mostro as a P2P option “sobre Nostr” with “privacidad garantizada,” and promotes buying Bitcoin on Lightning “rápido y seguro” with “SIN KILL YOUR CUSTOMER” (no-KYC framing), alongside references to open source and decentralization .
Regulatory Landscape
No regulatory or legal changes affecting Bitcoin payments were included in the provided sources for this period.
Usage Metrics
- Kenya: Estimated mobile money fee burden cited at KES 400–2,400/month for a student .
- South Africa (Winelands example):5% discount advertised for paying with BTC at Franschhoek Wine Tours .
No transaction volume figures, wallet usage counts, or time-series adoption statistics were provided in the sources.
Emerging Markets
Kibera — repeated small-ticket Lightning spending across daily goods
Afribit Kibera shared multiple #spedn demonstrations using Blink.sv paycodes and BTC Map listings—covering routine purchases such as bread (“Break first bread in sats!!”) , tomato paste paid “in sats” , and other day-to-day merchant payments framed as “sats circulation” .
Why it matters: These posts emphasize frequent, low-denomination usage (food staples and household items), which is central to evaluating Bitcoin’s viability as everyday money in a local economy .
Cape Town (Khayelitsha) — everyday-language normalization around “sats”
BitcoinLoxion posted a cultural signal from Khayelitsha, describing locals saying “send me sats” instead of “do you have change?”—framed around Lightning-style payments .
Bali (Indonesia) — consumer payments via Fedi in daily routines
Bitcoin House Bali posted that getting a “daily coffee fix” is easier “thanks to Fedi,” tagged with #Bitcoin and shared alongside a video .
Multi-region coordination — Bitcoin circular economy events highlighted
FBCEglobal pointed to communities “already living in the future” via Bitcoin Circular Economies (BCEs) and highlighted two events: #GlobalBCESummit in El Salvador and #AfricaBCESummit in South Africa .
Adoption Outlook
This period’s signals lean toward operationalization and repeatability rather than new regulation or broad quantitative reporting: South Africa content focused on concrete, multi-rail payment paths (direct Lightning, Zapper-to-Lightning, Scan-to-Pay-to-Lightning) backed by directories for discovery . In parallel, multiple emerging-market posts reinforced a consistent “how to pay + where to find it” playbook (Blink.sv paycodes plus BTC Map listings) and continued #spedn demonstrations in daily-life categories—useful indicators for assessing real-world payment viability at small-ticket sizes .
Bitcoin Victoria Falls
Nick Darlington
BitZed
Major Adoption News
Zambia — Bitcoin spending/buying service expands reach via USSD
- What happened: BitZed’s Bitcoin service (for spending and buying Bitcoin) is now fully available to Zambian users via the Machankura USSD code 3848333#.
- Access points: Services are also presented as available on the website and app (https://bitzed.xyz) .
Why it matters: USSD availability can widen practical payment access to users who don’t rely on smartphones or consistent data connections, potentially increasing everyday Bitcoin transaction reach in Zambia .
South Africa (Cape Town) — updated “where to spend” discovery guide
- What happened: BitcoinFriendlySA shared a guide: “Where to spend Bitcoin in Cape Town”.
- Link:https://www.bitcoinfriendlysa.co.za/academy/where-to-spend-bitcoin-in-cape-town.
Why it matters: Merchant discovery content reduces practical friction for day-to-day spend by helping users find real acceptance points in a specific city .
Nigeria (Ekiti State) — additional merchant categories highlighted for Lightning spend
- T & N Gas (gas station): Ado-Ekiti area merchant acceptance is demonstrated via sats payments, referencing Blink.sv (tosinegas@blink.sv), #spedn, and a BTC Map listing (https://btcmap.org/merchant/31451) .
- KJ Stores (retail): Continued sats spending is shown at KJ Stores (adonsken@blink.sv), framed as strengthening a local circular economy, with a BTC Map listing (http://btcmap.org/merchant/30969) .
Why it matters: Demonstrations across everyday categories (fuel + retail) support repeatable payment behavior and broaden the “places you can spend” footprint within a local economy cluster .
Location not specified (source) — food and beverage paid in satoshis at a food court
- What happened: Haven food court (Haven@blink.sv) is shown accepting Bitcoin via Lightning (#spedn), including for tea and juice; BTC Map listing: http://btcmap.org/merchant/26695.
“Evening tea hits different when it’s paid for with Bitcoin”
Why it matters: Repeated, low-friction payment demonstrations in casual dining contexts help normalize Bitcoin as a checkout option (especially when paired with a directory listing for discovery) .
Zambia (Livingstone) — Bitcoin-focused tourism event emphasizes real-world use
- What happened: The Victoria Falls Bitcoin Experience 2026 will run in Livingstone, Zambia (Feb 3–5, 2026), featuring activities including Bitcoin merchant tours and “real-world Bitcoin use” .
Why it matters: Merchant tours and planned “real-world use” concentrate transactions into a short time window, providing a practical venue to test merchant readiness and user payment UX in a tourism-heavy setting .
Payment Infrastructure
Zambia — USSD rail for Bitcoin services (Machankura x BitZed)
- BitZed’s service is accessible through the Machankura USSD code 3848333#, alongside app/web access via https://bitzed.xyz.
Significance: USSD rails can enable broader participation in Bitcoin payments where smartphone/data constraints exist, potentially increasing payment viability across more user segments .
Location not specified (source) — “no internet” payments using fedibtc
- What happened: A fresh vegetables merchant is shown accepting #Sats payments without internet using the @fedibtc app, with references to @fedimint and a BTC Map listing (https://btcmap.org/merchant/26332) .
Significance: Offline-capable payment flows directly address connectivity constraints that can block day-to-day Bitcoin spending in some environments .
Cross-cutting pattern — Lightning identifiers + directory listing
- Multiple merchant posts pair a Blink.sv paycode with a BTC Map listing, often tagged with #spedn (examples include tosinegas@blink.sv and adonsken@blink.sv) .
Significance: Publishing both how to pay (paycode) and where to find the merchant (map listing) makes acceptance more operational and discoverable for repeat use .
Regulatory Landscape
No regulatory or legal changes affecting Bitcoin payments were included in the provided sources for this period.
Usage Metrics
No transaction volume, adoption statistics, or growth metrics were included in the provided sources for this period. (Sources largely provided individual merchant demonstrations and directory links.)
Emerging Markets
Nigeria (Ekiti State) — community-driven Lightning spending across everyday needs
- Fuel: T & N Gas shown accepting sats via Blink.sv and #spedn, with BTC Map listing support .
- Retail: KJ Stores spend is framed around strengthening a local circular economy, with #spedn and BTC Map listing .
Why it matters: Repeated spending demonstrations across essential categories support circular-economy-style usage patterns (earn/spend locally), making payment viability more tangible than one-off merchant announcements .
Zambia — payments access and tourism-linked real-world usage
- Access expansion: BitZed available to Zambian users via USSD (3848333#), with app/web access also referenced .
- Tourism activity: Livingstone’s Feb 3–5 event explicitly emphasizes merchant tours and real-world Bitcoin use .
Why it matters: Combining broader access rails (USSD) with curated real-world usage environments (merchant tours) can accelerate practical adoption by increasing both capability and opportunity to transact .
Location not specified (source) — street food payments via Lightning
- A food vendor (Ntombana) is shown accepting sats for “Bunnychow,” with Blink.sv paycode (Ntombana@blink.sv), and a BTC Map listing (https://btcmap.org/merchant/node:13063239335) .
Why it matters: Street-food and small-ticket transactions are frequent, practical stress tests for payment UX; pairing them with a directory link improves real-world discoverability .
Adoption Outlook
This period’s signals emphasize practical payment rails and discoverability rather than new regulation or metrics: USSD access for Bitcoin services in Zambia expands potential reach beyond app-only users , while multiple merchant posts continue to standardize around Blink paycodes + #spedn + BTC Map listings to make “where and how to pay” clear in everyday settings . Events explicitly designed around “real-world Bitcoin use” (Livingstone, Zambia) add a structured environment for concentrated spending and merchant readiness testing .
₿itcoin Research 🇧🇴
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Wicked
Major Adoption News
United States — verified merchant count crosses 5,000; Square integration framed as the next accelerant
- A data point circulating via BTC Map: there are now 5,000+ verified Bitcoin-accepting merchants in the U.S.. Joe Nakamoto noted this exceeded his expectation of 2,000–3,000 merchants, attributing the figure to @btcmap.
- The Federation of Bitcoin Circular Economies (FBCE) argued that Square integrating a Bitcoin payment option into all U.S. point-of-sale terminals could quickly expand adoption, projecting 5,000 → 50,000 merchants (projection, not a reported result) .
Why it matters: A verified merchant count provides a concrete baseline for “where you can spend,” while POS-wide enablement claims (if executed as described) directly target checkout availability at scale .
Bolivia — BTCMap-listed acceptance expands; Santa Cruz de la Sierra cluster highlighted
- Bitcoin merchant adoption in Bolivia was reported at 75 places accepting Bitcoin as a payment method (as of Jan 24, 2026) .
- A separate thread focused on Santa Cruz de la Sierra: the number of businesses accepting Bitcoin there is described as increasing on BTC Map, and TiosPizza in downtown Santa Cruz was welcomed as a new venue accepting Bitcoin . Another post cited 24 businesses already accept Bitcoin in Santa Cruz de la Sierra and linked a local BTC Map directory .
Why it matters: Bolivia’s national count and city-level mapping links combine into actionable discovery (“what exists now” + “where to find it”), which is essential for repeatable payments .
El Salvador (El Zonte) — a local salon highlights continued service-category acceptance
- Lily Esquivel Beauty & Makeup in El Zonte, El Salvador (owned by Ana Lilian) accepts Bitcoin and cash.
Why it matters: Service businesses broaden spend categories beyond food/retail and can create recurring local payment flows .
Zambia (Livingstone) — Lightning acceptance posted for a general merchant
- GM General Dealers in Livingstone, Zambia accepts Bitcoin payments via Lightning (⚡⚡) using Blink.sv.
Why it matters: Lightning-tagged merchant postings tied to a named processor suggest a replicable “turn on and use” acceptance pattern for in-person payments .
Payment Infrastructure
Kenya — mobile-money-linked spending rail: Tando + M-Pesa
- Tando promotes “effortless bitcoin spending” anywhere M-Pesa is accepted in Kenya, with Lightning-fast payments and zero transaction fees. Download link: https://tando.me/download/.
Significance: Directly positioning Bitcoin spend at M-Pesa acceptance points focuses on everyday usability (where people already pay) rather than one-off merchant pilots .
Blink paycodes + merchant mapping + NFC spend UX (Africa-focused examples)
-
Multiple merchant posts use Blink.sv paycodes alongside BTC Map links as the “how to pay + where to find it” pattern:
- btckiberashop (Kibera): pay code
btckiberashop@blink.svand demonstrations of an NFC Bolt card for Lightning payments . - Diamond saloon (Ado-Ekiti, Nigeria): haircut paid using #spedn and @blink.sv.
- TS Foodstuff: Bitcoin payments via Blink.sv (#spedn) with BTC Map listing referenced in the post .
- btckiberashop (Kibera): pay code
Significance: Repeating identifiers (Blink paycode) plus directory references (BTC Map links) make payments operationally legible for users—helping convert “acceptance claims” into spendable locations .
Merchant discovery as a named enabler
- From a BTC Map post connected to a Las Vegas merchant story:
“That Bitcoin Map is helping us out a lot.”
Significance: Merchant discovery is explicitly framed as a practical contributor to payment adoption efforts, not just a directory .
Regulatory Landscape
Canada — proposals targeting spend friction
-
Bitcoin Coalition Canada said it recommended to the Government of Canada:
- removing capital gains tax for Bitcoin held for 1 year, and
- a de minimis tax exemption for purchases under $10,000 using BTC .
Significance: Both recommendations are structured around reducing tax complexity at the moment Bitcoin is used for payments (by threshold) and reducing longer-term tax friction (by holding period) .
United States — bill introduced referencing taxes payable in Bitcoin
- A post amplified that a new strategic Bitcoin Reserve bill was introduced in Congress, and claimed it would allow taxes to be paid in Bitcoin and include no capital gains tax (as described in the post) .
Significance: If advanced beyond introduction, such provisions would directly affect the practicality of routine spending and tax settlement in BTC; for now, the cited source reports the bill’s introduction and described features .
Usage Metrics
- United States:5,000+ verified Bitcoin-accepting merchants (as stated, via BTC Map references) .
- Bolivia (national):75 places accepting Bitcoin as a payment method (Jan 24, 2026) .
- Bolivia (historical snapshot):33 places as of May 22, 2025, with a regional breakdown (La Paz 13; Cochabamba 12; Santa Cruz 4; Tarija 3; Beni 1) .
- Santa Cruz de la Sierra (Bolivia):24 businesses listed as accepting Bitcoin, with a linked local BTC Map directory .
Emerging Markets
Tanzania — Bitcoin-funded social project paying artisans in BTC
- In Tanzania, the Hedhi Huru project is described as being made in Tanzania, with artisans paid in Bitcoin, and fully funded with Bitcoin via @geyserfund.
Why it matters: This frames Bitcoin payments as a direct wage/payment rail inside a funded local initiative, not only consumer checkout .
Kenya (Kibera) — small-ticket “sats” spending and NFC demonstrations
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Afribit Kibera posted day-to-day spend activity described as kids deciding to spend sats at a shop immediately after dance training, using Blink pay code
btckiberashop@blink.sv.
Why it matters: Small-ticket spends and repeat demos emphasize usability in routine contexts—key for a circular-economy style payment loop .
Nigeria (Ekiti) — services and merchant-to-merchant payments
- BitcoinEkiti shared service-category spends such as a haircut paid at Diamond saloon (Ado-Ekiti) within a “circular economy” framing .
- A separate example shows dry cleaning paid with sats under #spedn, “powered by BITCOIN EKITI” .
A recurring community framing was explicit in merchant-to-merchant patronage:
“When merchants support merchants, the economy grows stronger.”
Why it matters: Service payments and business-to-business spends expand beyond retail snacks into broader economic activity, strengthening the “earn in BTC → spend in BTC” narrative at the local level .
Adoption Outlook
This period’s signals cluster around three momentum drivers:
- Directory-verified growth signals: a headline 5,000+ verified U.S. merchant figure and granular city/national counts in Bolivia reinforce BTC Map-style listings as a measurement and discovery layer for payments .
- Checkout enablement narratives: claims of broad Square POS Bitcoin enablement and repeated Blink paycode usage show the ecosystem’s emphasis on simplifying “how to accept” and “how to pay” at the point of sale .
- Policy attention on spend frictions: proposals in Canada and a referenced U.S. bill introduction both focus on taxes—one of the most direct sources of complexity for day-to-day Bitcoin payments .