By Landon Manning
Pick n Pay, a South African grocery chain that is one of the largest in sub-Saharan Africa, has recently carried out a move to join the worldwide movement of accepting bitcoin in stores.
On November 1, Pick n Pay began to roll out bitcoin payments to 39 of its store locations, claiming that the next several months will see this new program extended to all of its locations. This figure includes roughly 2,000 storefront locations in South Africa and around a 16% market share of the nation’s grocery sector. In addition to these operations in South Africa itself, Pick n Pay operates in a more limited capacity in six other African nations. In other words, a complete bitcoin adoption from this grocery chain would mean that millions of people in new markets would have an opportunity to use bitcoin in an easily accessible setting.
This development is an expansion of the 10 stores previously running a trial version in the past several months. With the expansion, customers are now able to seamlessly conduct transactions with bitcoin in the 39 stores. The payments processor used for this is simple and convenient, allowing both on-chain bitcoin transactions and near-instantaneous micropayments on the Lightning Network. Customers are able to pay their grocery tabs with bitcoin stored in any wallet or self-custody option of their choosing, and transaction fees typically add up to about 70 cents.
In a press release, the company claimed, “Increasingly cryptocurrency is being used by those under-served by traditional banking systems, or by those wanting to pay and exchange money in a cheaper and really convenient way. Many companies are responding to this by accepting bitcoin.” Carel van Wyk, founder of CryptoConvert, a firm setting up these payment options, said, “Crypto payments are still in their infancy in South Africa, but we are already seeing adoption in parts of our society that haven’t previously had access to traditional financial systems.”
It is this level of adoption, especially by unbanked people, that can make bitcoin a really revolutionary vision for economics in the 21st century. Although the world of bitcoin can seem intimidating to the uninitiated or treated only as a speculative investment in some circles, the fact remains that it is easier for millions of people worldwide to begin using a decentralized internet currency than it is to pass through the bureaucratic hoops required to have a bank account. It is for this reason that use cases like Pick n Pay are so important, as they allow a bitcoin user to carry out the regular transactions of life without needing to use fiat currency and truly realize that a decentralized vision for the future is possible.
It is fortunate for the world that this new and prominent adoption is one of several that have been taking place over the past few years. El Salvador made history when it adopted bitcoin as legal tender in September 2021 and some of the world’s most famous international chains like Starbucks and McDonalds began deploying support for bitcoin payments in the country soon after. Speaking at the Bitcoin 2022 conference in Miami, Strike CEO Jack Mallers articulated a vision for this becoming a reality all over the world. Strike has partnered with NCR, Shopify and Blackhawk to set up the infrastructure to allow bitcoin and Lightning Network payments all over the United States. While addressing the Bitcoin community, Mallers referred to the announcement as “our announcement,” and said, “You’re gonna be able to walk into a grocery store, to Whole Foods, to a Chipotle” and pay with bitcoin in the near future.
But even as Strike’s ambitious project is being developed, it is reassuring to know that totally unrelated chains like Pick n Pay are executing similar visions completely on their own initiative. Pick n Pay’s decision to bet on bitcoin shows just how easy it can be for massive chains to accept it on a large scale and introduce bitcoin to millions of potential users, all while keeping the fanfare relatively low until the project was ready to be launched. As bitcoin adoption gets more and more established around the world, it will become easier for more chains like Pick n Pay to simply decide to join the future and propel the Bitcoin community to new heights. Even as the speculative value of bitcoin continues to stagnate for those only looking for a quick profit, the worldwide use cases of bitcoin are only building as it becomes more and more an easy-to-use currency.
The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.
