I'm on the ground here for a few months each year.

The headline isn't far off, but doesn't mention that merchants need to opt in / enable it one store at a time. They have agreed with HQs of big chains to roll it out, but it's still up to the merchants to update their settings for it to work. When I come across a merchant that doesn't have it enabled, I ask management to check in with their HQ on how to turn it on.

So I'd take the 650k with a grain of salt. They added up all the franchisees of the companies they have on-boarded with Scan to Pay, not the ones that have completed btc rails setup yet. It will end up in that ballpark eventually but isn't there yet.

What it also doesn't mention is the other player, Zapper, which is also going through the same process with their ~30k merchants.

Now, having put that number into perspective, this is what it actually looks like:

There are enough merchants accepting btc to largely get by. I can buy groceries, gas, water + electricity, some clothing, our phones and even medicine with btc. More and more restaurants are accepting it through the same providers.

But there are still several key things I haven't found a way to pay with btc yet (most notably any type of insurance.) So there isn't complete coverage yet, but it sure is pretty impressive already.

Wrt maps:

Other than Pick n Pay and a few smaller shops, I also noticed the lack of stores on BTC Map. I found the map from MoneyBadger more useful. They add the ones that have actually been tested by their community.

For context, Zapper, Scan to Pay et al. get their btc rails from MoneyBadger. This is an app that translates the QR payment codes into a LN invoice your wallet understands. You hit send on your wallet, and a second later, the merchant gets a confirmation of your payment.

edit: Just realized they broke their own map. It currently only shows a few outlets from a coffee chain. So much for finding their map more reliable lol.