Carel van Wyk is the founder of Money Badger, a business that focuses on making Bitcoin payments simpler and safer. They were responsible for introducing Pick n Pay to this payment option in 2017. At the time, the potential of the technology was interesting, but network fees made it unprofitable. With the development of the new Lightning technology, network capacity issues became less problematic and the implementation of Bitcoin in the supermarket chain went from a test store in Mossel Bay to all stores across the country, including Pick n Pay Clothing and Express shops.

A year ago, Bitcoin turnover in Pick n Pay stores was R220,000 per month. It is now over R1 million, still a paltry amount in terms of gross income, but a five-fold increase nevertheless.

‘We got enthusiastic about Bitcoin in South Africa because we live here’, says Van Wyk. ‘Also, we like building things.’