Nicholas Otieno
02 November 2022 at 02:25
The development of Pick n Pay means that South African shoppers can now buy food and other goods online using Bitcoins.
Pick n Pay, a major supermarket chain in South Africa, announced on Tuesday that it now accepts bitcoin as payment in its online store, according to a local media report.
Customers can now pay with Bitcoin (BTC) using any Lightning Network-enabled app, such as BlueWallet or Muun, to purchase groceries, hygiene products, household supplies, and many other products on offer at the supermarket. The Lightning Network is a layer 2 solution built on the Bitcoin blockchain. It speeds up transactions while making it cheaper than the Bitcoin mainnet, making it more attractive to trading institutions.
Pick n Pay said it had tested the payment method in 10 stores over the past five months, and it is now available in 39 stores across the country. The supermarket plans to roll out the payment method to the rest of its stores across the country in the coming months, according to the report.
In a statement, a Pick n Pay spokesperson described Bitcoin transactions as easy and secure, just like swiping debit or credit cards, and very affordable. “Customers scan the QR code from the app and accept the rand conversion rate on their smartphones at the time of transaction,” the representative said in the report.
South Africa remains one of the major regions with healthy cryptocurrency usage in Africa. there to rise The popularity of cryptocurrencies, especially Bitcoin, in the country. This is due to the high exposure among people as the country recorded more than six million people exposed to cryptocurrencies.
South Africa ranks eighth globally in terms of cryptocurrency ownership among the public – 7.1% of its population owns a cryptocurrency as of 2021, more than Britain or Brazil – According to To the United Nations Trade Agency. Cryptocurrency ownership is also widespread in Kenya and Nigeria among African countries.
Many young people in South Africa are getting involved in the hope of making money, despite authorities and financial experts warning of the risks of fraud, huge losses and psychological suffering.
South Africa last month Announce Cryptocurrency assets as a financial product as part of efforts to bring digital assets more under the jurisdiction of local authorities and make it easier for regulators to monitor the market and help protect consumers.
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