* . *
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact
Monday, June 2, 2025
Earth-News
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Rising stars: Young classical musicians surging on social media – Yahoo

    Meet the Next Generation of Classical Music Sensations Making Waves on Social Media!

    Devin Harjes Dies: ‘Manifest’ & ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Actor Was 41 – WyomingNews.com

    Tragic Loss: Devin Harjes, Star of ‘Manifest’ and ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ Passes Away at 41

    Why Starz Entertainment Stock Soared Today – The Motley Fool

    Unpacking the Surge: What Fueled Starz Entertainment’s Stock Explosion Today!

    Unveiling the Enigmatic: First Looks at Destruction and Puck in ‘The Sandman

    Jackie Chan Reveals This Family Member ‘Never Watched’ The Whole Of Any Of His Movies – Yahoo

    Jackie Chan Reveals This Family Member ‘Never Watched’ The Whole Of Any Of His Movies – Yahoo

    Mavs CEO holds firm on new arena, entertainment district in Dallas – Dallas News

    Mavs CEO Stands Strong on Vision for New Arena and Entertainment District in Dallas

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Prosecutors accuse men of exporting U.S. military technology to China – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

    Men Charged with Illegally Exporting U.S. Military Technology to China

    ROLAND’S NEW WIRELESS TRIGGER TECHNOLOGY, PORTER & DAVIES ON TOUR, NEW 64 AUDIO ASPIRE UNIVERSAL IEM MODELS, WAVES FREE PLUGIN PACK – Modern Drummer Magazine

    ROLAND’S NEW WIRELESS TRIGGER TECHNOLOGY, PORTER & DAVIES ON TOUR, NEW 64 AUDIO ASPIRE UNIVERSAL IEM MODELS, WAVES FREE PLUGIN PACK – Modern Drummer Magazine

    This giant microwave may change the future of war – MIT Technology Review

    Revolutionizing Warfare: The Impact of a Game-Changing Giant Microwave

    Bajeed Pattan Joins Forbes Technology Council as Innovation Leader – PRWeb

    Bajeed Pattan Takes the Helm as Innovation Leader at Forbes Technology Council!

    Lafayette Regional Technology Council – Tech Leadership That’s Homegrown and Future-Focused – Discover Lafayette

    Lafayette Regional Technology Council – Tech Leadership That’s Homegrown and Future-Focused – Discover Lafayette

    Drone technology demo in Cambria County showcases future of lifesaving medical deliveries – local21news.com

    Revolutionizing Healthcare: Drone Technology Takes Flight for Lifesaving Medical Deliveries in Cambria County

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
  • Home
  • Business
  • Entertainment
    Rising stars: Young classical musicians surging on social media – Yahoo

    Meet the Next Generation of Classical Music Sensations Making Waves on Social Media!

    Devin Harjes Dies: ‘Manifest’ & ‘Boardwalk Empire’ Actor Was 41 – WyomingNews.com

    Tragic Loss: Devin Harjes, Star of ‘Manifest’ and ‘Boardwalk Empire,’ Passes Away at 41

    Why Starz Entertainment Stock Soared Today – The Motley Fool

    Unpacking the Surge: What Fueled Starz Entertainment’s Stock Explosion Today!

    Unveiling the Enigmatic: First Looks at Destruction and Puck in ‘The Sandman

    Jackie Chan Reveals This Family Member ‘Never Watched’ The Whole Of Any Of His Movies – Yahoo

    Jackie Chan Reveals This Family Member ‘Never Watched’ The Whole Of Any Of His Movies – Yahoo

    Mavs CEO holds firm on new arena, entertainment district in Dallas – Dallas News

    Mavs CEO Stands Strong on Vision for New Arena and Entertainment District in Dallas

  • General
  • Health
  • News

    Cracking the Code: Why China’s Economic Challenges Aren’t Shaking Markets, Unlike America’s” – Bloomberg

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Trump’s Narrow Window to Spread the Truth About Harris

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    Israel-Gaza war live updates: Hamas leader Ismail Haniyeh assassinated in Iran, group says

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    PAP Boss to Niger Delta Youths, Stay Away from the Protest

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Court Restricts Protests In Lagos To Freedom, Peace Park

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Fans React to Jazz Jennings’ Inspiring Weight Loss Journey

    Trending Tags

    • Trump Inauguration
    • United Stated
    • White House
    • Market Stories
    • Election Results
  • Science
  • Sports
  • Technology
    Prosecutors accuse men of exporting U.S. military technology to China – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

    Men Charged with Illegally Exporting U.S. Military Technology to China

    ROLAND’S NEW WIRELESS TRIGGER TECHNOLOGY, PORTER & DAVIES ON TOUR, NEW 64 AUDIO ASPIRE UNIVERSAL IEM MODELS, WAVES FREE PLUGIN PACK – Modern Drummer Magazine

    ROLAND’S NEW WIRELESS TRIGGER TECHNOLOGY, PORTER & DAVIES ON TOUR, NEW 64 AUDIO ASPIRE UNIVERSAL IEM MODELS, WAVES FREE PLUGIN PACK – Modern Drummer Magazine

    This giant microwave may change the future of war – MIT Technology Review

    Revolutionizing Warfare: The Impact of a Game-Changing Giant Microwave

    Bajeed Pattan Joins Forbes Technology Council as Innovation Leader – PRWeb

    Bajeed Pattan Takes the Helm as Innovation Leader at Forbes Technology Council!

    Lafayette Regional Technology Council – Tech Leadership That’s Homegrown and Future-Focused – Discover Lafayette

    Lafayette Regional Technology Council – Tech Leadership That’s Homegrown and Future-Focused – Discover Lafayette

    Drone technology demo in Cambria County showcases future of lifesaving medical deliveries – local21news.com

    Revolutionizing Healthcare: Drone Technology Takes Flight for Lifesaving Medical Deliveries in Cambria County

    Trending Tags

    • Nintendo Switch
    • CES 2017
    • Playstation 4 Pro
    • Mark Zuckerberg
No Result
View All Result
Earth-News
No Result
View All Result
Home Business

Pick n Pay embraces Bitcoin: Transforming transactions and financial freedom

May 6, 2024
in Business
Pick n Pay embraces Bitcoin: Transforming transactions and financial freedom
Share on FacebookShare on Twitter

Viv Vermaak paints a vivid picture of the practical application of Bitcoin at Pick n Pay, showcasing the excitement and potential of cryptocurrency for financial freedom. The experience of buying groceries with Bitcoin not only represents a new way of transacting but also symbolizes the democratization of the financial system. It illustrates how individuals like Vermaak are embracing this technology, overcoming initial apprehensions, and experiencing the thrill of participating in a groundbreaking financial paradigm shift.

Sign up for your early morning brew of the BizNews Insider to keep you up to speed with the content that matters. The newsletter will land in your inbox at 5:30am weekdays. Register here.

By Viv Vermaak

Earlier this week I bought groceries at the Pick n Pay with Bitcoin. It was my first time. I felt as it must have felt when the first sheep trader gave the seller a lump of gold and both merely trusted the other that the lump of metal represented a healthy sheep or its equivalent. I bought lamb chops and toilet paper. To me, it represented a new financial freedom.

It was the cashier’s first time too. We had to figure out the scanning system and options on her terminal together. ‘I don’t understand?’ she asked. ‘Where did that money just come from?’ I pointed to somewhere in the sky where I would imagine the digital cloud to be, waved my hands around vaguely like a car guard and replied: ‘The air….’

‘Hau!’ she said. ‘I also want some of that air money.’

I had no inkling either.

Like many people, I was afraid of the new technology and avoided attempts to demystify it. Gareth de Vaux, a Bitcoin aficionado made me look again. His indefatigable fervour, in-depth knowledge of cryptocurrency and its integration into his life were so infectious that I wanted some of that spark. He helped me load the apps and buy some Bitcoin. He came all the way to Pick n Pay Sunningdale to show me and Innocentia the ropes. I saw his eyes widen and his head shake slightly when I started talking about the ‘air money’ but he didn’t intervene as it looked like I had almost parked the car and he didn’t want to cause a collision. I asked him how he would explain Bitcoin to the teller. The man is a geek genius, but he tried. This was his first attempt: 

‘Bitcoin is a digital currency that runs on a computer network. The network doesn’t transfer rands or dollars – it’s completely new money not issued nor controlled by a government. Anyone can access the network with any device, and likewise, anyone can become a part of the network – no licensing or registration is required. Bitcoin uses a system of mathematical rules that allows you to send money to anyone you choose, without the need for a bank or government to process or approve the transaction. Even after many attempts before and after Bitcoin, it is still the only system discovered that runs without central control. This means that no entity can take your Bitcoin if you protect it properly, it can’t block your payments, and it can’t create Bitcoin on a whim like governments do with their own currency to get themselves out of trouble at the expense of their citizens’ purchasing power.’

Read more: RW Johnson: Still searching for SA’s first good President

It is a great summary, but people like me and Innocentia will just look at you and go: ‘Hau!’

I asked if he could simplify it. It was a good exercise for both of us.

‘Bitcoin is a new type of money that works over the internet. You can send Bitcoin with an app on your phone or computer to a shop or other people anywhere in the world.’

For people like Gareth, Bitcoin is more than a new currency; it represents an almost parallel financial universe where you can circumvent centralised power structures and escape the constraints of big government and Big Brother. It is an ideological conviction as much as a way to be financially savvy. ‘What’s in it for me? Full self-sovereignty. It is the only asset that you have full control over. Unseizable, uncensorable and ‘inflatable’. This makes it a good savings vehicle. To me, it gives an asymmetric risk/reward bet to the upside’.

I was exposed to Gareth’s vision of Bitcoin when he was speaking at a conference, but it only became a reality to me when he said I could use it at Pick n Pay to buy groceries. Before that, it was science-fiction; pie in the sky next to the air money.

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.’ 

As an electronic engineer, he is excited about the autonomy and entrepreneurial scope the technology offers. ‘Bitcoin makes it easier for anyone to start building things. That is what South Africa needs – builders and creators. Our country is filled with such people, we must just lower the barrier to entry and give them the freedom and the tools’.

I asked Van Wyk how we would explain the concept of Bitcoin to a supermarket teller as he appeared to be aghast at my ‘air money’ elucidation. He suggested referring to it in the way Bitcoin was originally introduced: ‘electronic cash’. 

‘Explain to her that Bitcoin is a currency, similar to Rand, Dollar, Pound or Kwacha. Exactly as she is used to understanding a credit card as a plastic placeholder representing cash in a bank, the Bitcoin wallet is an electronic placeholder for Bitcoin electronically.’  

For fun, I will probably add that all of them are advances on keeping cash in your mattress, or, if you are a president, your sofa. He adds that the expectation was initially that people would use it for the cashless convenience and safety of it, but that users soon started hanging on to their *sats as either a speculative asset or an investment.

Van Wyk is quick to add that people anticipating their Bitcoin to be completely out of reach of government are in for a surprise, but it does offer small businesses in the township easy access to a financial system without a bank account, a tax number or expensive infrastructure. All you need is WiFi and a cell phone, which most people have already.

The development of this technology has also not gone unnoticed by the SARB (South African Reserve Bank) which has mentioned it as part of its digital roadmap in terms of expanding cryptocurrencies and electronic payments in the service of underprivileged communities. At the moment, the SA government has not gone after Bitcoin by interfering with unrealised capital gains, but one never knows.

Read more: Jacob Zuma’s comeback: A political headache for the ANC

For Bitcoin to become a more mainstream currency and escape the ‘fringe’ or ‘scam’ label, it will have to work in practice for more people, as it is doing for me now. Herman Viviers runs Bitcoin Ekasi, a surfing NPO in the Mossel Bay area. His surfing coaches get their salaries in Bitcoin and they all do their shopping at Pick n Pay with Bitcoin. He never explained to the young township surfers how blockchain technology worked. He simply took all of them to the local Pick n Pay and showed them how to buy something with it. 

‘Our team understands that it’s money, not necessarily because they understand how it works, but because they use it every day. The moment they came back with their apple, their Coke or their packet of chips, they understood it exactly’.

That is how it went for me as well. Once you do it, you get it. 

I started with R1,000 worth of sats and forgot about it because I was apprehensive about how it worked. Now I have almost R3,000 worth. I am not a serious investor, but it is exciting to see something growing in a way I have never experienced my Rands doing. 

It is exhilarating to embrace something as potentially groundbreaking as the printing press or the internet. It might only be 1-ply loo paper in my cupboard, but it represents the democratisation of a financial system, and I won’t simply wipe my ass with it, despite understanding its inherent volatility. I’m treating it with curiosity and awe and the joy of learning new things.

I am going back to Innocentia tomorrow; I want to show her something.

*’Sats’ is short for Satoshis, the smallest unit of Bitcoin (BTC). One Satoshi (sat) is equal to 0.00000001 BTC (one hundred millionth of a Bitcoin). In other words, there are 100,000,000 satoshis in a Bitcoin.

[For more information on Bitcoin Ekasi: https://bitcoinekasi.com ]

Read also:

Sakeliga attacking ‘next-level’ BEE, advises more State-proofing no matter who wins Election’24
Right of Reply: Gideon Joubert, SAGA on gun ownership in SA
SA’s crime crisis: Urgent calls for decentralized policing, legal reforms – Woode-Smith

This article was first published by Daily Friend and is republished with permission

Visited 13 times, 13 visit(s) today

>>> Read full article>>>
Copyright for syndicated content belongs to the linked Source : BizNews – https://www.biznews.com/sarenewal/2024/05/05/pick-n-pay-enbraces-bitcoin

Tags: Bitcoinbusinessembraces
Previous Post

Anglo CEO faces off with Gwede Mantashe amid BHP bid battle

Next Post

Andrew Kenny: Does good policy always lose votes?

Black Book Research: Health Plans Double Down on AI-Powered Fraud and Claims Integrity Solutions Amid Rising Audit Pressures – Newswire :) Press Release Distribution

Health Plans Embrace AI to Combat Fraud and Enhance Claims Integrity Amid Growing Audit Challenges

June 2, 2025
Opinion | The Politics and Perils of Pornography – The New York Times

Navigating the Complex Landscape of Pornography: Politics, Perils, and Perspectives

June 2, 2025
Prosecutors accuse men of exporting U.S. military technology to China – Milwaukee Journal Sentinel

Men Charged with Illegally Exporting U.S. Military Technology to China

June 2, 2025
Yankees Trade Idea Reunites Aaron Judge With Former Outfielder – Yahoo Sports

Yankees Trade Idea Reunites Aaron Judge With Former Outfielder – Yahoo Sports

June 2, 2025
Frans and Liu receive outstanding paper in landscape ecology award – Michigan State University

Frans and Liu receive outstanding paper in landscape ecology award – Michigan State University

June 2, 2025
‘Amazing Worlds of Science Fiction and Science Fact’ Review: An Education in Exoplanets – WSJ

Exploring the Fascinating Realms of Science Fiction and Fact: A Journey Through Exoplanets

June 2, 2025
2-Year-Old Prodigy Joins ‘High IQ’ Club Mensa as Youngest Member Ever – ScienceAlert

Meet the 2-Year-Old Prodigy Who Just Became Mensa’s Youngest Member Ever!

June 2, 2025
Labubu Fever Ignites a Global Craze for Lifestyle and Investment – iChongqing

Labubu Fever Ignites a Global Craze for Lifestyle and Investment – iChongqing

June 2, 2025
Erin Hills ‘dominates’ Nelly Korda at U.S. Women’s Open, where she finished second – Golfweek

Nelly Korda Falls Short at U.S. Women’s Open as Erin Hills Takes Center Stage

June 2, 2025
Economy Shrank Less Than Previously Thought in First Quarter – Investopedia

Economy Shrank Less Than Previously Thought in First Quarter – Investopedia

June 2, 2025

Categories

Archives

June 2025
MTWTFSS
 1
2345678
9101112131415
16171819202122
23242526272829
30 
« May    
Earth-News.info

The Earth News is an independent English-language daily published Website from all around the World News

Browse by Category

  • Business (20,132)
  • Ecology (659)
  • Economy (673)
  • Entertainment (21,580)
  • General (15,256)
  • Health (9,717)
  • Lifestyle (676)
  • News (22,149)
  • People (675)
  • Politics (683)
  • Science (15,894)
  • Sports (21,179)
  • Technology (15,661)
  • World (661)

Recent News

Black Book Research: Health Plans Double Down on AI-Powered Fraud and Claims Integrity Solutions Amid Rising Audit Pressures – Newswire :) Press Release Distribution

Health Plans Embrace AI to Combat Fraud and Enhance Claims Integrity Amid Growing Audit Challenges

June 2, 2025
Opinion | The Politics and Perils of Pornography – The New York Times

Navigating the Complex Landscape of Pornography: Politics, Perils, and Perspectives

June 2, 2025
  • About
  • Advertise
  • Privacy & Policy
  • Contact

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

No Result
View All Result

© 2023 earth-news.info

Go to mobile version