CD189: MONEYBADGER - BITCOIN PAYMENTS IN SOUTH AFRICA
Fri Jan 23 2026
Carel van Wyk is the founder and CEO of MoneyBadger. MoneyBadger enables easy bitcoin payments at 650 thousand stores in South Africa.
MoneyBadger on Nostr: https://primal.net/p/nprofile1qqsz85k206vm3vqdmlvcy9l4kyfqchlnf4hnctasxufa3ph0ck9decgpk49rf
MoneyBadger on X: https://x.com/MoneyBadgerPay
Wesbite: https://www.moneybadger.co.za/
EPISODE: 189
BLOCK: 933542
PRICE: 1112 sats per dollar
(00:03:26) What is Money Badger? Mission and merchant focus
(00:05:13) Paying anywhere in South Africa
(00:05:27) 650,000 locations
(00:07:04) Leveraging existing QR payment rails and the Pick n Pay breakthrough
(00:10:01) How the flow works: bridging proprietary QR to Lightning
(00:11:18) MoneyBadger app as translator vs. using any Lightning wallet
(00:13:04) Fiat settlement, volatility handling, and business model
(00:17:07) Why no Money Badger wallet? Integrations with Blink, Zeus, Aqua
(00:20:20) A clever LNURL/Lightning Address pattern to decode merchant QRs
(00:23:39) Pragmatic, a bit hacky, and works across wallets
(00:28:04) Replicability beyond SA: Kenya’s M‑Pesa, Ghana, Latin America
(00:32:10) Creating demand: Bitcoin Ekasi as proof-of-use for Pick n Pay
(00:35:15) Real usage: growth to ~5k tx/month and $200k volume
(00:39:40) Who spends Bitcoin? From cash users to OGs and ideologues
(00:42:34) Incentives and the challenge of moving the middle
(00:43:42) Tax context in South Africa: capital gains thresholds
(00:46:59) UX talk: tap-to-pay vs. QR, hardware realities and patience
(00:49:12) Beyond POS: treasury, suppliers, and stablecoin pull
(00:51:03) Bitcoin vs. stablecoins in SA usage; Luno/Binance integrations
(00:55:07) Wild flexibility: paying with almost any token via partners
(00:57:46) Urgency to prove Bitcoin as money before it’s siloed
(00:58:00) Hypothetical: Square/Cash App design vs. bridge approach
(01:03:41) Consumer friction at checkout and signaling acceptance
(01:07:38) Tipping, bridges to Venmo/Cash App, and cash realities
(01:09:19) Call to action: spend Bitcoin to create demand
(01:11:08) Wrap-up: plans to visit SA, links, and farewell
more info on the show: https://citadeldispatch.com
learn more about me: https://odell.xyz
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Carel van Wyk is the founder and CEO of MoneyBadger. MoneyBadger enables easy bitcoin payments at 650 thousand stores in South Africa. MoneyBadger on Nostr: https://primal.net/p/nprofile1qqsz85k206vm3vqdmlvcy9l4kyfqchlnf4hnctasxufa3ph0ck9decgpk49rf MoneyBadger on X: https://x.com/MoneyBadgerPay Wesbite: https://www.moneybadger.co.za/ EPISODE: 189 BLOCK: 933542 PRICE: 1112 sats per dollar (00:03:26) What is Money Badger? Mission and merchant focus (00:05:13) Paying anywhere in South Africa (00:05:27) 650,000 locations (00:07:04) Leveraging existing QR payment rails and the Pick n Pay breakthrough (00:10:01) How the flow works: bridging proprietary QR to Lightning (00:11:18) MoneyBadger app as translator vs. using any Lightning wallet (00:13:04) Fiat settlement, volatility handling, and business model (00:17:07) Why no Money Badger wallet? Integrations with Blink, Zeus, Aqua (00:20:20) A clever LNURL/Lightning Address pattern to decode merchant QRs (00:23:39) Pragmatic, a bit hacky, and works across wallets (00:28:04) Replicability beyond SA: Kenya’s M‑Pesa, Ghana, Latin America (00:32:10) Creating demand: Bitcoin Ekasi as proof-of-use for Pick n Pay (00:35:15) Real usage: growth to ~5k tx/month and $200k volume (00:39:40) Who spends Bitcoin? From cash users to OGs and ideologues (00:42:34) Incentives and the challenge of moving the middle (00:43:42) Tax context in South Africa: capital gains thresholds (00:46:59) UX talk: tap-to-pay vs. QR, hardware realities and patience (00:49:12) Beyond POS: treasury, suppliers, and stablecoin pull (00:51:03) Bitcoin vs. stablecoins in SA usage; Luno/Binance integrations (00:55:07) Wild flexibility: paying with almost any token via partners (00:57:46) Urgency to prove Bitcoin as money before it’s siloed (00:58:00) Hypothetical: Square/Cash App design vs. bridge approach (01:03:41) Consumer friction at checkout and signaling acceptance (01:07:38) Tipping, bridges to Venmo/Cash App, and cash realities (01:09:19) Call to action: spend Bitcoin to create demand (01:11:08) Wrap-up: plans to visit SA, links, and farewell more info on the show: https://citadeldispatch.com learn more about me: https://odell.xyz