Buying into crypto

Larry Cooke, Binance

---

Is there potential for crypto payments to go mainstream in the South African retail industry? Several major crypto exchanges have partnered with payment platforms to make it easier for local businesses to accept, process, and manage crypto payments. And they can do so without needing any deep understanding of these digital assets or taking on price volatility risk, because the crypto is instantly converted into local currency. These partnerships bridge the gap between consumers who want to pay in crypto and businesses that want to offer customers alternative ways to pay without being exposed to market fluctuations. For those who have bought into what cryptocurrency is, what it stands for, and what it enables, the payments use case is the natural progression of this technology from a speculative commodity into a utility, says Christo de Wit, country manager for Luno in South Africa.

Bitcoin was always envisaged as a payment system and it’s right there in the title to the whitepaper from 2008: ‘Bitcoin: A Peer-to-Peer Electronic Cash System’. “Whenever I speak about crypto payments as a whole, I always think about the rise of card payments and the fact that, in the early 1990s, cheques made up around 80% of all non-cash transactions,” says De Wit. “I’m not saying that crypto is going to suddenly replace standard financial rails, but I do think there is potential for it to become a very viable alternative.”

Binance’s head of legal for its Africa operations, Larry Cooke, has a similar view. For those who own crypto, payments represent the second wave of adoption, enabled by more user-friendly platforms, which remove the barriers that previously prevented a broader audience from using crypto for practical purposes. “This is a sign of us passing through the novelty stage of crypto and moving towards it becoming a meaningful part of the global financial system.”

There will be a moment when all the retailers say, ‘I accept Bitcoin’, and then there will be a moment when retailers will say, ‘I only accept Bitcoin’.

Tim Draper, venture capitalist

When exchanges like VALR, Binance, and Luno partner with payment providers, consumers can pay with crypto at tills that accept scan-to-pay payments. Two of the big enablers of this locally are the QR code payments provider Zapper, and Money- Badger, a crypto payments solution business that handles the technical complexity and risk associated with crypto payments and settles with merchants in rands. As regulators establish clearer guidelines, there is less uncertainty, which encourages both merchants and consumers to adopt them. According to 2023 figures from the Financial Sector Conduct Authority’s ‘Crypto Assets Market Study’, about 5.8mn people, or 9.44% of South Africa’s population, currently own crypto assets. Chainalysis’ ‘2023 Geography of Cryptocurrency Report’ listed Sub-Saharan Africa as the third-fastest growing crypto region globally, with $205bn on-chain value, a 52% year-on-year increase.

Close to 700 000 South African merchants now accept digital payments through platforms such as Luno Pay, VALR Pay and Binance Pay. In the first six months of 2025, MoneyBadger processed more than 19 500 transactions worth R7.7mn, up from R5.6mn in the same period last year. In September 2025 alone, MoneyBadger saw almost 4 000 sales, which is up 191% from September last year. Transaction volumes grew 40% between July 2025 and September 2025. According to Carel van Wyk, MoneyBadger CEO and co-founder, this growth shows that consumers are getting used to paying for day-to-day expenses using crypto. 

He says that incentives offered by some big exchanges are sweetening the deal for customers. Since the official launch of Binance Pay in South Africa in September 2025, the exchange has been offering users a 50% cashback promotion made at participating Zapper merchants up to a maximum of R350 per transaction. It seems to be working: the number of transactions made via the Binance Pay wallet grew 1 324% between July and September 2025, says Van Wyk.

He adds that between September 12 and October 12 2025, the average spend per purchase was around R480, and that customers were mostly buying groceries from Pick ‘n Pay and Checkers, petrol, from Engen, Shell and Total, and eating out, at Bootlegger, Wimpy and Butlers Pizza.

I’m not saying that crypto is going to suddenly replace standard financial rails, but I do think there is potential for it to become a very viable alternative.

Christo de Wit, Luno

The business is currently seeing anywhere from 50 to 200 transactions a day, he says. The number of payments per user, per month, over the period of September 15 to October 15 2025 shows that roughly 600 users made at least one, but fewer than five payments, roughly 150 users made between five and 10 payments, and around 50 users made up to 30 payments.

While these numbers show the market is growing, a recent study from World Wide Worx found that none of the surveyed retailers planned to accept cryptocurrency in the next 12 months. Dave Glass, CEO of Electrum, a payments software business, says that payments using crypto currently account for less than 1% of all payments made in South Africa. As the numbers from MoneyBadger show, the growth we are currently seeing in this space, says Glass, can be attributed to very strong interest among a very small group of South African consumers. He believes that we will continue to see widespread adoption of crypto payments, but the volume and value of transactions will remain relatively small.

Digital currency enthusiasts have long held that crypto is becoming mainstream, which makes sense because the value of these assets comes from what people believe they are worth. But this value can only be realised if they can use it or sell it for more later. So who really stands to win from the rise of crypto payments? South Africans who receive wages or a salary in crypto, international visitors who want to avoid forex fees and potential fraud while travelling, as well as those who have most or all of their savings in Bitcoin, stand to benefit from being able to easily spend these virtual assets, says MoneyBadger’s Van Wyk.

Crypto payments will also appeal to people looking for alternatives because they’re tired of the bureaucracy and fees associated with traditional financial systems, says Binance’s Cooke. For these people, a stablecoin, which is designed to keep its value, usually by being pegged to an asset such as the US dollar, or gold, offers the stability of regular currencies.

Tether (USDT), headquartered in El Salvador, is the most widely used stablecoin, followed by USD Coin, the crypto stablecoin issued by Circle. McKinsey says about $250bn of stablecoins have been issued, of which $155bn was by Tether and $60bn by Circle. Both coins facilitate between $20bn to $30bn of real on-chain payment transactions per day, which are divided between remittances and settlements. This is only 1% of the global daily money transfer total, compared to legacy payment infrastructure, which processes between $5tn and $7tn daily, according to Swift and the Bank for International Settlements. Tether plans to launch a stablecoin called USAT specifically for the US market in December 2025, in compliance with the Genius Act. The Genius Act is designed to widen adoption of stablecoins, which will mean greater appetite for US government debt. But the future of stablecoins is unclear, and European policymakers are concerned that dollar-backed coins may undermine the global role of the euro. Banks have also raised concerns that crypto exchanges will be able to indirectly pay interest to stablecoin holders, which they fear could result in mass deposit outflows. According to the FT, this may happen if customers choose to earn yield by holding stablecoins at crypto exchanges rather than fiat at banks.

Luno’s De Wit says a barrier to broader adoption is trust. “A lot of merchants still have fears and misconceptions about cryptocurrencies in general. Many still believe it exists only for illicit use, that it isn’t secure or that it’s highly volatile and thus unreliable. Our hope is to raise awareness around what you can do with your crypto assets and, in doing so, shift that narrative.” Billionaire venture capitalist Tim Draper, who won a US Marshals auction of 30 000 Bitcoins for $19mn in 2014 that were seized during the takedown of Silk Road, told Bloomberg TV: “There will be a moment when all the retailers say, ‘I accept Bitcoin’, and then there will be a moment when retailers will say, ‘I only accept Bitcoin’.” He did, however, acknowledge that at present, Bitcoin is primarily being held, not spent.