Skip to main content

How to spend your Bitcoin and Ethereum in South Africa

As Bitcoin and Ethereum gain popularity among investors, an increasing number of users are creating cryptocurrency wallets.
The wallets are either hosted through an online provider or stored on the user’s hardware.
From these wallets, cryptocurrency owners can make transactions on a blockchain, interact with exchanges and other users, and in the case of the Ethereum blockchain, programme autonomous contracts.
Sending cryptocurrency through the blockchain is quick and easy, but using cryptocurrency in lieu of fiat currency is still limited.
South African stores and services are slower to adopt cryptocurrencies than more developed countries, but users can still buy products locally with Bitcoin or Ethereum.

Stores

There is a growing list of stores in South Africa which accept Bitcoin as a payment option – many of which offer the option by allowing users to pay with PayFast.
PayFast has partnered with South African Bitcoin exchange Luno to provide users with a way to pay for products or services with Bitcoin transactions.
This allows stores to accept Bitcoin payments using a reliable third-party provider, which has increased the amount of local online stores which accept cryptocurrency payments.
Stores which accept payment in Bitcoin are detailed on Luno’s blog and include Takealot, Raru, PiShop, FirstShop, and more.
Ethereum is not widely supported for payment in South Africa, however, due to the lack of local cryptocurrency exchanges which support the blockchain.
Bitcoin is still the most popular cryptocurrency payment option in the country.

Crypto cards

While cryptocurrency has not been widely adopted as a cash alternative in retail stores, South African crypto owners can still purchase products and services with their preferred currency.
There are numerous virtual currency debit cards available online, which are usually linked to an online cryptocurrency wallet.
This allows users to swipe the card at a store’s point of sale, where the required amount of Bitcoin, Ethereum, or other cryptocurrency is converted into the fiat currency  – rand in South Africa – accepted by the seller.
There are multiple cryptocurrency cards services which have partnered with Visa or Mastercard to extend their acceptance across the world, as their cards are accepted at many retailers and their brands trusted.
Using a card like the upcoming Visa and Mastercard-backed TenX virtual currency card, South Africans should be able to spend their cryptocurrency at any Visa or Mastercard-compatible point of sale in the country.
The compatibility of the physical cryptocurrency cards is also dependent on the linked online wallet and its regional support.
As more consumers become involved with cryptocurrency and blockchain technology continues to improve, the viability of instant cryptocurrency payments as a cash alternative will improve along with the ecosystem.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Case-By-Case or Cease-and-Desist? In Search Of a New Approach to ICOs

That rumble you hear is the sound of regulators around the world mobilizing resources to tackle the pressing matter of token sales. Yet, in spite of the spectacular growth of blockchain token-based funding, no one seems to have a clear idea of what type of rules to introduce. The resulting uncertainty (not to mention ridicule) is left hindering progress as money flows to unviable projects and investors are left vulnerable to foul play – exactly what regulation is supposed to prevent. Perhaps a new approach is needed. But to see where this could go, it's worth stepping back and asking what we expect the regulation to do. Safety belt First, why do we need regulation, not just of finance, but of anything at all? To protect us. At its roots, that is the main role of government – to protect its citizens from avoidable harm and extreme loss brought about by others or from our own lack of common sense. When it comes to securities, that usually means stopping us from making poor decisions…
Post a Comment
Read more

Duncan Logan just tweeted that he's on board Electroneum

I have been a buyer and holder of bitcoin and Etherreum for a long time but this will be the first ICO I buy into--Duncan Logan.

What is Electroneum?

Electroneum (ETN) is a cryptocurrency that can be mined with a smartphone, requiring almost no technical knowledge or prior experience. This sets it apart from other cryptocurrencies (like Bitcoin) which require expensive hardware and technical know-how to mine.
Electroneum’s unique mobile mining experience allows anyone with a smartphone to earn ETN coins by letting the miner app run in the background.
It was designed specifically with mobile users in mind, thereby appealing to a potential market of 2.2 billion smartphone users around the world. Unlike other cryptocurrencies, Electroneum has a user-friendly, beginner-oriented interface that allows users to seamlessly transfer ETN coins between one another, check their balances, and mine coins.
Being a cryptocurrency, Electroneum is created, held, and spent electronically, and has no phy…
Post a Comment
Read more

Circle Is Building a Master Mobile Payments Network on Ethereum

Blockchain startup Circle has unveiled new software aimed at connecting the world's digital wallets. Known as 'CENTRE', the project seeks to create a way for digital wallets (like Venmo, Alipay or the startup's own Circle Pay) to communicate with one another. Put more simply, CENTRE as envisioned would let the companies behind those apps to transmit and settle funds between them. At its heart, the project targets the so-called "walled garden" issue, wherein different platforms – whether they be a social media site like Facebook or a payments app like Venmo – exist largely within their own ecosystems. Circle is aiming to build a bridge between them, betting that it would make for a more inclusive consumer payments environment. Circle released today a new white paper outlining the specifications and intended use for CENTRE, which notes that the project has grown since being established as an internal method for transacting in both cryptocurrencies and fiat cur…
Post a Comment
Read more