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he raise was led by P1 Ventures, a VC with deep African fintech exposure, along with three angel investors who are also involved in the Bitcoin and crypto space.

Says MoneyBadger CEO Carel van Wyk: “MoneyBadger was formed when Pick n Pay wanted to add Bitcoin payments to its point-of-sale systems. Thanks to advances in Bitcoin payments technology, specifically the Bitcoin Lightning network, we were able to deliver a working prototype that performed phenomenally well - super-reliable and faster and cheaper than ‘tap-to-pay’ using a credit card.”

Since then, Carel van Wyk, who co-founded Luno (a leading African crypto exchange), and Carl Kritzinger, founder of FireWorks, have assembled a world-class team of builders, operators, and crypto-native specialists. Ben Blaine, head of growth, is a seasoned founder and former marketing specialist at SnapScan, one of South Africa’s earliest fintech success stories. Brent Peterson, head of legal and compliance, is a leading authority in crypto regulation and currently chairs the Crypto Asset Association of South Africa. Rounding out the team is Jacques Marais, a full stack engineer with deep experience in infrastructure and payments systems.

The company has deployed crypto and Bitcoin payments to over 1 600 outlets in South Africa, including all Pick n Pay hypermarkets, supermarkets, clothing and express shops. It integrates with the Binance, Luno, VALR and AltCoinTrader wallets and Luno, VALR, Blink, Aqua have integrated MoneyBadger’s proprietary QR scanning technology. This all helps to make Bitcoin payments accessible to a wider number of consumers.

“Today, consumers can use Bitcoin and other crypto assets to pay for groceries and a wide selection of value-added services, from airtime and electricity to bills and travel tickets. Since launching, transaction volumes have grown to over $83,000 (roughly R1.4m) monthly, serving thousands of crypto spenders nationwide,” Van Wyk says. “Bitcoin has grown 128% since 2022, from $40 000-odd to around $108 000 in June. We don’t see this growth slowing, which makes the Bitcoin adopter market an attractive one for retailers and merchants."

“Pick n Pay sees over R1m in cryptocurrency passing through our tills every month, and this continues to grow,” says Deven Moodley, the executive head of Pick n Pay’s value-added services, financial services and mobile division. “Crypto payments fit into our Ways2Pay strategy of giving more customers mechanisms to pay in our stores. We are excited to partner with MoneyBadger as we continue on our journey to an economy that is more inclusive and less dependent on cash.”

Currently, MoneyBadger is expanding its network of merchants through partnerships with established merchant payment providers. It is targeting payment providers for large, Tier 1 retailers, online ecommerce payment gateways and QR-based payment networks.

“This funding round, partly funded in Bitcoin, helps us to accelerate these partnerships, and expand our well-established service to more consumers, more merchants, more use-cases and more countries. We envision a future where you can buy anything and everything with Bitcoin,” Van Wyk comments.

"While the West debates crypto regulation, MoneyBadger is making Bitcoin spendable at scale,” comments Hisham Halbouny, Managing Partner at P1 Ventures. “We are backing this incredible team because they’ve lived the problem, built in the trenches, and are now scaling a solution that reimagines everyday payments in Africa. Carel and Carl are building infrastructure with deep technical and domain expertise. We believe the future of crypto utility will be written here in Africa!"

MoneyBadger enables Bitcoin and crypto payments for goods and services at all retailers and service providers, including municipal bills and travel agencies. The journey is driven by a belief in permissionless innovation, open systems, and bridging the gap between the Bitcoin economy and traditional retail, not just as a novelty, but as a viable, scalable and better alternative form of money.