Pick n Pay, one of South Africa’s largest supermarket chains, is set to allow its customers to pay for items in all its stores using Bitcoin. According to South African-based tech news outlet Tech Central, Pick N Pay is planning to roll out its cryptocurrency payments service to its stores nationwide in the coming months, after years of experimentation in select stores. The supermarket chain allegedly started experimenting with Bitcoin payments five years ago in Cape Town, but was stymied by expensive costs and long transaction wait times. The nationwide rollout will allow the store's customers to pay for items …

Bitcoin and Lightning Network service provider Synonym has launched a new BTC-focused mobile wallet it says could enhance the user experience for holders of the flagship digital currency — and broaden Web3 adoption without relying on convoluted blockchain applications. Synonym unveiled its mobile Bitcoin (BTC) wallet, dubbed Bitkit, at the PlanB Forum in Lugano, Switzerland on Oct. 29. The wallet supports BTC and Lightning Network payments with a self-custodial node and encrypted backup service, which users can utilize free of charge. Bitkit is being launched as a limited public beta app for both Apple and Android devices. The Bitkit app …

Not everyone is convinced that Mark Zuckerberg’s massive metaverse experiment is a good idea. Since Facebook rebranded to Meta in 2021, the social media giant’s focus has increasingly shifted to connecting the digital and physical worlds through augmented reality. However, a shareholder of the company recently issued a letter to the CEO calling the metaverse investment “super-sized and terrifying.” It didn’t take long for those concerns to be justified. Meta published its third-quarter financial results after the bell on Oct. 26 and, perhaps unsurprisingly, its metaverse division underperformed. Meta’s Reality Labs lost a whopping $3.672 billion during the quarter, mirroring …

Asset management firm Stone Ridge, the parent company of Bitcoin company NYDIG, has launched the first startup accelerator that focuses on the Bitcoin Lightning Network and the Taro protocol, called In Wolf’s Clothing (Wolf). The accelerator consists of 8-week programs in which the best founders and startup teams from around the world will be brought to New York City, with accommodation and travel costs covered. The teams which apply and are accepted into the program will receive a guaranteed investment of $250,000. One team will be chosen by a panel of judges to receive an additional $500,000 of funding during …

Tezos blockchain partnered with Web3 automation platform Taco to allow Shopify users to access Tezos nonfungible tokens (NFTs) via Taco’s NFT loyalty program. The e-commerce giant has established itself as a growing destination for brands looking for Web3 engagements. Taco app allows brands to integrate Web3 solutions such as NFTs to increase engagement with customers and e-commerce platforms such as Shopify use Taco app plugins to offer these services to their merchants. The NFT loyalty programs aid brands in strengthening their bonds with consumers, boosting customer engagement and retention. The latest integration of Tezos NFTs would help the blockchain utilize …

While opening a Bitcoin-themed bar sounds like a dream for many Bitcoiners, it also comes with its challenges, according to Adam (who did not share his last name), the founder of Satoshi’s place. Cointelegraph reporter Joseph Hall visited a Bitcoin-themed pub called Satoshi’s Place and sat down with its founder. The duo talked about the place’s history, how it came to be, and the difficulties of running a Bitcoin business in the United Kingdom. According to Adam, he first got into Bitcoin (BTC) in 2013. Five years later, the founder said he opened a coffee and breakfast shop that accepts …

El Salvador-based Bitcoin (BTC) holders could soon spend their BTC using the “tap-to-pay” feature wherever the near-field communication services (NFC) card readers are available. The cardless pay service would be utilizing Lightning Network (LN) to facilitate retail BTC transactions. Contactless card payments are quite popular in the current fast-paced world, and with the help of LN, these services can now be utilized by BTC holders as well. The Bitcoin Lightning services are being introduced in El Salvador by CoinCorner, which has, in turn, partnered with IBEX, a lightning infrastructure services company, to add NFC support across businesses in the country. …

Executive chairman of Microstrategy, Michael Saylor, does not like to be called out. He responded to a poll shared by Eric Wall, a crypto researcher, that suggested he had not used Bitcoin’s (BTC) layer-2 Lightning Network more than three times with a Twitter poll of his own. The correct answer is Yes, and I will make three more transactions of 1,000,000 sats each to the 3 posters of the most liked #Lightning⚡️ memes in the comments below. https://t.co/qXZ90q4Ly9 — Michael Saylor⚡️ (@saylor) October 4, 2022 Saylor replied to the poll with a resounding yes, and kickstarted a meme competition with …

Bear markets are for building out capacity on the layer-2 Lightning Network. Despite macroeconomic headwinds and sluggish price action the Lightning Network, the layer-2 payments solution on Bitcoin (BTC) continues to flourish. The Bitcoin Lightning Network reached a milestone capacity of 5,000 BTC ($96 million). In effect, more and more Bitcoin is being introduced to Lightning Network payment channels worldwide, as Bitcoiners continue to support the growth of the network. The Lightning Network allows users to send Bitcoin (or satoshis, the smallest amount of a Bitcoin) to send or receive money faster and with lower fees. The more capacity on …

MicroStrategy, the business intelligence and tech company that holds the world’s largest Bitcoin reserve, is hiring a Bitcoin Lightning software engineer to create a Lightning Network-based software-as-a-service platform. The new engineer will be responsible for building a Lightning Network-based platform to address enterprises’ cybersecurity challenges and enable new e-commerce use-cases, according to a job posting linked to the MicroStrategy website. Besides “an adversarial mindset,” the successful applicant will have certificates, knowledge of tools and programming languages, and experience with decentralized finance (DeFi) technologies. MicroStrategy is looking to hire a Bitcoin Lightning Software Engineer to build a Lightning Network-based SaaS platform. …

Cointelegraph reporter Joe Hall visited the country of Gibraltar to explore Bitcoin adoption on The Rock, as the peninsula is known locally, and how the adoption of bitcoin for shopping in the territory is impacting business. The visit was also an opportunity to visit Xapo Bank, the world's first private financial institution to combine traditional banking with Bitcoin. Coinbase acquired its custody business in 2019, making the American exchange the largest crypto custodian in the world. The British Overseas Territory of Gibraltar is known for its pioneering crypto regulations, support for blockchain development and bitcoin adoption, with many retail businesses …

Cointelegraph took a trip to Satoshi’s Place on Friday, a Bitcoin (BTC) hub in Greater Manchester. Named after the anonymous creator of the world’s largest and most widely accepted cryptocurrency, the bar and workspace offers workshops, coworking spaces for local businesses and Bitcoin-inspired cocktails. Adam, the founder (who chose not to share his surname), first heard about Bitcoin in 2012 and has spent the past 10 years experimenting with ways to onboard and educate people about magic internet money. He told Cointelegraph over a beer–paid for by Bitcoin over the Lightning Network–that it’s the first of many forays into Bitcoin …