Executive Summary
Late December’s clearest signal for Bitcoin payments was infrastructure-backed, community-led growth: Cuba BTC reported a purpose-built stack (Lightning node, LNbits, BTCPay, and a Cashu mint) alongside high usage in its community wallet. In parallel, regulatory clarity emerged as a direct adoption enabler, with a Ghana-focused post framing legalization of Bitcoin/digital asset trading as a shift that increases merchant confidence and onboarding. Merchant acceptance continued to show up in everyday contexts—from a school in Lima accepting Bitcoin payments to grassroots spend demonstrations—while global directories pointed to continued expansion in verified Bitcoin-accepting locations.
1) Merchant & Enterprise Adoption
Bitcoin checkout continues to spread through “daily life” merchants and institutions, strengthening the case for repeatable, real-world spending (not just pilots).
- Dec 29, 2025: Motiv Peru reported the Alfa school in Comas (Lima) now accepts Bitcoin as a payment method, after adopting Bitcoin education in 2025.
- Dec 31, 2025: BitEduhub said it launched a Bitcoin circular economy near JKUAT and onboarded 7 merchants, alongside teaching Bitcoin in Juja Market.
- Dec 31, 2025: BitcoinEkiti shared a spend example at a local barbershop (“diamond salon”), including a merchant listing on BTC Map.
- May 22, 2025 / Dec 31, 2025: Bitcoinr3 reported Bolivia had 33 places accepting bitcoin as payment in May, and later closed 2025 with 74 places accepting bitcoin.
2) Payment Infrastructure
Operator tooling and local, self-reliant stacks are becoming more explicit—reducing dependency on external platforms while expanding where merchants can sell.
- Dec 31, 2025: Cuba BTC described building community infrastructure due to tool friction and “constant censorship,” listing a Lightning node, an LNbits instance (http://lachispa.me), and BTCPay Server.
- Dec 31, 2025: Cuba BTC said it tested “Ecash” via CashuBTC and launched its own mint at http://mint.cubabitcoin.org, describing private transactions and not needing internet.
- Dec 31, 2025: Cuba BTC reported receiving hardware support (including 200 NFC cards, a Lightning/Bitcoin node, and merchant POS devices) via veintiunolat and LaCryptaOk.
- Dec 25, 2025: BTCPay Server added a Shopstrmarkets plugin to its directory, enabling syncing a BTCPay store’s items to Shopstr (a Nostr decentralized marketplace).
3) Usage Metrics
The most concrete usage indicators in the sources skew toward payments activity and merchant-directory growth—both prerequisites for routine spend.
- Dec 17, 2025: A merchant-count update stated 24,113 verified bitcoin-accepting merchants worldwide as of mid-December 2025, with 2,046 added in the prior 30 days (USA “4,000+” locations also cited).
- Dec 31, 2025: Cuba BTC reported its community wallet reached 3,500+ active users and 738,000+ payments during 2025, “in less than a year of operation.”
- Dec 31, 2025: A Cuba-focused summary post cited “logros destacados” including 3 businesses with BTCPay Server.
- May 22, 2025 / Dec 31, 2025: Bolivia-specific counts moved from 33 places reported earlier in 2025 to 74 places by year-end.
4) Regulatory & Policy Developments
Regulatory clarity is being framed as a direct accelerant for merchant onboarding and education—reducing perceived risk for accepting bitcoin.
"Ghana’s legalization of #Bitcoin and digital asset trading is more than a policy shift. It’s regulatory clarity catching up with years of grassroots conviction."
- Dec 28, 2025: A Ghana-focused post argued legalization puts Bitcoin education and adoption “on firm legal ground,” and that merchants can onboard and accept sats with greater confidence.
- The same post claimed community outreach shifts from informal advocacy to recognized work, and that partners/donors/institutions can engage with greater certainty.
5) Strategic Outlook
Taken together, the week’s signals point to a payments trajectory driven by (1) measurable usage, (2) self-hosted/community infrastructure, and (3) clearer rules that reduce onboarding friction.
- Global merchant discovery continues to expand, with 24,113 verified merchants reported and 2,046 added in 30 days (mid-Dec snapshot).
- Community payment rails can show meaningful activity when the stack is locally owned: Cuba BTC paired new infrastructure (Lightning/LNbits/BTCPay/Cashu mint) with 738,000 payments and 3,500 active users reported for 2025.
- Policy clarity is being explicitly connected to merchant confidence and outreach legitimacy in Ghana.
Bitcoin’s long-term trajectory as a payment rail is best evidenced when these ingredients reinforce each other: more places listed and verifiably accepting bitcoin, more locally controlled checkout infrastructure that communities can sustain, and clearer policy environments that reduce hesitation for merchants and educators. The late-December updates—spanning Cuba’s reported payment volumes and infrastructure buildout, Ghana’s legalization narrative, and incremental merchant growth in places like Bolivia—collectively map to that compounding, real-world adoption loop.
