One night, out of curiosity more than anything, I opened Akasha on my laptop. I’d heard about it before; this “Bitcoin merchant map” that shows real places where Bitcoin is used, but I never took the time to explore it. It started slowly, with a blank globe and then… pins began to appear. Dozens of them.Hundreds.Little glowing markers scattered across continents.
I zoomed in on Europe — a surfboard maker in Portugal. Then, a tattoo artist in Argentina. Then a bookshop tucked away in Japan that takes Lightning payments for used novels. Each click told a story. Not the kind of story you find in tech articles or press releases, these were small, quiet lives connected by the same invisible thread. It made me realize something: Bitcoin isn’t happening “out there.” It’s happening everywhere. These people aren’t techies or investors. They’re bakers, barbers, photographers, and travelers — people who just want a simpler way to trade value. There’s something humbling about that.
As I kept scrolling, I found businesses that looked nothing alike but had something deeply in common: they didn’t wait for permission. They simply said, “We’re ready to accept this new kind of money.” A few stood out; a painter in Bali selling small canvases directly through Lightning. A farmer in South Africa is listing his produce on a local Bitcoin community board. A hostel in Slovenia that lets travelers pay in sats and skip exchange rates .None of them were waiting for approval from a bank or platform. They were just moving forward.
And the best part? You can see it Akasha doesn’t just show data, it shows people. Every glowing pin is a heartbeat of belief, a point of connection in this vast, decentralized network. As I kept zooming in and out, I noticed something funny. I stopped thinking of the world in borders. I started thinking of it in connections.
Bitcoin had quietly built something that global institutions have spent decades trying to achieve ; a frictionless connection between ordinary people. And Akasha gives that connection a face. You realize it’s not about currency, it’s about choice. About fairness. About small acts of independence.
Somewhere tonight, someone is opening their Akasha map for the first time and finding a local place that accepts Bitcoin. Maybe a bakery. Maybe a hostel. Maybe a repair shop that just decided to stop depending on card terminals that always break. That is how acceptance spreads, not by noise, but through quiet value.
As I closed my laptop for the last time, a smile spread across my face. It's highly exciting to realize that this network is no longer a vision; it exists, runs, and has been built by people who simply wanted to improve things. Perhaps that is the attraction of Akasha: it does not try to pitch itself to you. It just lets you see what’s already real.
Top comments (1)
Thanks for this info, i was looking for a similar service.
Will surely try akasha