It's our duty as Bitcoiners, to give the orange pill to the members of our communities, in order to be free from the monetary bondage.

Let's first differentiate between these two forms of money, Bitcoin and Fiat.

Fiat currency is legal tender issued and backed by a government. Its value depends on the decisions made by central authorities (governments and central banks). What determines the value of fiat currency is the government and its economy. It is as strong or weak, as its government and economy.

It is inefficient for cross-border payments, which are expensive and may take days to be settled. Fiat money promotes discrimination, censorship and manipulation, since banking options are not available to everyone. Merchants, who use fiat money, need to work with a payment processor and pay transaction fees to accept payments which are subject to chargebacks.

Bitcoin is a decentralized digital currency, which is: non-state, immutable, borderless, permission-less, censorship resistant, worldwide, peer to peer electronic cash, sound money, and store of value. It is governed by the blockchain technology, code, and community. It's the only available form of money, which can be used by anyone, anywhere at any time, without any restrictions by or intervention or central authorities. Its value is primarily affected by the market forces.

Bitcoin can be sent and received by anyone, anywhere in the world at any time, without relying on a financial institution. Its transactions are irreversible with the lowest fees of Bitcoin has transactions that process, via Lightning Network, almost instantly and cost less than 1%, making it ideal for micropayments, suitable for merchants to avoid high fees and chargebacks. This is the modern definition of financial inclusion and economic sovereignty.

The vast majority of the people in African countries remain unbanked, and the population of the people who use feature phones, is far greater than of those who use smartphones. This means that Bitcoin enables everyone, everywhere to achieve financial independence.

If there’s one place in the world, where access to Bitcoin is needed most, is across the African continent. There are however limitations of smartphone possession and internet access. Many Africans use USSD and SMS portal services to remit money, access financial services and purchase goods and services; This is well understood and practised daily.

Enters Machankura

Machankura is a Bitcoin Lightning Wallet that lets users access Bitcoin and gain financial freedom on any mobile phone without internet or smartphone. A user will manage the wallet through their USSD menu. “From an adoption perspective, bitcoin is not where it should be,” says Ngako. He notes that Mobile Money, a digital (non-bitcoin) payment platform launched in 2007, has many active users in Africa. Why can’t bitcoin do the same thing?" To get started, a user simply dial the USSD code for their respective country. Machankura aims to cover the entire continent, but is currently available in:

Ghana – Dial: * 920 * 8333 #

Kenya – Dial: * 483 * 8333 #

Malawi – Dial: * 384 * 8333 * 1234 #

Nigeria – Dial: * 347 * 8333 #

South Africa – Dial: * 134 * 382 * 382 #

Tanzania – Dial: * 149 * 46 * 26 #

Uganda – Dial: * 284 * 8333 #

Zambia - Dial: * 384 * 8333 #

Upon dialing the specific country USSD code such as ( “ * 384 * 8333 * 1234#” for Malawi users), you set up the account tied to your phone number by setting a 5 digit PIN which you will use to confirm transactions. After registering, a subsequent menu offers additional functionality like sending or receiving bitcoin and viewing balance and transaction history (users press the number on their feature phone corresponding to the desired menu option).

Machankura’s default Lightning address combines a user’s phone number and Machankura’s “@8333.mobi” domain (e.g., 123456789@8333.mobi). Users can also modify these addresses to conceal their phone numbers (e.g., username@8333.mobi).

You now can receive funds using your Lightning address, or Onchain address, or Azteco Bitcoin Voucher. To redeem an Azteco Voucher, simply enter your voucher number. It is the same thing as topping up your mobile phone with a scratch card. There's also the option to buy from other Machankura users, who act as agents, and have Bitcoin from whatever source. Anyone can become an Agent to help African communities without internet access to easily buy and start using Bitcoin via Machankura.

Once you’ve funded your account, you can send those satoshis to other Machankura users by their username or phone number. You can also send to any other any Lightning or Onchain Address. If a user chooses to send or receive bitcoin, Machankura has integrated one crucial feature that significantly improves the user experience – personalized Lightning addresses. Instead of regular Lightning invoice addresses that can be over 200 alphanumeric characters long – well over the 182 USSD character limit – these personalized addresses are the length of a typical email handle. This makes them much easier to type out on feature phones with multi-press text entry.

Machankura also gives users the ability to send and receive bitcoins as a group. This feature is very important for "village banks", in Africa.

“Village banks” are groups of low-income entrepreneurs who come together to share and guarantee one another's loans. Village banking is actually a microcredit methodology whereby financial services are administered locally rather than centralized in a formal bank.

Neighbors come together in Village Banking groups. Individuals borrow working capital for their microenterprises, and the group guarantees those loans. Village Banking also encourages neighbors to support each other while growing their businesses; these mutual support groups can help invigorate entire communities. Machankura Clans give users the ability to send and receive bitcoins as a group.

Sending Bitcoin requires approval from the members or admins. With the added option to equally distribute the balance to all members. This ensures transparency and cooperation among members. Each clan can have an approval policy for each action or spend on the clan. The group username becomes the lightning address, required to receive bitcoins.

The centralized systems desperately control and manipulate media to obtain the hidden tax, inflation, and everything else to enslave the poor citizens. In order to achieve the full potential of Bitcoin's decentralization, "payments should be made with Bitcoin only, regardless of the fiat price". While fiat monetary system remains the dominant form of money, Bitcoin has the potential for financial inclusion and economic sovereignty.

I'm a Machankura orange piller and Zaps are welcome and highly appreciated. Lightning address: malawi@8333.mobi Lightning invoice: https://8333.mobi/malawi