Kenya: A Bitcoin Haven \ stacker news ~bitcoin

12.8k sats \ 22 comments \ @StudentofBitcoin 21 Sep bitcoin

Nairobi was a good blend of East meets West, the comforts of a developed society, and the diversity we had been accustomed to in Toronto. Walking around Nairobi, one thing was clear: M-Pesa (mobile money by Safaricom) is king. We saw mobile money in countries like Egypt and Ethiopia, but not to the same extent.

What exactly is mobile money? It’s a digital wallet provided by telecom companies that allow users to deposit, withdraw, transfer, and store money through thousands of agents across the country. Users can send money, pay merchants, pay bills, and much more. It functions like a bank account linked to your phone number.

M-Pesa, launched in 2007, now has 32.4 million customers with access to financial services without needing a formal bank account. In a country with 56.6 million people that's a penetration of 57%!

Given the widespread adoption of mobile money in Kenya, it wasn’t surprising to see their openness to Bitcoin. We were fortunate to meet many entrepreneurs and builders focusing on sustainable mining, literacy in local languages, empowerment of women, merchant onboarding tourism, and much more. Here is a sample of the Kenyan Bitcoin scene:

Girdless: leverage surplus renewable energy in rural communities through bitcoin mining. (We had a chance to visit one of their facilities and will share more soon)

Bitcoin Dada: empower the lives of African women through bitcoin. (Dada translates to sister in Swahili)

Bitcoin Mtaani: expedite Bitcoin adoption in Africa through native languages.

Tando:spend bitcoin anywhere in M-Pesa is accepted (M-Pesa is a phone-based money transfer service with ~3.2M merchants as of 2022)

Bitcoin Matatu: a bitcoin-themed Matatu (shared taxi vans) to raise awareness and act as a tourism operator.

Bitcoin Nomads Africa: camp, hike, and sleep under the stars across Africa.

We also had the chance to visit an informal settlement, Kibera, to see how bitcoin is helping young entrepreneurs and the less privileged of the community:

-Easily accept money from a global customer base -Improve tech literacy -A path to monetizing their skillset

The Kenyan government signed an MoU with Marathon Digital Holdings in May 2024 to help optimize and monetize renewal energy within the country. Time will tell how this plays out. Speaking of the government, given the recent protests to the proposed Finance Bill, it's clear the youth of Kenya will stand up for what they believe in. I expect we'll continue to see innovative solutions and products built using bitcoin in Kenya.

// Thanks @OneOneSeven for this idea. If you're jumping in here is our journey across Africa thus far:

#682996 Cairo to Cape Town: A Bitcoin Adventure #688813 The Dollar Dilemma in Egypt #693427 Ethiopia: The New Frontier For Bitcoin Mining

(stackers lmk if this isn't the best practice for including previous links in posts) // Sources:

https://gridlesscompute.com/ https://btcdada.com/ https://x.com/BitcoinMtaani https://tando.me/ https://x.com/BitcoinMatatuKE https://bitcoinomads.africa/ https://x.com/btcnairobi https://www.reuters.com/world/africa/after-dramatic-tax-win-kenyan-protesters-plot-next-moves-2024-06-28/ https://www.safaricom.co.ke/images/Downloads/2024-Annual-Report-Update.pdf https://www.worldometers.info/world-population/kenya-population/ https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2024/05/29/bitcoin-miner-marathon-partner-with-kenya-on-renewable-energy-projects/

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121 sats \ 2 replies \ @kilianbuhn 21 Sep

Excuse me for my pessimism but these stories about 3rd world countries orangepilling are getting tired.

Like the year of the Linux desktop. New headlines all the time. It's always almost about to happen. But nothing ever happens.

142 sats \ 0 replies \ @StudentofBitcoin OP 22 Sep

Let me share some of the outcomes these companies have achieved and let me know if this means "nothing ever happens"

-Gridless has 6 facilities across Africa helps stabilize the grid for rural power producers and makes turning the light on possible for the community -Bitcoin Dada has completed multiple cohort graduations helping women's literacy in bitcoin (a few have started their own company after this) -Bitcoin Mtaani helped during the recent protests by taking the injured to hospitals and raising funds in sats -Tando helps Kenyans use bitcoin easily at 1000s of merchants

10 sats \ 0 replies \ @Malachi17 21 Sep

Plenty of problems in first world countries still...

60 sats \ 4 replies \ @StudentofBitcoin OP 21 Sep

I realized formatting can improve, took a look at the stacker news guide and github markdown. Will use them for the next post! Thanks for the patience stackers!

31 sats \ 1 reply \ @TheWildHustle 21 Sep

No worries, great post. Keep em coming.

11 sats \ 0 replies \ @StudentofBitcoin OP 22 Sep

Appreciate it!

31 sats \ 1 reply \ @siggy47 21 Sep

With good content we can live without fancy formatting. Thanks for this information.

43 sats \ 0 replies \ @StudentofBitcoin OP 22 Sep

good to know ;)

31 sats \ 0 replies \ @BlokchainB 21 Sep

Let’s go Kenya!!!

31 sats \ 1 reply \ @Carresan 21 Sep

Thanks for sharing it. If someone steals your phone/SIM card , do you lose your money? Can it be recovered? Would it be safer just use bitcoin in these cases?

30 sats \ 0 replies \ @StudentofBitcoin OP 22 Sep

There is a PIN associated with mobile money so the stealer cant access your funds without the PIN.

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @LowK3y19 22 Sep

I need to move to Africa

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @StudentofBitcoin OP 22 Sep

DO IT!

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @Golu 22 Sep

Kenya is famous for wildlife, if I'm right. And now it will be famous for Bitcoin. Do you get government support for bitcoin as well or it's just public thing

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @StudentofBitcoin OP 22 Sep

There isn't clear regulation in place. If the MoU with Marathon is any indication I suspect they will warm up to the idea.

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @IamSINGLE 22 Sep

Kenya seems to be Bitcoin paradise now. Thanks for sharing.

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @StudentofBitcoin OP 22 Sep

Slowly but surely hopefully a similar theme plays out everywhere.

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @TheMorningStar 22 Sep

Kenya is good place to be. I love Kenya from the days when Kenya used to be part of world cricket. I was a kid then but it reached the semifinal of cricket world cup once. But so much corruption there?

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @StudentofBitcoin OP 22 Sep

Yes there is a ton of corruption which also added fuel to the fire during the recent protests.

21 sats \ 1 reply \ @Signal312 21 Sep

This is how I include a bunch of links when I'm writing about the carnivore diet (the below link is in code format, so it doesn't actually get processed):

[Carnivore diet - looks like it fixed this nighttime disorder for me](https://stacker.news/items/495464)

And this is how it looks, formatted:

Carnivore diet - looks like it fixed this nighttime disorder for me Carnivore diet - believe it or not, it healed this oddball disorder for me Can a keto/carnivore diet heal issues like depression, anxiety, OCD, bipolar? Latest steps in my carnivore path - and why you should consider a carnivore diet Carnivore achievements unlocked Taking a temporary break from mostly-carnivore diet during holidays Sugar and Alzheimers Kinda-carnivore diet is leading to WAY more energy Question for carnivores/carnivore-curious folks I'm transitioning ... to a more MEAT centric diet This book is blowing my mind - The Big Fat Surprise by Nina Teicholtz

0 sats \ 0 replies \ @StudentofBitcoin OP 22 Sep

AHHH good to know! Thanks for sharing :D

21 sats \ 0 replies \ @iamjerry 21 Sep

Thanks for sharing.