Bitcoin

How I brought the Machankura Bitcoin app to Africa

Published

12 months ago

9 May, 2024

How I brought the Machankura Bitcoin app to Africa

Since Satoshi Nakamoto abandoned the white paper, one of bitcoin’s selling points has been: “You don’t need a bank. All you need is a smartphone.”

But what if you don’t have a smartphone?

This is the case for millions of people in Africa, which is why Kgothatso Ngako, a former Amazon software developer, created the simple app called Machankura.

Or maybe “app” is misleading because it was designed to work on low-end phones that don’t have touchscreens or cameras or the capabilities of an iPhone. All you need is the ability to send text messages. Using the Lightning Network, Machankura (slang for “money”) allows users to send and receive bitcoin, with or without the internet.

This is something most of us take for granted. Consider a bitcoin wallet address: it usually looks something like “37LaxH5ihB5hZMXs72fofA8qzanipuWTF!” Typing it manually would ruin your week. If you make a typo – and you will make a typo – your bitcoin will be lost forever.

Fortunately, we can copy and paste this monster using our laptop or smartphone. But without a smartphone? “The user may not have copy and paste functionality,” says Ngako. “But bitcoin has these wonderful things called lightning addresses, which are like email.” Now Machankura users can use bitcoin just by entering normal-looking numbers and email addresses.

Before heading to Austin for Consensus, Ngako talks about how Facebook did something clever that inspired Machankura, how its 15,000 users are spending bitcoin, and why usage patterns in Africa are, in some sense, surprisingly similar to patterns in the United States .

The interview has been condensed and lightly edited for clarity.

Before creating Machankura, you helped promote bitcoin in Africa. How exactly?

Kgothatso Ngako: I grew up in a town called Mamelodi. So the main barrier at the time was that a lot of the literature that explains Bitcoin is in English, right? But we have all these different African languages. So if someone is intrigued by Bitcoin and doesn’t speak English, how would they get content to learn about it? So we started an organization called Exonumia. Its goal is to translate Bitcoin literature into African languages.

What Bitcoin literature did you use? I’m guessing white paper?

Yes, the white paper. Some simple. The email Satoshi sent when Bitcoin version 0.1 was released and Hal Finney’s response to it. And, of course, the “I Am Hodling” post.

And some others, such as Understanding Lightning Network and The History of Bitcoin and the Kenya Government. We are also translating some books, such as “The Blocksize War” and “21 Lesions”.

And then eventually you released Machankura. What was the objective?

So I’m trying to tell as many people as possible about Bitcoin with my translated articles, but I run into all these problems. A person may not have a smartphone. If they have a smartphone, they don’t have data packages. If they are interested or you provide a Wi-Fi hotspot, they won’t have enough space on their phone.

All these problems are solved with a service that the person does not need to install on their phone and does not need to pay to use. Then USSD [Unstructured Supplementary Service Data] that’s basically it. It’s like a reverse billing website. Look at what Facebook does in developing countries and I think Twitter has done it too. Facebook is available for free, right? People with a mobile connection can access Facebook without paying to access Facebook, because Facebook will pay the telecommunications bill later. Therefore, most USSD interfaces work on a similar principle.

So what exactly does this look like in the user experience? Especially if they’re not using a smartphone?

The user may not have copy and paste functionality. But bitcoin has these wonderful things called lightning addresses, which are like email but for human readable addresses. So mine is kgothatso@8333.mobi. I can share this with just about everyone. And alternatively, if someone has my number, 0739 383 807, they can also use that as my lighting address.

Is this your phone number?

Yes. So regardless of whether or not you have copy and paste functionality, if you have Bitcoin, you can type either. And then you can send me Bitcoin.

Incredible. How many users do you have and where are they?

So we’re at almost 15,000 users now. We are in a few countries — South Africa, Nigeria, Kenya, Ghana, Malawi, and so on.

What are some of the things people are doing with it?

In South Africa, we have a concept called Stockpile. In other places it has other names. In Kenya they call it “flame”. Effectively, it is table accounting.

You get together as a group of people in someone’s house and put money on the table. And if we all contribute an equal amount every month, we’ll distribute it at the end of the year, or maybe buy groceries or something else in bulk.

Interesting. So is this a way to encourage people to save money, through positive peer pressure and accountability?

Yes. And it can also be an economical “starter pack” for people in the group, to help them buy in bulk. This would satisfy a minimum purchase order that one person could not do alone, but the group could.

Am I right in saying that instead of trying to get merchants to accept Bitcoin – which can be complicated – they are primarily using Bitcoin to buy gift cards? And where are they spending it?

Yes. The main culprits are [internet] airtime, electricity and groceries. And if you have a gift card from a grocery store in South Africa, you effectively have a lot to do with your bitcoin. You can pay your bills because some supermarkets allow you to pay your bills at the checkout, you can book a bus trip, you can even pay for a flight at the supermarket.

How many users, from what you can tell, are using Bitcoin as their main way of paying their bills and surviving?

Not many users. This is a very small number of users out of the total. And a lot of people still have normal jobs that don’t pay Bitcoin, right? So maybe it’s 10% or 20% of the total users.

So what is the main function for people to use it?

Exploration, I guess. That’s the main question. A lot of people are saying, “Okay. I’ve heard about this Bitcoin thing. So how do I use it?” So a lot of people create an account and then they look around, and then you think, “Oh, okay. That person didn’t come back.” And then there’s an all-time high, and then that person is back.

Honestly, this seems very similar to how people use bitcoin in the US

It’s exactly like that.

Thanks Kgothatso, good luck with the project and see you at Consensus.

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Bitcoin

What to watch for in the markets

Published

9 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Photo: Andrew Harnik (Getty Images)

After witnessing one of the largest global IT outages on record, affecting the travel, finance and healthcare sectors worldwideThis week is set to see more political drama, events, and earnings reports from tech giants.

Donald Trump’s ‘Lovefest’ Sets Jamie Dimon Up for Consideration for Treasury Secretary Job

Let’s take a look at what awaits us:

Major companies will release their earnings reports

Major tech companies and others will release their earnings reports this week, paving the way for what the second half of 2024 will look like.

Monday

Verizon will report earnings before the start of operations.

Tuesday

Coca-Cola, Comcast and UPS are all set to report earnings before the market opens.
Tesla will report earnings in the morning, while General Motors will report earnings in the evening.
Alphabet and Visa will report results after the market closes.

Wednesday

AT&T will release its report before the market opens.
Ford and Chipotle will report earnings after the market closes.

Thursday

Earnings reports from AstraZeneca, American Airlines and Southwest Airlines will be released before the market opens.

Trump to speak at Bitcoin conference

Presumptive Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump will speak at the next Bitcoin Conference in Nashville, Tennesseewhich is scheduled for July 25-27. While this is the first time a presidential candidate will attend the conference, it has sparked a debate over whether the crypto-friendly Trump will receive support from the crypto community in the upcoming election.

In addition to Trump, independent presidential candidate Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will also discuss crypto during the conference. Crypto advocates such as ARK Investment’s Cathie Wood, MicroStrategy’s Michael Saylor, and whistleblower Edward Snowden are among some prominent names who will be participating in the conference.

Ether ETFs are on the way

New Ether Spot ETFs are set to begin trading on Tuesday, July 23. Much like the spot Bitcoin ETFs, these ETFs will allow investors to buy the second most popular cryptocurrency like stocks. BlackRock, Ark Invest/21Shares, VanEck, Grayscale, Fidelity, Bitwise, Franklin Templeton, and Invesco/Galaxy Digital are all set to offer Ether ETFs. Crypto asset manager Bitwise predict that trading in the Ether ETF will drive the price of Ether higher, potentially surpassing $5,000.

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Bitcoin

Cryptocurrency’s Biggest Winners and Losers in a Second Trump Presidency

Published

9 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Cryptocurrency’s Biggest Winners and Losers in a Second Trump Presidency

Bitcoin miners and cryptocurrency companies that have been blocked from going public in the U.S. could ultimately be the biggest winners in the digital asset world under a second Donald Trump presidency. Foreign companies at risk of losing market share could end up being the biggest losers.

That’s the view that’s taking hold among market participants and observers in the wake of the former president’s growing embrace of cryptocurrency as his chances of election grow. survey released Thursday by CBS News showed Trump with the majority — 52 percent — of likely voters in his likely November rematch with President Joe Biden.

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Bitcoin

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Cryptocurrency Markets Look Ready to ‘Send’ as Stars Align, According to Investor Chris Burniske

Published

9 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Bitcoin, Ethereum, Solana and Cryptocurrency Markets Look Ready to ‘Send’ as Stars Align, According to Investor Chris Burniske

Cryptocurrency investor Chris Burniske says Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SUN) and the cryptocurrency market in general seem poised for a run.

Former Head of Cryptocurrency at ARK Invest account his 292,200 followers on social media platform X that several catalysts are aligning, suggesting that digital asset markets are on the verge of a bull run.

According to Burniske, a partner at venture capital firm Placeholder, the highly anticipated launch of Ethereum-based exchange-traded funds (ETFs), Republican presidential candidate Donald Trump speaking at an upcoming Bitcoin event, and the current state of the BTC, ETH, and SOL charts all suggest significant optimism for the cryptocurrency markets.

“With ETH ETFs set to go live, Trump speaking at The Bitcoin Conference, and BTC, ETH, and SOL charts looking [they do] (while stocks are weak), it’s hard to imagine a world where we don’t ship next week.”

Reuters recently reported that preliminary approval for ETH ETFs has been granted as the Bitcoin Conference is scheduled to take place from July 25-27.

BTC, ETH, and SOL are trading at $67,333, $3,528, and $174 at the time of writing, respectively.

The venture capitalist too provides an update on his prediction that the total crypto market cap will eventually hit $10 trillion. According to his chart, the path to $10 trillion is currently “23%” complete, as it sits around $2.2 trillion.

Source: Chris BurniskeX

Earlier this month, Burniske he said in an interview with Real Vision CEO Raoul Paul that he has his eye on the Move ecosystem, which was originally built by social media giant Meta and then used to develop layer 1 blockchains Sui (IUE) and Apts (APT).

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Bitcoin

Here’s the next target for BTC before bulls can hold out for $70K

Published

9 months ago

21 July, 2024

SatoshiTimes Staff

Here’s the next target for BTC before bulls can hold out for $70K

Bitcoin’s recovery is going well, and the market is seemingly poised to create a new all-time high in the near term.

Technical analysis

Per NegotiationRage

The daily chart

As the daily chart shows, the price of Bitcoin has been rising since it broke above the 200-day moving average.

The market has also reclaimed the $60K and $65K levels and is moving towards the $68K resistance zone, which could be the last hurdle before creating a new all-time high. With the RSI also indicating that the price has clear bullish momentum, it could be just a matter of time.

Source: TradingView

The 4-hour chart

Looking at the 4-hour chart, it is evident that the price has been rising rapidly since breaking the downtrend line to the upside. The market also broke the $65K resistance level with momentum, turning it into a support.

While almost everything points to a new record high in the coming weeks, there is one worrying sign. The RSI is showing a clear bearish divergence between recent price highs, which could indicate a correction or even a reversal in the near term.

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