Hacker in Africa Codes Bitcoin to M-Pesa Bot: 'I Had Some Spare Time'
Michael Bumann has been in Nairobi, Kenya for several months updating himself on the tech scene there. He noticed the widespread popularity of feature-phone enabled M-Pesa fiat transfers, and realized that by combining a few open-source tools into a bot, he could send Bitcoin through a messenger to deposit fiat directly into his cab driver's M-Pesa account. Bumann says: CoinTelegraph tracked down the world traveler and picked his mind about his secret (yes, still currently secret) bot, Kenya's tech scene, and his vision of the future. CoinTelegraph: What gave you the idea to connect....
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In a recent article appearing on SecurityWeek.com, the author David Holmes discussed virtual currency around the world in all its current forms. The article also discussed M-PESA, an SMS based system through which mobile subscribers in Kenya and a growing number of countries can send virtual money through a mobile operator's phone number. Either by circumstance or happenstance, I have been privileged to watch M-PESA grow from its soft launch at the Safari Park Hotel, Nairobi in late 2006 to what it has become right now. Though this can at times sound clichéd, M-PESA has revolutionized....
Global bitcoin wallet service Kipochi has launched a product that allows people in Africa to send and receive bitcoins, plus convert them to and from the Kenyan currency M-Pesa. This will allow Kenyans to transfer money in an easier, faster and more cost effective way than is currently offered by banks and money transfer companies, such as Western Union and MoneyGram. Kipochi works on all mobile phones as it has SMS, USSD and HTML5 frontends, so there is no requirement for users to have the most up-to-date handsets. "We believe Bitcoin can truly help people in the developing world and....
To many, Africa may seem as a continent wth little or no technological development whatsoever, and that is the first time mistake people make. Most Africans do not own credit cards or bank accounts, but they are owners of cell phones, and it’s through these cell phones where African people make their transactions. But how is cell phone use influenced by cryptocurrency? Companies such as M-Pesa which handle a majority of transactions in Africa are the clear definition of how methods of digital transactions can rule a country’s economic system. Although M-Pesa works by using the Swahili as....
What do Kusama, Polkadot and your spare cryptoasset holdings have in common? Parachain Slot Auctions, that’s what. Kusama and Polkadot which are built on the same architecture, one designed for wild testing of new codes and projects, the other more targeted at enterprise and businesses, both give developers and teams the chance to be part […]
It has always been a source of immense pride for me to have been part of the group of conference participants who were there at the initial launch of M-Pesa, back in 2006. Indeed, when I look at what M-Pesa has been able to do in the financial and technological sectors in Kenya, and then Africa, I feel a sense of pride to have been there at the dawn of a financial revolution. Introducing the zSIM. However with the arrival of the zSIM from bitSIM, it now seems that even M-Pesa must now give way to this new kid on the block. bitSIM has announced the release of a new thin card that can be....