Bitcoin and M-PESA are Quite Complementary, Mr Holmes
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....
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The well known gold bug, CEO and chief investment officer at U.S. Global Investors, Frank Holmes recently sat down for an interview and discussed his price predictions in regard to the 2021 value of gold. Holmes also said that cryptocurrencies will continue to do well next year, as he believes increasing bitcoin adoption and decentralized finance (defi) will benefit the industry. A number of gold bugs like Peter Schiff are not too keen about bitcoin and cryptocurrencies. Then there are other well known precious metals proponents who have warmed up to digital assets like bitcoin. For....
Safaricom, the mobile network operator behind M-Pesa has released an Application Programming Interface (API) for all developers who want to create solutions tied directly into their payment systems. M-Pesa is Kenya’s largest mobile money service and world’s most successful to date. About 43 percent of Kenya’s GDP flows through the service and close to 70% of Kenya’s adult population has an account for the service. Safaricom’s website reads: “The new M-PESA platform dubbed G2 (for M-PESA 2nd generation platform) offers versatile integration capabilities that our development partners can....
Bitcoin startup Kipochi struggled to maintain its bitcoin service in Kenya, after the country’s largest mobile operator Safaricom terminated the firm’s operation with Kopo Kopo, popular Kenya-based merchant payment service provider. Kipochi’s service enabled users of M-pesa, a mobile phone-based money transfer, financing and micro-financing service launched by Vodafone for Vodacom and Safaricom to trade and receive remittances in Bitcoin using the M-Pesa network. Instead of securing partnership directly with M-Pesa however, the Kipochi team launched their service through Kopo Kopo, which....
Kenyans using popular money transfer service M-Pesa to get bank loans can longer do so. The bank involved suddenly cut the service following a legislation update. M-Pesa Loans ‘On Hold For Now’. Kenya Commercial Bank (KCB) gave neither warnings nor comments on the move. The decision followed the enactment of the country’s new Banking (Amendment) Act 2016....
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....