By George Ward
A new mobile service in sub-Saharan Africa will allow Bitcoin users to send and receive BTC using their phones without an internet connection. Accordingly, Bitcoin holders in several African countries like Kenya, Nigeria, Tanzania, South Africa, and others could use this new service.
A New Way To Send And Receive BTC
With a basic phone, the Machankura digital wallet allows users to initiate BTC transactions with a few taps on their phone’s keypad. Smartphones in most parts of the world are mainly replacing mobile devices since the mid-2000s.
However, these mobile devices still serve the needs of several African communities despite their limited features compared to a smartphone. Therefore, Machankura intends to serve phone users who have already adopted Bitcoin as an alternative means of payment in their regions.
The maker of the digital wallet intends to accelerate the adoption of BTC among African communities, where the use of mobile devices without an internet connection is widespread.
The firm intends to leverage the alternative use of BTC for transactions in some regions to onboard new users to its services. However, the challenges are the need for more technical knowledge and the absence of internet services in most rural areas of Africa.
Thus, the use of mobile phones with tiny power consumption has become common, and Machankura seeks to empower people with such phones to send and receive BTC like they send a text on their devices.
While the initial test of the service has been positive, Machankura has utilized the Bitcoin Lightning Network to facilitate quick and cheaper transactions for users.
The Rise Of Mobile Money
Unlike other regions where Bitcoin is seen as a digital asset, several South African communities have been using BTC for transactions in place of traditional currencies. With no smartphone access, people in such regions resort to using mobile money, which does not require an internet connection to send and receive funds.
Mobile money is a financial service platform that enables users to process transactions using a basic phone without opening a bank account. According to a World Bank report, 33% of African adults are users of mobile money services, suggesting that the new digital wallet has a ready market to explore.
Using a digital wallet is simple. First, users dial a given number on their phones, where they can insert their country code to register and create their PIN.
Furthermore, integrating a personalized Bitcoin Lightning protocol will provide users with where to input their wallet address when transferring some BTCs.
The Lightning Protocol makes navigation and transactions easy. So far, Machankura has received positive reviews from the digital asset community for its innovative service to boost Bitcoin adoption.