With the help of a newly created application, programmer and cryptocurrency specialist, Michael Bumann has devised a way to to send Bitcoin to any M-MPESA account using Whatsapp or Telegram messenger.

This application is used to make online transactions, thereby transferring a Bitcoin—digital currency to a Kenyan mobile money account. Operating without the intervention of a central bank, the bitcoin is sent to an M-Pesa account from anywhere in the world using instant messaging platforms like Whatsapp or Telegram messenger. The customer then proceeds to the nearest M-Pesa agent to make subsequent withdrawals.

With this latest innovation, it will also be possible to pay for goods or services in Nairobi using Bitcoin.

Here is a demo of how this works;

M-Pesa processes transactions worth $4.98 billion annually, which is about 17 percent of total registered mobile money accounts in Kenya, according to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). This finding indicates that total mobile money transactions in Kenya come to about $29.29 billion annually.

Although countries like Nigeria boast of a large population, with mobile penetration at 130 million active subscribers and the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) the largest in Africa, the majority of businesses in rural areas are still yet to sign up to using the mobile money service. This, however, is the total opposite in Kenya where M-Pesa is fast becoming the preferred payment service.

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