Ever
since
Satoshi
Nakamoto
dropped
the
white
paper,
one
of
the
selling
points
of
bitcoin
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
software
developer
for
Amazon,
created
the
no-frills
app
called
Machankura.
Kgothatso
Ngako
is
speaker
at
this
year’s
Consensus
festival,
in
Austin,
Texas,
May
29-31.
Or
maybe
“app”
is
misleading,
as
it’s
designed
to
work
on
simple
phones
that
lack
touchscreens
or
cameras
or
the
bells
and
whistles
of
an
iPhone.
All
you
need
is
the
ability
to
text.
Using
the
Lightning
Network,
Machankura
(slang
for
“money”)
lets
users
send
and
receive
bitcoin,
with
or
without
the
internet.
This
is
something
most
of
us
take
for
granted.
Consider
a
bitcoin
wallet
address:
Usually
it’s
something
that
looks
like
“37LaxH5ihB5hZMXs72fofA8qzanipuWTF!”
Typing
it
in
manually
would
ruin
your
week.
If
you
make
a
typo
–
and
you’ll
make
a
typo
–
your
bitcoin
is
lost
forever.
Thankfully
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
an
email.”
Now,
users
of
Machankura
can
use
bitcoin
by
just
typing
in
normal-looking
numbers
and
email
addresses.
Before
heading
to
Austin
for
Consensus,
Ngako
shares
how
Facebook
did
something
smart
that
inspired
Machankura,
how
its
15,000
users
are
spending
bitcoin,
and
why
the
usage
patterns
in
Africa
are,
in
a
sense,
surprisingly
similar
to
the
patterns
in
the
United
States.
Interview
has
been
condensed
and
lightly
edited
for
clarity.
Before
creating
Machankura,
you
helped
spread
the
word
about
bitcoin
in
Africa.
How
so
exactly?
Kgothatso
Ngako:
I
grew
up
in
a
township
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
somebody
is
intrigued
by
Bitcoin
and
they
don’t
speak
English,
how
would
they
get
content
to
learn
about
it?
So
we
started
an
organization
called
Exonumia.
Its
aim
is
to
translate
Bitcoin
literature
into
African
languages.
What
Bitcoin
literature
did
you
use?
I’m
guessing
the
white
paper?
Yeah,
the
white
paper.
A
few
simple
ones.
The
email
Satoshi
sent
out
when
Bitcoin
version
0.1
released,
and
Hal
Finney’s
reply
to
that.
And,
of
course,
the
“I
Am
Hodling”
post.
And
a
few
others,
like
Understanding
Lightning
Network
and
The
History
of
Bitcoin
and
the
Kenya
Government.
We’re
also
translating
a
few
books,
like
“The
Blocksize
War”
and
“21
lessons.”
And
then
eventually
you
launched
Machankura.
What
was
the
goal?
So
I’m
trying
to
tell
as
many
people
as
I
can
about
Bitcoin
with
my
translated
articles,
but
I’m
met
with
all
these
problems.
A
person
may
not
have
a
smartphone.
If
they
have
a
smartphone,
they
don’t
have
data
bundles
on
it.
If
they
do
have
interest
or
you
give
them
a
Wi-Fi
hotspot,
they
don’t
have
enough
space
on
their
phone.
All
of
these
problems
are
solved
by
having
a
service
that
a
person
does
not
have
to
install
on
their
phone,
and
does
not
have
to
pay
to
use.
So
USSD
[Unstructured
Supplementary
Service
Data]
is
pretty
much
that.
It’s
like
a
website
that
is
reverse-billed.
Look
at
what
Facebook
does
in
developing
countries,
and
I
think
Twitter
did
as
well.
Facebook
is
available
for
free,
right?
People
on
a
mobile
cellular
connection
can
access
Facebook
without
paying
to
access
Facebook,
because
Facebook
will
settle
the
bill
with
the
telecom
at
a
later
time.
So
most
USSD
interfaces
work
on
a
similar
principle.
So
what
does
that
look
like
from
the
user’s
experience,
exactly?
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
an
email,
but
for
human-readable
addresses.
So
mine
is
kgothatso@8333.mobi.
I
can
share
this
with
pretty
much
everyone.
And
alternatively,
if
someone
has
my
number,
0739
383
807,
they
could
also
use
that
as
my
lighting
address.
This
is
your
phone
number?
Yeah.
So
whether
or
not
you
have
copy-and-paste
functionality,
if
you
have
Bitcoin,
you
can
type
out
either
of
the
two.
And
then
you
can
send
me
Bitcoin.
Amazing.
How
many
users
do
you
have,
and
where
are
they?
So
we’re
at
almost
15,000
users
now.
We’re
in
a
few
countries
—
South
Africa,
Nigeria,
Kenya,
Ghana,
Malawi,
and
so
on
and
so
forth.
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
a
“chama.”
Effectively,
it’s
a
tabletop
accounting.
You
come
together
as
a
group
of
people
in
somebody’s
home,
and
you
put
money
on
the
table.
And
if
we
all
contributed
an
equal
amount
each
month,
we’re
going
to
distribute
it
at
the
end
of
the
year,
or
maybe
buy
groceries
or
whatever
in
bulk.
Interesting.
So
this
is
a
way
to
nudge
people
to
save
money,
through
positive
peer
pressure
and
accountability?
Yes.
And
also
it
can
be
an
economic
“starter
pack”
for
people
in
the
group,
to
help
them
buy
in
bulk.
This
would
satisfy
a
minimum
purchase
order
that
one
person
couldn’t
do
on
their
own,
but
the
group
can.
Am
I
right
that
instead
of
trying
to
get
merchants
to
accept
Bitcoin
—
which
can
be
tricky
—
they’re
mostly
using
bitcoin
to
purchase
gift
cards?
And
where
are
they
spending
it?
Yes.
The
top
culprits
are
[internet]
airtime,
electricity,
and
groceries.
And
if
you
have
a
gift
card
for
a
grocery
store
in
South
Africa,
you
effectively
have
so
much
you
can
do
with
your
bitcoin.
You
can
pay
your
bills
because
some
grocery
stores
let
you
pay
your
bills
at
the
till,
you
could
book
a
bus
trip,
you
can
even
pay
for
a
flight
at
the
grocery
store.
How
many
users,
from
what
you
can
tell,
are
using
Bitcoin
as
the
primary
way
to
pay
their
bills
and
get
through
life?
That’s
not
a
lot
of
users.
That’s
a
very
small
number
of
users
from
the
total.
And
a
lot
of
people
are
still
working
normal
jobs
that
do
not
pay
Bitcoin,
right?
So
maybe
it’s
like
10%
or
20%
of
the
total
users.
So
what’s
the
main
thing
that
people
are
using
it
for?
Exploration,
I
think.
That’s
the
major
thing.
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
look
around,
and
then
you’re
like,
“Oh,
okay.
This
person
hasn’t
came
back.”
And
then
an
all-time
high
comes
around,
and
then
that
person
is
back
again.
Honestly,
that
sounds
very
similar
to
how
people
use
bitcoin
in
the
U.S.
That’s
exactly
how
it
is.
Thanks
Kgothatso,
good
luck
with
the
project
and
see
you
at
Consensus.