Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation Sponsor Bitcoin Events in Africa

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bitcoin africaThe Bitsoko cryptocurrency wallet has announced a series of educational events on Bitcoin and blockchain technology in Nairobi, Kenya.

CoinFox reports that the events will focus on bringing the blockchain technology to local start-ups to educate the community on opportunities and new innovations in the industry. The events will feature speakers from the international Bitcoin community, as well as the local Nairobi community.

Bitsoko is a cryptocurrency wallet that allows users to send money from an Android for a 0.1% transaction fee. Although only in beta-mode the founders hope to integrate the technology into Africa’s mobile payment system.

Bitsoko also stated that every attendee will receive a small amount of Bitcoin, as well as educational material on cryptocurrency and the blockchain.

Bitsoko recently won a research grant worth $100,000 from the Bill & Melinda Gates foundation. The company is working on a project called “Enable Universal Acceptance of Mobile Money Payments”. Bitsoko also has plans to expand to at least three African nations, including Ghana, Zimbabwe, and Sierra Leone.

“The financial structure in Kenya and throughout Africa has changed rapidly since the birth of mobile money by MPesa,” says Allan Juma, Bitsoko co-founder. “We believe that this will only continue to grow and tools such as Bitsoko that leverage blockchain technology to lower transaction costs will be at the forefront of this boom.”

Bitsoko is only the latest project focused on bringing the popular cryptocurrency to Africa. Recently the BitX bitcoin exchange announced expansion to Nigeria and South Africa.

In early June BitHub, a learning space with a strong focus on cryptocurrencies, launched in Cape Town. As the world’s traditional financial institutions tumble, Bitcoin and other emerging cryptocurrencies are emerging as a possible alternative to centralized fiat currency.

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Derrick Broze is a liberty journalist and bitcoin user. He writes for Coinivore and many other publications. Follow him on Contently. Tip Derrick bitcoin to 1LVATadEVsd4X4wf9k2W1Xv2SKn5q57s1M