Podcasts about bitpesa

My guest today is Simon Dixon, CEO & Co-Founder of the online investment platform BnkToTheFuture.com who has invested over $1.7 billion in FinTech companies. Bnk To The Future is a global online investment platform that allows qualifying investors to invest in financial innovation, including fintech (Financial Technology) companies, funds, and other new alternative financial products. He is also the Fund Manager of Bitcoin Capital & author of the book 'Bank to the Future.' An active FinTech & Bitcoin angel investor with investments in BitPay, Kraken, BitPesa, and over 20 others. An ex-director of the UK Digital Currency Association & UK CrowdFunding Association. He regularly speaks on the future of finance to governments, businesses, investors, and financial institutions. An ex-investment banker that left corporate in 2006 to work on his book on the future of banking. Simon has been regularly quoted & appeared in major press & media outlets, including BBC, FT, CNBC, Reuters, Bloomberg, and Wall Street Journal. We discuss various topics, including Bitcoin, the Celsius Collapse, an Overview of Crypto Crash, Monetary Cycles, the Fight for the Free Market, and much more. We begin our conversation by discussing the various collapses throughout Crypto's history. We begin our discussion by examining the Luna death spiral. Simon explains how Mt Gox unraveled and how they handled the situation. We discuss Bitfinex's hack. Simon describes how the team behind Bitfinex used the lessons learned from Mt Gox and how they navigated the crisis better. We finish our conversation about crypto collapses by comparing and contrasting Celsius and Voyager. Simon explains how Voyager has been more transparent and adept at handling their crisis, while Celsius has done everything they can to obfuscate blame and act in bad faith. Simon discusses in detail how Celsius management did not have proper risk management and conducted themselves as an unregistered hedge fund. Our next major conversation topic centered around monetary cycles and the fight for the free market. We discuss the fourth turning and the ending of the debt cycle. Simon explains how financial instability and economic inequality lead to societal unrest. We discuss how we are currently living through a fourth turning and what that means for society. We also touch on the fight for free markets. Simon explains how the rise of CBDCs could lead to the rise of communism. We discuss how Bitcoin is the best tool to fight to protect capitalism and liberty from the evils of communism. We stress the importance of a complex money standard and the benefits hard money provides society. Our final discussion topic centered around investing frameworks. Simon shares how he structures his portfolio to hedge against a multitude of outcomes. We finish by discussing the proper frameworks to build and maintain wealth. Please enjoy my conversation with Simon Dixon. -- This podcast is powered by Blockworks. For exclusive content and events that provide insights into the crypto and blockchain space, visit them at https://blockworks.co

In this conversation, we chat with Dan Heyman, Co-founder and CEO of Palm NFT Studio and Network. Dan is a blockchain industry leader with experience building and leading organisations through the design, development and implementation of enterprise-grade blockchain protocols. Prior to Palm, Dan was the co-founder and Program Director of PegaSys, focusing on the strategy and operations of the team. Prior to joining PegaSys and ConsenSys, he was co-founder and CEO of Stack AI, COO of the Demeter Entrepreneur Support Network and Project Manager at MIT's Poverty Action Lab. He has an M.B.A. from MIT Sloan and a B.A. in Mathematics and Economics from Columbia University. More specifically, we touch on Dan's fascinating journey from working with the poverty action lab to founding Palm, as well as, Dan's experience at MIT, ConsenSys's enterprise solutions, the philosophy behind Crypto Art, NFTs and their value to large media enterprises, setting up a creator-focussed DAO, some exciting upcoming collaborations with DC Comics, and so much more!

In this conversation, we chat with Elizabeth Rossiello – the CEO and founder of AZA, an established provider of currency trading solutions which accelerate global access to frontier markets through an innovative infrastructure. Elizabeth founded the company in 2013 in Nairobi, Kenya and has expanded it to 10+ markets across Africa and Europe. Before founding AZA, Elizabeth was a rating analyst for microfinance institutions across sub-Saharan Africa, consulting for Grameen Foundation, Gates Foundation and the Acumen Fund, as well as working with regulators and policy-makers on legislation for financial innovations. Elizabeth co-chairs the World Economic Forum's Council on Blockchain and holds an M.A. in International Business and Finance from Columbia University. More specifically, we touch on ratings agencies and the activity of rating intitutions, M-Pesa and how it influenced the thinking towards a crypto-centric future, Africa's banking landscape and some of the outstanding issues it faces, Bitpesa and how it became Aza, banking infrastructure in Africa, and so so much more!

Cryptocurrency transactions are starting to pick up across Africa. In early 2021, you've may companies like Tesla have invested billions into Bitcoin.  And more payment systems like Visa, PayPal and Mastercard are following suit.  Music Artist Akon even has his very own cryptocurrency, Akoin, which is a cryptocurrency which is designed to be used in all 54 countries in Africa, now available on a few Crypto exchanges.Meanwhile, more Ghanaians getting involved in the Cyptocurrency craze now sweeping Africa as they look for new ways to make an income, and there are an increasing number of exchanges and brokers being established for buying and selling cryptocurrencies. With Binance and Coinbase, two of the biggest crypto exchanges out there, being available in Ghana, this has now become a whole lot widespread, There are many other exchanges, including Ghanaian and African based ones including Bitpesa, eBitcoinics, Bundle Africa, Sikaplus, PayPlux and so many others. The next step is for Africa remittance platforms such as Chipper Cash App to integrate crypto into their strategy to stay relevant to the contemporary financial market. Cryptocurrency is an encrypted digital currency built on blockchain technology, and decentralised and unregulated by Financial institutions and centrals banks. Jack Dorsey met bitcoin business owners in Ghana in 2019 and plans to integrate bitcoin use on Twitter, and has already done with his other company Square, by integrating the ability to buy bitcoin on CashApp.If you have an opinion you want to share, please get in touch with us on social media, on Linkedin or instagram or email on info@thesoundofaccra.comVisit: https://thesoundofaccra.comAll links: https://linktr.ee/thesoundofaccrapodSupport the show

Jalak Jobanputra is the Founder of FuturePerfect Ventures. An early-stage Venture Capital firm focused on decentralized technologies including blockchain, crypto, IoT, and AI. FPV's portfolio includes Abra, Blockstream, Bitpesa, Fusemachines, Everledger and Blockchain. Jalak was awarded Institutional Investor's Most Powerful Fintech Dealmakers from 2016-2018. In May 2018, she was awarded Microsoft's VC Trailblazer Award for "her early and bold" investments in the sector. She has been listed as a 100 Most Influential Fintech Leader of 2016 and 2017 based on her investment strategy at FPV. In 2017, she was cited as a "Top 5 Investor Powering the Blockchain Boom" and Crunchbase noted FPV as one of the top VC funds in blockchain "before it was cool." Since founding the firm, she has spoken on blockchain technology, IoT, and artificial intelligence at many global conferences. ————————————————————————— To learn more about this episode, including podcast transcripts and show notes, visit *salt.org/talks* ( http://salt.org/talks ) Moderated by Anthony Scaramucci.

Overview: Today we’re going to discuss cryptocurrency trading in Africa. We start with the global context of cryptocurrency, review crypto trading exchanges in Africa & end with our overall outlook. This episode was recorded on Mar 21, 2021. Companies discussed: Coinbase, BitPesa, Xend, BuyCoins, eToro, Luno, Paxful, Quidax & Coinmama Business concepts discussed: Asset allocation strategy, decentralized networks, cryptocurrency innovation, investment regulation & open-source decentralization Conversation highlights: (01:30) - Why we’re talking about Cryptocurrency in Africa (03:20) - Background and context: Cryptocurrency, Bitcoin and Altcoins (12:20) - Potential downsides of cryptocurrencies; Stablecoins background (22:40) - Rise of cryptocurrency in Africa (28:52) - Use cases for cryptocurrency in Africa (36:15) - Africa’s regulatory environment for cryptocurrency (40:30) - Crypto startups in West Africa (49:36) - Crypto startups in Southern Africa (55:20) - Crypto startups in East Africa (59:59) - Crypto startups in North Africa (1:07:44) - Bankole's overall outlook (1:18:03) - Olumide’s overall outlook (1:27:50) - Recommendations and small wins Olumide’s recommendations, small wins & open questions: Recommendation: Sam Altman's Stanford course: "How to Start a Startup": 20 videos about startup life from 2014. Fabulous. Small win: Getting into the routine of chatting with friends on video call weekends. A lot of fun Other content: ARK Invest Bitcoin white paper Part 2 (from 2020-Sep) & Stablecoins explanation (by 99Bitcoins) Open question: How should African govt regulate cryptocurrency trading? Bankole’s recommendations, small wins & open questions: Recommendations: Why Ghana will no longer sell cocoa to Switzerland - Face2Face Africa & Okay by Adekunle Gold - YouTube Small win: Chelsea FC - unbeaten in 14, only conceded 2 goals. Other content: Why Crypto is coming out of the shadows - Morgan Stanley & Africa crypto landscape - StartupList Africa Open question: How can cryptocurrency drive financial inclusion? We’d love to hear from you. Please email info@afrobility.com to share feedback or propose topics you’d like to hear. Join our insider mailing list where we get feedback on new episodes & find all episodes at Afrobility.com

In this episode, Ines Gonzales Del Mazo sits down with Jalak Jobanputra, Founding Partner of Future Perfect Ventures to discuss her investing career across FinTech, software, and the blockchain. Jalak Jobanputra is Founding Partner of FuturePerfect Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund in NYC focused on next generation technology such as blockchain and machine learning. FPV’s portfolio includes Abra, Blockstream, Bitpesa, Fusemachines, Everledger and Blockchain. Jalak was awarded Institutional Investor’s Most Powerful Fintech Dealmakers from 2016-2018. In May 2018, Jobanputra was awarded Microsoft’s VC Trailblazer Award for “her early and bold” investments in the sector. She has been listed as a 100 Most Influential Fintech Leader of 2016 and 2017 based on her investment strategy at FPV. In 2017, she was cited as a “Top 5 Investor Powering the Blockchain Boom” and Crunchbase noted FPV as one of the top VC funds in blockchain “before it was cool.” Since founding the firm, she has spoken on blockchain technology, IoT, and artificial intelligence at many global conferences, including the Milken Global Institute, Dutch Development Bank/FMO Annual Meeting, and The Economist Buttonwood Gathering. She also founded Collective Future, an organization to foster diversity and inclusion in the nascent blockchain sector. FPV’s incubator FPV Labs was selected by the NYC Economic Development Corporation in January 2019 to operate the NYC Blockchain Center, a unique private-public partnership formed to serve as an access point to the growing blockchain ecosystem and collaborate with elected officials on policy initiatives. Prior to FPV, Jobanputra was the Director of Emerging Market Mobile Investments at Omidyar Network, a philanthrocapitalist fund started by Pierre Omidyar, co-founder of eBay. Previously, she worked at Intel Capital investing in enterprise software in Silicon Valley from 1999-2003, as well as New Venture Partners and the NYC Investment Fund where she formed one of NYC’s first seed funds and helped establish the Fintech Innovation Lab in 2010. She started her career as a media/tech/telecom investment banker in NYC and London. Jobanputra is also active in supporting education reform and social entrepreneurship. She served as a Trustee of Achievement First Bushwick Charter Schools (Brooklyn). She is on the Board of Directors for the Center for an Urban Future, Advisory Board of L’Oreal’s Women in Digital Initiative, member of Mayor DeBlasio’s Broadband Taskforce, and former Access to Capital Committee member of the US Secretary of State Clinton Women’s Leadership Council. She is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.S. in Economics (concentration in Finance) from The Wharton School and a B.A. in Communications from the Annenberg School. She received her MBA from Kellogg in 1999. Her full bio can be found here, and she has been active on twitter since 2007 at @jalak.

Jalak joins us on Base Layer and it's an amazing discussion with an investor who has been active in the digital asset/blockchain world for over 6 years. We discuss the changing narratives from the early days to now, the geographic niche's of certain projects like Bitpesa vs what it takes for global adoption, Libra and DCEP as big stories of 2019 and the work she's doing with local politicians in NYC to make a "public Venmo" and much more. 

Jalak Jobanputra is Founding Partner of FuturePerfect Ventures, an early stage venture capital fund in NYC focused on next generation technology such as blockchain and machine learning. FPV’s portfolio includes Abra, Open Garden, Blockstream, Bitpesa, FuseMachines, Everledger and Blockchain. Jalak was awarded Institutional Investor’s Top Fintech Dealmakers in 2017 and 2016. In 2017, she was cited as a “Top 5 Investor Powering the Blockchain Boom” and CB Insights noted FPV as one of the top VC funds in blockchain “before it was cool”. Since founding the firm, she has spoken on blockchain technology at many global conferences, including the Milken Global Institute, Dutch Development Bank/FMO annual meeting, and The Economist Buttonwood Gathering. Prior to FPV, Jobanputra was the Director of Emerging Market Mobile Investments at Omidyar Network, a philanthrocapitalist fund started by Pierre Omidyar, co-founder of eBay. Previously, she worked at Intel Capital investing in enterprise software in Silicon Valley from 1999-2003. as well as New Venture Partners and the NYC Investment Fund where she formed one of NYC's first seed funds and helped establish the Fintech Innovation Lab in 2010. She started her career as a media/tech/telecom investment banker in NYC and London. Jobanputra is also active in supporting education reform and social entrepreneurship. She served as a Trustee of Achievement First Bushwick Charter Schools (Brooklyn). She is on the Board of Directors for the Center for an Urban Future, Advisory Board of L’Oreal’s Women in Digital Initiative, member of Mayor DeBlasio’s Broadband Taskforce, and former Access to Capital Committee member of the US Secretary of State Clinton Women’s Leadership Council. She is a magna cum laude graduate of the University of Pennsylvania, with a B.S. in Economics (concentration in Finance) from The Wharton School and a B.A. in Communications from the Annenberg School. She received her MBA from Kellogg in 1999.

On this episode we discuss Nigerian Bank charges, BitPesa's rebranding and Bamboos launch. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Today’s guest and our first mentor is Charlene Chen, COO at BitPesa. BitPesa is an online payment platform that leverages Blockchain technology to significantly lower the cost and increase the speed of business payments to, from and within sub-Saharan Africa. I sat next to Charlene at an Innovate Finance dinner a couple of years ago and we instantly hit it off, sharing very similar views on the importance of people, culture and mentorship. She had a fantastic energy and I found her passion for BitPesa infectious. Charlene’s story is a really interesting and inspiring one that shows what you can achieve if you chose to follow the path less well travelled. Having started her career in Consulting she decided to take some time out to complete an MBA which led to her moving to Ghana for 3 months to work with the Tech Start up, Busy Internet. This trip opened her eyes to the opportunities that existed in Africa and after completing her MBA she went back to work with companies across Kenya and Tanzania for the best part of the last decade before moving to London to launch BitPesa. We cover some really interesting topics in today’s conversation and I hope you’re going to get a lot from what Charlene has to say. Whether you’re thinking about launching your own start up, considering an MBA or thinking of going to work in a different country or continent, there’s something in here for everyone. If you want to find out more about BitPesa you can check out their website - https://www.bitpesa.co If you want to find out more about Charlene you can check out her LinkedIn profile - https://www.linkedin.com/in/charlenechen

Regulation is often seen as a restriction to innovation. And in some cases, it certainly is, but in other cases, not so much. Perhaps what defines the difference is your attitude towards building innovation within the context of regulations. Charlene Chen, BitPesa’s COO, talks us through the challenge between innovation and regulation, and how you balance the conflicting energies and the management of different stakeholders.

Jalak Jobanputra, founder and managing partner of Future Perfect Ventures, talks about how, in 2014, her experience as an investment bank and VC, her global background, and her observation that new streams of data were becoming available led her to launch her first fund, which ended up being 70% invested in blockchain. She describes what it was like selling LPs on the nascent technology in 2014, how her latest fund, which will be more than $50 million, is different and how it's drawing LPs who thought they could make money through liquid hedge funds invested in tokens. She talks about why she thinks early-stage technologies can't be IPO'ed -- and why FPV shied away from ICOs -- but why her second fund is capable of investing in tokens. She also explains how the space is still lacking in early-stage VCs with knowledge of the blockchain sector, why New York launched the New York Blockchain Center and whether crypto is becoming more diverse. Come See Unchained Live With Vitalik Buterin! Wednesday, March 20th, doors at 6, show at 7, venue TBD Get your tickets now! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176 Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain and https://aka.ms/unchained Episode links: Future Perfect Ventures: Futureperfectventures.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/jalak Blog: Thebarefootvc.com Jalak op-ed on Bitcoin at $10,000 in Recode: https://www.recode.net/2017/11/29/16716014/bitcoin-price-10k-ethereum-blockchain-cryptocurrency-value-creation-global Profile of Jalak in Breaker Mag: https://breakermag.com/why-one-of-blockchains-first-vcs-thinks-the-developing-world-will-lead-the-way/ Jalak on the 10th birthday of the Bitcoin white paper: https://breakermag.com/remembering-the-bitcoin-whitepaper-part-3-the-thinkers/ New York Blockchain Center: https://www.nycedc.com/press-release/nycedc-open-nyc-s-public-private-blockchain-center Wired story on the Collective Future: https://www.wired.com/story/for-women-in-cryptocurrency-a-new-effort-to-grow-their-ranks/ Unconfirmed episode with Bill Barhydt of portfolio company Abra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-abra-enables-you-to-buy-5-of-an-etf-like-token-of-the-top-10-cryptos-ep-040/ Unchained episode with Elizabeth Rossiello of portfolio company Bitpesa: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitpesas-elizabeth-rossiello-on-necker-island/ Unchained episode with Vinny Lingham of portfolio company Civic: https://unchainedpodcast.com/civics-vinny-lingham-on-when-crypto-demand-will-catch-up-with-the-technology/ Unchained episode with Josh Stein of portfolio company Harbor: https://unchainedpodcast.com/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep-77/ Unchained episode with Riccardo Spagni of portfolio company Tari: https://unchainedpodcast.com/moneros-riccardo-spagni-aka-fluffypony-on-how-he-feels-about-monero-being-used-for-crime-ep-93/

Jalak Jobanputra, founder and managing partner of Future Perfect Ventures, talks about how, in 2014, her experience as an investment bank and VC, her global background, and her observation that new streams of data were becoming available led her to launch her first fund, which ended up being 70% invested in blockchain. She describes what it was like selling LPs on the nascent technology in 2014, how her latest fund, which will be more than $50 million, is different and how it's drawing LPs who thought they could make money through liquid hedge funds invested in tokens. She talks about why she thinks early-stage technologies can't be IPO'ed -- and why FPV shied away from ICOs -- but why her second fund is capable of investing in tokens. She also explains how the space is still lacking in early-stage VCs with knowledge of the blockchain sector, why New York launched the New York Blockchain Center and whether crypto is becoming more diverse. Come See Unchained Live With Vitalik Buterin! Wednesday, March 20th, doors at 6, show at 7, venue TBD Get your tickets now! https://www.eventbrite.com/e/unchained-live-with-vitalik-buterin-tickets-56189456176 Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: http://ciphertrace.com/unchained Tokensoft: https://www.tokensoft.io Microsoft: https://twitter.com/MSFTBlockchain and https://aka.ms/unchained Episode links: Future Perfect Ventures: Futureperfectventures.com Twitter: https://twitter.com/jalak Blog: Thebarefootvc.com Jalak op-ed on Bitcoin at $10,000 in Recode: https://www.recode.net/2017/11/29/16716014/bitcoin-price-10k-ethereum-blockchain-cryptocurrency-value-creation-global Profile of Jalak in Breaker Mag: https://breakermag.com/why-one-of-blockchains-first-vcs-thinks-the-developing-world-will-lead-the-way/ Jalak on the 10th birthday of the Bitcoin white paper: https://breakermag.com/remembering-the-bitcoin-whitepaper-part-3-the-thinkers/ New York Blockchain Center: https://www.nycedc.com/press-release/nycedc-open-nyc-s-public-private-blockchain-center Wired story on the Collective Future: https://www.wired.com/story/for-women-in-cryptocurrency-a-new-effort-to-grow-their-ranks/ Unconfirmed episode with Bill Barhydt of portfolio company Abra: https://unchainedpodcast.com/how-abra-enables-you-to-buy-5-of-an-etf-like-token-of-the-top-10-cryptos-ep-040/ Unchained episode with Elizabeth Rossiello of portfolio company Bitpesa: https://unchainedpodcast.com/bitpesas-elizabeth-rossiello-on-necker-island/ Unchained episode with Vinny Lingham of portfolio company Civic: https://unchainedpodcast.com/civics-vinny-lingham-on-when-crypto-demand-will-catch-up-with-the-technology/ Unchained episode with Josh Stein of portfolio company Harbor: https://unchainedpodcast.com/harbor-and-trusttoken-on-why-they-dont-mind-being-unsexy-ep-77/ Unchained episode with Riccardo Spagni of portfolio company Tari: https://unchainedpodcast.com/moneros-riccardo-spagni-aka-fluffypony-on-how-he-feels-about-monero-being-used-for-crime-ep-93/

Alex Merced discusses Crypto companies Coinpayments and Bitpesa. Support the show at Donate.Alexmerced.com --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/alexmerced/support

Connie Gallippi, the founder and executive director for BitGive, and Joe Waltman, the executive director of GiveCrypto.org, discuss charitable giving in crypto -- what problems in philanthropy it solves, what level of transparency they can achieve and how they measure impact. Connie explains why she has chosen to work with existing non-profits and Joe, why GiveCrypto is working on its own initiatives, and why its working thesis is that crypto will be especially helpful in places with broken money or broken government. They also dive into the tax implications of donating crypto directly -- namely that donors can offset taxes on gains, particularly by donating their oldest coins before the end of the calendar year. Connie talks about how BitGive needs to ensure it doesn't hold or convert money in order to avoid money transmitter regulations, and Joe, how GiveCrypto has to ensure it's not giving money to bad people, such as money launderers or people or entities under economic sanctions. Plus, the two discuss why a space that so often espouses the ideals of democratization of finance gives so little and what it will take for it to donate more. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained WeTrust: Donate in crypto and have your donation matched by WeTrust through Giving Tuesday, November 27! http://wetrust.io/unchained Episode links: Bitgive: https://www.bitgivefoundation.org GiveTrack: https://www.givetrack.org BitGive Twitter: https://twitter.com/BitGiveOrg GiveCrypto: https://www.bitgivefoundation.org GiveCrypto Twitter - https://twitter.com/givecrypto?lang=en BitGive's five-year report: https://d1i1964a5wuyjt.cloudfront.net/2018/11/5-year-deck-021118_compressed-1.pdf Joe's work trial for GiveCrypto: https://medium.com/givecrypto/givecrypto-work-trial-a-new-financial-system-a-new-opportunity-7f564b65aff5 GiveCrypto's October report: https://medium.com/givecrypto/givecryptos-october-monthly-report-5c191bc03b56 Unconfirmed episode with Robert Opp of the UN World Food Programme: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/the-un-world-food-programmes-blockchain-based-food-vouchers-for-syrian-refugees-with-robert-opp-ep017 Episode with Elizabeth Rossiello of Bitpesa: http://unchainedpodcast.co/bitpesas-elizabeth-rossiello-on-necker-island

Connie Gallippi, the founder and executive director for BitGive, and Joe Waltman, the executive director of GiveCrypto.org, discuss charitable giving in crypto -- what problems in philanthropy it solves, what level of transparency they can achieve and how they measure impact. Connie explains why she has chosen to work with existing non-profits and Joe, why GiveCrypto is working on its own initiatives, and why its working thesis is that crypto will be especially helpful in places with broken money or broken government. They also dive into the tax implications of donating crypto directly -- namely that donors can offset taxes on gains, particularly by donating their oldest coins before the end of the calendar year. Connie talks about how BitGive needs to ensure it doesn't hold or convert money in order to avoid money transmitter regulations, and Joe, how GiveCrypto has to ensure it's not giving money to bad people, such as money launderers or people or entities under economic sanctions. Plus, the two discuss why a space that so often espouses the ideals of democratization of finance gives so little and what it will take for it to donate more. Thank you to our sponsors! CipherTrace: https://ciphertrace.com/unchained WeTrust: Donate in crypto and have your donation matched by WeTrust through Giving Tuesday, November 27! http://wetrust.io/unchained Episode links: Bitgive: https://www.bitgivefoundation.org GiveTrack: https://www.givetrack.org BitGive Twitter: https://twitter.com/BitGiveOrg GiveCrypto: https://www.bitgivefoundation.org GiveCrypto Twitter - https://twitter.com/givecrypto?lang=en BitGive's five-year report: https://d1i1964a5wuyjt.cloudfront.net/2018/11/5-year-deck-021118_compressed-1.pdf Joe's work trial for GiveCrypto: https://medium.com/givecrypto/givecrypto-work-trial-a-new-financial-system-a-new-opportunity-7f564b65aff5 GiveCrypto's October report: https://medium.com/givecrypto/givecryptos-october-monthly-report-5c191bc03b56 Unconfirmed episode with Robert Opp of the UN World Food Programme: http://unconfirmed.libsyn.com/the-un-world-food-programmes-blockchain-based-food-vouchers-for-syrian-refugees-with-robert-opp-ep017 Episode with Elizabeth Rossiello of Bitpesa: http://unchainedpodcast.co/bitpesas-elizabeth-rossiello-on-necker-island

This week we're kicking of a mini-series on high-tech for business within a developing country context. We're talking to Elizabeth Rossiello, who co-founded BitPesa Ltd in 2014 and serves as its Chief Executive Officer. Elizabeth has worked in Kenya as a Microfinance Analyst and Investment Associate since 2009. She is an expert in East African financial product development and establishing best practices in risk, governance and IT for local banks. Prior to her work in East Africa, she served as an Analyst at Credit Suisse in Zurich and a Robert Bosch Fellow in Frankfurt. She speaks four languages and has a Masters in International Finance from Columbia University's SIPA. On this episode you'll learn: Cryptocurrency can be compared to how letters (snail mail) used to be sent to another country, and now email has replaced that. Cryptocurrency, or Bitcoin, was created to replace the traditional way of sending money to another person. Bitpesa is sending money around the world a lot cheaper than traditional means. They're increasing liquidity for companies. Bitpesa's business model is to take a small percentage on each international money transfer transaction. Bitpesa doesn't hold Bitcoin overnight so they're not affected by the fluctuating price that the currency has seen. Elizabeth built the simplest test case of how it could work. She hired one engineer and one UX (User Experience) team. They built it on the Mpesa system in Kenya to test it out. It took a month and a half. Their first customer traded in January 2014, and they relaunched in April with a market-ready product. The regulatory framework was setup for traditional money transfers, but Bitpesa showed they were doing the same thing just using a different tool to do so. Working with regulators still makes up part of their work today. It's about ensuring they're following the rules, and keeping the focus away from what the technology is. They've had plenty of setbacks, such as being sued by Safaricom in Kenya, and potential investors who learnt from their company and ended up creating something similar. Bitpesa started out on a small $50k seed investment which they used to build the prototype, and then raised follow on investment from international investors. Follow on investors were only willing to put in cash for 6-12 months runway, so Elizabeth says it was a really inefficient fundraising process. Elizabeth advises to enjoy the ride, because it's a long journey. Enjoy building a company that you want to work for. And take care of yourself along the way. Links to resources: Bitpesa Blockchain for Development: Emerging Opportunities for Mobile, Identity and Aid, a 2017 report from the GSMA Digital Identity Programme, which talks about the potential for blockchain for numerous use cases, including for identification and payment transparency. Connect with guest: Elizabeth on Twitter  

Elizabeth Rossiello is the Founder and Ceo and BitPessa. She breaks down the hustle and what it took to get BitPesa off the ground. 

Ep.14 – Blockchain use cases outside of insurance For this week’s podcast we go out of the insurance world to explore some interesting blockchain use cases and pilots in other industries. In episode 6 we had Ryan Rugg introduce us to R3 the banking blockchain consortium. But for this one we wanted to go out a little bit further. As our guide for this journey we had the pleasure of having Lee Brenner, Chief Engagement Office at the Global Blockchain Business Council, live from Pennsylvania!     2 Minute Definition of Blockchain Blockchain technology is a decentralised database that is connected together to create a permanent unchangeable record of data that is loaded onto blocks. Those individual blocks of data are connected to other blocks of data (ie. chained together) on this database. Blockchains act as global notary. Eliminates the middle man by creating a system of trust and a level of confidence between the actors on the system allowing for P2P transactions.   The Global Blockchain Business Council The Global Blockchain Business Council (GBBC) came out of a meeting of thought leaders (blockchain, government and different industries) hosted by Richard Branson on Nectar Island to really think through how blockchain technology can affect civic society. The idea of a global institution that unites individuals from the business community and from the blockchain community. The GBBC tries to advocate on behalf of the broader ecosystem to regulators around the world that if they try to regulate blockchain that it is done from an educated point of view. Another aspect of the GBBC is engaging with government questions on who they should be talking to if either they want to get advice on blockchain or if they want to implement a blockchain solution such as on a land trust or a voting system for example. The GBBC can advice them on which companies can help government implement that whether it’s a startup or an enterprise. They can also share interesting case studies from the business world or from other countries. The GBBC thus tries to build a broad network from the blockchain industry, the business world, to governments and regulators and to NGOs and charities.   Uses cases Business Processes & Payments - BitPesa A good example of how blockchain technology can be used in sectors outside of insurance is Bitpesa. Bitpesa tries to answer the question “how can we make financial transactions in Africa more efficient and secure?”. The current system is one were transactions are extremely slow, numerous intermediaries are involved, high costs and in general a very inefficient system. Bitpesa created a blockchain solution that has built in data privacy, minimal fees and is mobile based thus providing the unbanked in Africa with financial solutions. This provides their customers the ability to make P2P transactions and regulators with automatic real time auditing.   Logistics & Supply Chain: Walmart Walmart has started to use blockchain technology in their supply chain. An example of this was used for tracking pork from Chinese producers to the store front. Walmart wanted to track the origins of the meat and its location in transit along the supply chain. This process would usually take days but with blockchain it could be achieved in minutes. Applying this technology to the Chinese market was an important move for Walmart as Chinese shoppers remain sceptical of the quality of domestic food products, after various food-related scandals, such as one involving baby milk formula tainted with industrial chemical melamine, dominated headlines for weeks in 2017. Now Chinese shoppers will be able to scan the food in Walmart shops to see the entire history of the food from farm to store: Healthcare – MediLedger How can patients' medical records be stored, tracked and verified on the blockchain? How can we move from a paperless system to a very secure blockchain one?

Patrick Jenkins and guests discuss Q1 results from Santander and UBS and what they mean for rivals, the implications for banks from the Facebook scandal and PSD2 plus a look at BitPesa, the innovative sub-Saharan African payments business. With special guest Alan McIntyre, global banking practice lead at Accenture. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

This week we've got an excellent episode which looks at applying breakthrough technology, to frontier markets. You've probably heard of Bitcoin and blockchain, and here Elizabeth Rossiello CEO and founder of Bitpesa and I discuss how this technology can help African businesses grow through improving how they make international payments. Why? Well in mature markets there's a lot of liquidity between different currencies, meaning if you wanted to trade between Euros to Dollars to Pounds, the fact there's lots of people trading it means you can get a good price. However, when you are looking to trade African currencies, there's not so much activity meaning companies are getting caught with high high prices to move money around the world, such as paying suppliers. Bitpesa has stepped in to provide financial remittance services for anyone wanting to buy or sell African currencies, with Bitcoin and digital currencies acting behind the scenes to smoothen the process. Just a heads up that this interview took place over an internet call which is different to the in person episodes done to date, and also that Elizabeth will be speaking at The Economist's Innovation Summit in Nairobi, and so be sure to check that out if you're interested in learning more. READ MORE AT:https://theeastafricabusinesspodcast.com/2018/02/08/bitpesa-blockchain-enabled-international-payments-with-elizabeth-rossiello/

The prospect of providing digital cross-border payments for the world’s unbanked and underbanked population has always been one of the key use cases for Bitcoin. Cryptocurrencies can be seen as a way for people in developing countries to participate in the global financial market by allowing easy cross-border payments, cheap remittance transactions, and simplified lending options. We’re pleased to be joined by Elizabeth Rossiello, CEO and Founder of BitPesa. BitPesa provides companies in frontier markets with the financial infrastructure to facilitate commerce and payments, where traditional financial markets are known to be fractured and expensive. As an early Bitcoin company founded in 2013, BitPesa is now present in a handful of African countries and provides essential financial services to businesses, allowing them to send and collect payments, and perform quick and affordable Forex trades. Topics covered in this episode: Elizabeth’s journey to Bitcoin and BitPesa BitPesa’s vision and how it compares existing mobile money platforms present in Africa BitPesa’s offering and how it has evolved since the company was founded in 2013 The primary pain points and barriers to doing business in developing African markets Foreign exchange markets in Africa The challenges and opportunities regarding blockchain adoption in African markets The future of Bitcoin as a payment system Episode links: BitPesa Elizabeth Rossiello Describes How BitPesa Slashes International Payment Fees BitPesa Founder Elizabeth Rossiello Keynotes at ConsenSys' Ethereal Summit Elizabeth Rossiello on Twitter This episode is hosted by Brian Fabian Crain and Sébastien Couture. Show notes and listening options: epicenter.tv/215

Welcome to an unusual show for us in recent weeks, as a new bitcoin high doesn't feature as our lead story! Getting us off the mark, the guys explore the new Bitcoin futures option from LedgerX priced at $10,000. Why did someone buy it, and could we be buying too? Next up, SegWit2x is back in the news, but having been called off last week, how has it caused some nodes to stumble? And our story of the week - the CME Group has announced that it'll launch Bitcoin futures. So does this represent Wall Street advancing on Bitcoin, or is it bringing crypto ever-closer to the mainstream? Answers on a postcard, please do let us know what you think @colingplatt (https://twitter.com/colingplatt?lang=en) or @sytaylor (https://twitter.com/sytaylor?lang=en).] WTF Colin G Platt? Could your next trip to the cinema feature a blockbuster funded by crypto? If everything goes to plan for one Hollywood producer, then absolutely! So, will Hollywood become the next industry to be disrupted by DLT? And R3 founder and CEO David Rutter has spoken about why 2018 is a key year for him, and what it'll take to make it a success. So what do the guys think? We also bring you a roundtable on the state of blockchain recorded live at the ConsenSys launch part in Shoreditch, London, featuring Alex Batlin and Ed Budd from ConsenSys, Lawrence Lundy from Outlier Ventures, and Charlene Chen from BitPesa. The guys discuss where we are with distributed ledger technology (DLT), the impact it's had on financial services and where it's heading. Simon also caught up with Jeremy Millar about ConsenSys' plans for growth and their move to London. We hope you enjoy the show and, as ever, don't forget to subscribe. Missing out on the conversation? Tweet the show @bchaininsider or to read more about the news stories and have your say visit fintechinsidernews.com (https://fintechinsidernews.com/). Special Guests: Alex Batlin, Charlene Chen, Ed Budd, Jeremy Millar, and Lawrence Lundy.

South Korea has reportedly become the latest notable nation to follow the likes of Nigeria and China by outlawing the use of cryptocurrency. Given these developments, policymakers all across the continent are no doubt mulling over the merits of banning Initial Coin Offerings (ICOs). They are probably concerned that by shunning cryptocurrencies, they might end up being on the outside looking in on a lucrative financial trend that may well prove impossible to rein in regardless. In this episode of the African Tech Round-up podcast, cryptocurrency enthusiast, Simon Dingle, joins Andile Masuku and Musa Kalenga to discuss the great Bitcoin surge that is fueling the world's current obsession with virtual money. Simon explains why some people are displeased with the likes of PR journalism outfit, Memeburn, and CBS's cable channel, Showtime, for allegedly taking advantage of their audiences to mine crypocurrency. And in the wake of all the recent moving and shaking by some African virtual currency exchanges such as Luno, BitPesa and BitMari, Simon also factors in on what separates mediocre platforms from great ones. Music Credits: Music by Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com) Music licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 3.0

Charlene Chen is the Chief Operating Officer of BitPesa-- an online payment platform founded in Kenya that leverages Blockchain settlement to lower the cost and increase the speed of business payments to, from and within sub-Saharan Africa. In this chat with Andile Masuku, Charlene explains how BitPesa helps clients, that range from African businesses and multinational companies paying suppliers as far as China and Dubai to international remittance companies, use their API services for white-label payments to dozens of bank networks and mobile money operators across Nigeria, Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Senegal, and the DRC. She also unpacks why BitPesa hasn't gotten caught up in speculation regarding Bitcoin and sheds light on the company's prospects following the successful close of their $5.7 million Series A in January 2017.

Bitcoin has many skeptics in the West but in Africa it could transform payments. In this episode of AFP Conversations, host Ira Apfel spoke to Elizabeth Rossiello, co-founder of BitPesa, a Nairobi-based payments and FX startup which operates in six African nations, about the promise and challenges of bitcoin. 

Elizabeth Rossiello talks about how she went from being a credit ratings analyst for microfinance investors to heading up an "international mobile money" company for sub-Saharan Africa that uses Bitcoin's rails. Along the way she reveals how convoluted, expensive and unreliable the movement of money into and out of Africa can be -- many people sending money in envelopes via regional buses and even traditional banks having to send money from Africa to Asia via North America. With BitPesa's fast and inexpensive international solution, companies are opening up new markets and people sending remittances no longer have to pay exorbitant charges.

BitPesa CEO Elizabeth Rossiello discusses Bitcoin in Africa.

On today’s show and thanks to one of our loyal listeners, I was able to finally meet up with Elizabeth Rossiello. Elizabeth is an American living and working in Kenya. She has worked as a microfinance analyst and investment associate since 2009. She is an expert in East African financial product development and she is the CEO and Co-Founder of BitPesa. BitPesa is the next logical step after mpesa and if you have no idea what I’m talking about, then stay tuned because this is a great interview. CREDITS: Links for the charities: Tunapanda Institute Contact: Jay Larson Jay@tunapanda.org R.O.C.K Contact Jason Lee JLee1782@gmail.com Heshima Kenya Contact Tracey Hagman tracey@heshima.org To get in touch with BitPesa: info@bitpesa.co Ode To Satoshi Ode to Satoshi lyrics & melody by John Barrett Copyright 2014 RJM Publishing - BMI Nashville. Lead Vocal, Harmony Vocals, Harmonica, Snare Drum: John Barrett Harmony vocals: John Barrett, Connie Sinclair and Lij Shaw Guitar: Jonathan Brown Mandolin: Ben Miller Bass Guitar: Michael Rinne Initial tracks recorded by Mark Thornton of Sidekick Sound Studios, Madison, TN. All other tracks Recorded, Mixed and Mastered at The Toy Box Studio, Nashville, Tennessee Engineer: Lij Shaw. Assistant to engineer: Don “The Don” Bates Produced by John Barrett & Elijah “Lij” Shaw Special thanks to Alex Munoz Guijarro for his excellent pedal steel playing on many of our shows. Interviews for this episode were edited and produced by John Barrett at The Tree House Studio - East Nashville, Tennessee. Theme song “Gravy” by the band, Eleanor Roosevelt with Lij on fiddle. Special thanks to Alex Munõz Guijarro for his excellent pedal steel playing on many of our shows. Interviews for this episode were recorded and edited by John Barrett at The Tree House Studio - East Nashville, Tennessee. All shows are produced by John Barrett with the moral support of his trusty sidekick Maxwell Rascalnikov CoyoTe Rex, aka Max. Theme song “Gravy” by the band, Eleanor Roosevelt with Elijah “Lij” Shaw on fiddle. And a big thank you for moral support from my good friends at The Tennessee Bitcoin Alliance: TennesseeBitcoin.org Questions or Comments? Bitcoins and Gravy Hotline: (615) 208-5198 Listeners . . . listen up! Call this number and say something funny, sing a song, read a poem or just rant! Or if you’d rather you can ask me a question, leave a comment, make a suggestion or record a complaint! If I like what you say I’ll put it on the next show! Email me to say Howdy!: howdy@bitcoinsandgravy.com Visit theWebsite: BitcoinsAndGravy.com Bitcoins and Gravy Tipping Addresses: Bitcoin: 1ByqQXLTm9JZGSwnfqCCakaifBt3grQkXS Litecoin: LgqYgxLTBPgr8C1JGLLJVLK4ZN1fveprAp And if you don’t feel like contacting me, just kick back, relax and enjoy the show. I hope you enjoy listening to my guests as much as I enjoy talking with them!