BitPesa Remittance Service Now Lets You Buy Bitcoins with Kenyan Shillings

Nairobi, Kenya-based BitPesa now lets you buy bitcoins with the country's local currency, the shilling:

Exciting news! Now you can buy #Bitcoin from @BitPesa here: https://t.co/2i3MW6oiV2pic.twitter.com/f2GNejAHDL — BitPesa (@BitPesa) December 29, 2014

The startup that launched last year has, until now, focused on Bitcoin Bitcoin While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that While some may still be wondering what is Bitcoin, who created Bitcoin, or how does Bitcoin work, one thing is certain: Bitcoin has changed the world.No one can remain indifferent to this revolutionary, decentralized, digital asset nor to its blockchain technology.In fact, we’ve gone a long way ever since a Florida resident Laszlo Hanyecz made BTC’s first official commercial transaction with a real company by trading 10,000 Bitcoins for 2 pizzas at his local Papa John’s.One could now argue that Read this Term-based remittances. Users would send the service bitcoins, which would then be converted to shillings and sent to the recipient via a Kenyan mobile money wallet (M-Pesa, Orange, Airtel or Yu). A 3% fee is charged per transaction. To get a hold of bitcoins, the site recommends Exchange Exchange An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv An exchange is known as a marketplace that supports the trading of derivatives, commodities, securities, and other financial instruments.Generally, an exchange is accessible through a digital platform or sometimes at a tangible address where investors organize to perform trading. Among the chief responsibilities of an exchange would be to uphold honest and fair-trading practices. These are instrumental in making sure that the distribution of supported security rates on that exchange are effectiv Read this Term services such as Bitstamp, Coinbase, Circle and BTC China.

Now shillings can be used to buy bitcoins, although it appears the process is manual, at least for now: A user needs to submit an online form with his/her Bitcoin address, contact details and the amount of shilling to be exchanged.

The remittance service aims to tap into Kenya's remittance market which, according to the World Bank, is worth $1.3 billion annually and costs users $110 million (8.5%) in fees.