{"id":444684,"date":"2022-05-10T15:20:00","date_gmt":"2022-05-10T12:20:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/making-money-escaping-poverty-bitcoin-and-lightning-in-mozambique\/"},"modified":"2022-05-10T15:20:00","modified_gmt":"2022-05-10T12:20:00","slug":"making-money-escaping-poverty-bitcoin-and-lightning-in-mozambique","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/making-money-escaping-poverty-bitcoin-and-lightning-in-mozambique\/","title":{"rendered":"# Making money, escaping poverty: Bitcoin and Lightning in Mozambique"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"ez-toc-container\" class=\"ez-toc-v2_0_84 counter-hierarchy ez-toc-counter ez-toc-custom ez-toc-container-direction\">\n<p class=\"ez-toc-title\" style=\"cursor:inherit\">Table of Contents<\/p>\n<label for=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a245da58c284\" class=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-label\"><span class=\"\"><span class=\"eztoc-hide\" style=\"display:none;\">Toggle<\/span><span class=\"ez-toc-icon-toggle-span\"><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" class=\"list-377408\" width=\"20px\" height=\"20px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" fill=\"none\"><path d=\"M6 6H4v2h2V6zm14 0H8v2h12V6zM4 11h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2zM4 16h2v2H4v-2zm16 0H8v2h12v-2z\" fill=\"currentColor\"><\/path><\/svg><svg style=\"fill: #dd3333;color:#dd3333\" class=\"arrow-unsorted-368013\" xmlns=\"http:\/\/www.w3.org\/2000\/svg\" width=\"10px\" height=\"10px\" viewBox=\"0 0 24 24\" version=\"1.2\" baseProfile=\"tiny\"><path d=\"M18.2 9.3l-6.2-6.3-6.2 6.3c-.2.2-.3.4-.3.7s.1.5.3.7c.2.2.4.3.7.3h11c.3 0 .5-.1.7-.3.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7zM5.8 14.7l6.2 6.3 6.2-6.3c.2-.2.3-.5.3-.7s-.1-.5-.3-.7c-.2-.2-.4-.3-.7-.3h-11c-.3 0-.5.1-.7.3-.2.2-.3.5-.3.7s.1.5.3.7z\"\/><\/svg><\/span><\/span><\/label><input type=\"checkbox\"  id=\"ez-toc-cssicon-toggle-item-6a245da58c284\" checked aria-label=\"Toggle\" \/><nav><ul class='ez-toc-list ez-toc-list-level-1 ' ><li class='ez-toc-page-1 ez-toc-heading-level-1'><a class=\"ez-toc-link ez-toc-heading-1\" href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/making-money-escaping-poverty-bitcoin-and-lightning-in-mozambique\/#%E2%80%9D_Making_money_escaping_poverty_Bitcoin_and_Lightning_in_Mozambique_%E2%80%9C\" >&#8221; Making money, escaping poverty: Bitcoin and Lightning in Mozambique  &#8220;<\/a><\/li><\/ul><\/nav><\/div>\n<h1><span class=\"ez-toc-section\" id=\"%E2%80%9D_Making_money_escaping_poverty_Bitcoin_and_Lightning_in_Mozambique_%E2%80%9C\"><\/span>&#8221; Making money, escaping poverty: Bitcoin and Lightning in Mozambique  &#8220;<span class=\"ez-toc-section-end\"><\/span><\/h1>\n<div class=\"post-content\" data-v-2a0745c6>Bitcoin (BTC)\u00a0is for all. For you, for Michael Saylor in Miami, and for 38-year-old Jorge, a Mozambican family man who&#8217;s using the largest cryptocurrency\u00a0to make ends meet.<\/p>\n<p>Jorge, who goes by his first name for anonymity, lives in the tiny village of Bomba, Mozambique, on its southeast coast. Since the Covid-19 pandemic s<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/trip-and-travel\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"10\" title=\"Trip &amp; Travel\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">trip<\/a>ped away tourism from the sleepy surf town, one of Jorge\u2019s primary wage earners\u2013tourism\u2013dis<a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/download-scripts-themes-apps\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"9\" title=\"Download Scripts &amp; Themes &amp; Apps\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">app<\/a>eared.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Luckily, Bitcoin adoption is slowly swelling in Africa\u2013from the Central African Republic across to Senegal and further north. Mozambique is also showing signs it&#8217;s warming to the world&#8217;s most popular crypto.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2022-05\/35ece33f-0534-4457-907b-211821335156.png\" alt=\"\" title=\"\"><figcaption style=\"text-align: center;\">Jorge, the first Bitcoiner in his town. Source: <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/social-mediaa\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"1\" title=\"Social Media\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Twitter<\/a><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Mozambique is a vast, southern African country that struggles with poverty and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.cmi.no\/publications\/6027-the-costs-of-corruption-to-the-mozambican-economy\">corruption<\/a>. At a GDP per capita of $448, it\u2019s among the world\u2019s <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/data.worldbank.org\/indicator\/NY.GDP.PCAP.CD?locations=MZ&amp;most_recent_value_desc=false\">poorest<\/a> countries. According to the World Bank, the pandemic pushed GDP per capita under the $500 mark in 2020.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Fortunately for Jorge, one of the surf camp owners Jorge used to work alongside is a passionate Bitcoiner who took him under his wing in 2021.\u00a0<\/p>\n<p>Herman Vivier, the founder of the\u00a0South African Bitcoin-beach-inspired project Bitcoin Ekasi and crypto-friendly surf touring company Unravel Surf Travel, has been helping Jorge protect his savings and diversify his income using BTC.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/s3.cointelegraph.com\/uploads\/2022-05\/8b39e2ce-4478-4b2b-962d-1259b6415ace.png\"><figcaption style=\"text-align: center;\">Jorge&#8217;s hometown, in southeast Mozambique. Source: Google\u00a0<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<p>Jorge wears many hats to earn a living, from surf assistant to arts and crafts seller to SIM card salesman. He told Cointelegraph that he now \u201caccepts Bitcoin\u201d for the services he provides. <\/p>\n<p>Plus, he uses the Lightning Network to instantly swap between South African and Mozambican currencies via the Bitrefill Bitcoin application. <\/p>\n<p>Jorge explains that while \u201cvery few people understand Bitcoin here,\u201d he buys and sells phone credit on Bitefill (an app that sells gift cards payable with Bitcoin on-chain or Lightning), easily swapping between ZAR (South African Rand) and MZN (Mozambiquan Metical) currencies. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cIt\u2019s the easiest way of exchanging between ZAR and MZN. It\u2019s instant and I\u2019ve actually managed to gain more clients this way.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>While an impoverished nation, Statista <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.statista.com\/statistics\/509584\/mobile-cellular-subscriptions-per-100-inhabitants-in-mozambique\/\">reports<\/a> that almost half the population in Mozambique has a phone subscription. Furthermore, internet penetration in Mozambique is fast growing. More <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/datareportal.com\/reports\/digital-2021-mozambique\">than<\/a>\u00a0 1.4 million people (+25%) came online between 2020 and 2021, as the internet now reaches over one-fifth of the population. <\/p>\n<p>To bank with Bitcoin, all you only need is a phone and an internet connection. Given exceedingly high levels of <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/www.transparency.org\/en\/countries\/mozambique\">corruption<\/a>\u00a0and currency weakness,\u00a0Mozambique is an unlikely potential hotbed for BTC adoption. <\/p>\n<p>Nonetheless, education remains the biggest obstacle. Jorge concedes that \u201cIn the beginning, learning about Bitcoin was pretty difficult!\u201d Vivier helped him to install the necessary applications on his phone and to set him up with a Lightning Network (LN) enabled wallet; they chose MuunWallet, and he took the time to explain Satoshi Nakamoto\u2019s innovation.<\/p>\n<p>Here is Hermann&#8217;s tweet thread, explaining how Jorge swaps currencies with the LN:\u00a0<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">Africa is ripe for <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/hashtag\/Bitcoin?src=hash&amp;ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">#Bitcoin<\/a> adoption. <\/p>\n<p>This is my friend (and former colleague) Jorge using <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/bitrefill?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@bitrefill<\/a> and <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/MuunWallet?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">@MuunWallet<\/a> in Mozambique, where only about 30% of the population have formal bank accounts, but 70% have mobile internet access. <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/egU5V0xR8k\">pic.twitter.com\/egU5V0xR8k<\/a><\/p>\n<p>\u2014 vryfokkenou (@vryfokkenou) <a rel=\"nofollow noopener\" target=\"_blank\" href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/vryfokkenou\/status\/1523333469232844806?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\">May 8, 2022<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>Thanks to Bitcoin, Jorge now avoids high remittance fees for border payments; he\u2019s able to instantly flick between currencies thanks to the Lightning Network and he has effectively opened up his customer base to the entire world. <\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Related: <\/em><\/strong><strong><em>Quelle surprise: Central African banks scold the CAR for Bitcoin adoption<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n<p>Jorge wanted to express his gratitude to Vivier for the assistance, praising the response he\u2019s received from the Bitcoin community so far. <\/p>\n<blockquote><p>\u201cI\u2019m learning a lot and Bitcoin is making my life easier: it helps to support my family and four children.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p>Naturally, living nearby the world-renowned surf point break Tofinho, Jorge\u2019s kids are surfers, and the eldest is a surf teacher.<\/p>\n<p>He concluded that overall thanks to Bitcoin \u201cas coisas s\u00e3o bonitas,\u201d which means thanks to Bitcoin, \u201cThings are pretty.\u201d<\/p>\n<p><template data-name=\"subscription_form\" data-type=\"markets_outlook\"><\/template><\/div>\n<blockquote><p><strong><span style=\"color: #ff6600;\">If you liked the article, do not forget to share it with your friends. Follow us on\u00a0<span style=\"color: #ff0000;\"><a style=\"color: #ff0000;\" href=\"https:\/\/news.google.com\/publications\/CAAqBwgKMLG0nwswvr63Aw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow noopener noreferrer\">Google News<\/a><\/span>\u00a0too, click on the star and choose us from your favorites.<\/span><\/strong><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\">For forums sites go to <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/forum.buradabiliyorum.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Forum.BuradaBiliyorum.Com<\/a><\/span><\/strong>\n<\/p><\/blockquote>\n<blockquote>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><strong>If you want to read more <a href=\"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/category\/news\/\" data-internallinksmanager029f6b8e52c=\"2\" title=\"News\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">News<\/a> articles, you can visit our <span style=\"color: #ff9900;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/en.buradabiliyorum.com\/general\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">General category.<\/a><\/span><\/strong><\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n<p><span style=\"color: black;\"><a style=\"color: #ff9900;\" href=\"https:\/\/cointelegraph.com\/news\/making-money-escaping-poverty-bitcoin-and-lightning-in-mozambique\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Source<\/a><\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>&#8221; Making money, escaping poverty: Bitcoin and Lightning in Mozambique &#8220; Bitcoin (BTC)\u00a0is for all. For you, for Michael Saylor in Miami, and for 38-year-old Jorge, a Mozambican family man who&#8217;s using the largest cryptocurrency\u00a0to make ends meet. Jorge, who goes by his first name for anonymity, lives in the tiny village of Bomba, Mozambique,&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":444685,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"fifu_image_url":"https:\/\/images.cointelegraph.com\/images\/1200_aHR0cHM6Ly9zMy5jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS91cGxvYWRzLzIwMjItMDUvNmFjMmNlYzEtYTFkMy00YzliLThhMGQtOWRjNDdmMmY0ZDE3LmpwZw==.jpg","fifu_image_alt":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[74862,76276,75029,82450,82560,74889,74355,25562,117,87110,72602],"class_list":["post-444684","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-general","tag-bitcoin","tag-bitcoin-payments","tag-lightning-network","tag-micropayments","tag-mobile-payments","tag-payments","tag-adoption","tag-africa","tag-business","tag-lightning","tag-south-africa"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444684","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=444684"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/444684\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/444685"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=444684"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=444684"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/buradabiliyorum.com\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=444684"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}