EFTA02570548

From: Sent: urs ay, une , : To: Jeffrey Epstein; Tom Pritzker Subject: Kenya Primed For Wide-Scale Bitcoin Adoption > Guest Post: Kenya Primed For Wide-Scale Bitcoin Adoption By Noel Jones > June 12 2013 > <http://www.thegenesisblock.com/guest-post-kenya-primed-for-wide-scale > -bit=oin-adoption/> > As we witness bitcoin's continued growth around the world, one loc=le stands out as particularly primed for widespread adoption: Kenya. Africa=today has one of the fastest growing mobile phone markets in the world with=20% annual growth and 93% of Kenyan households owning mobile phones. What m=kes Kenya a particularly unique case for bitcoin is that it is also a world=leader in mobile payment usage. > In 2007, Safaricom, one of Kenya's leading telecommunications comp=nies, launched a mobile payment service called M-PESA. Today, two thirds of=Kenyans use the service and more than 30% of Kenya's GOP flows thro=gh it. The benefits to the Kenyan population are astounding as well, with M=PESA's rural adopters often seeing dramatic income increases after a=opting the program. Such incredible growth has piqued the interest of some b=g names in the technology sector as well. > Africa's Ballooning Tech Presence > "The Internet in Africa will be primarily a mobile one." s=id Eric Schmidt, Executive Chairman of Google. Google has alluded to plans f=r building technical infrastructure in Kenya and other parts of Africa, inc=uding the potential use of wifi blimps or weather balloons to provide inter=et service. They further elaborated in a blog post earlier this year about t=e technology that its, "Well-suited to provide low cost connectivit= to rural communities with poor telecommunications infrastructure, and for e=panding coverage of wireless broadband in densely populated urban areas. =80 Google is also making moves in the digital payment arena. They recent=y introduced attaching Google Wallet payment in emails and announced an inv=stment from Google Ventures in OpenCoin Inc.—the company behind Rip=le, a new digital ledger technology with similarities to Bitcoin. > Google isn't the only entity preparing for major moves in Africa. C=ina has been investing in Africa substantially for the last decade and is a=major shareholder in much of the African telecom industry. With the telecom=industry in Africa booming and Kenya targeting 100% internet penetration by=2017, change is on the horizon. > [snip] <?xml version=.0" encoding=TF-8"?> <!DOCTYPE plist PUBLIC "-//Apple//DTD PLIST 1.0//EN" "http://www.apple.com/DTDs/Propertylist-1.0.dtd"> <plist version=.0"> <dict> <key>conversation-idgkey> <integer>257273</integer> EFTA_R1_01738567 EFTA02570548 <key>date-last-yiewed</key> <integer>0</integer> <key>date-received</key> <integer>1371155050</integer> <key>flags</key> <integer>8590195713</integer> <key>gmail-label-ids</key> <array> <integer>6</integer> <integer>2</integer> </array> <key>remote-id</key> <string>310952</string> </dict> </plist> 2 EFTA_R1_01738568 EFTA02570549