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An Innovative Pioneer in Kampala, Uganda, who single-handedly fostered Bitcoin awareness and utilization within the region.
Bitcoin Plays a major role in Uganda as it provides financial access to the unbanked population. With traditional banking services often inaccessible to many Ugandans, Bitcoin offers a decentralized alternative for sending and receiving money, especially across borders. This has led to a growing interest in Bitcoin and other cryptocurrencies as a means of financial inclusion and empowerment in the country.
Join us as we delve into how Bitcoin was Adopted in Uganda in this article.
It all began with Brindon Mwiine who is a Native of Uganda. Before discovering Bitcoin, Brindon had a great drive to make money online, back then in 2016. In his earlier years, he had heard a lot about Paid Ad Viewing and was convinced to sign up for it.
After he signed up on the website and got to work immediately. He was rewarded with a few cents for viewing ads. So he did this tirelessly for approximately 16 hours a day for a week until he reached $1000. At this point, Brindon was trying to Access his “$1000” reward but unknowingly for him, he was asked to use Bitcoin as a payment receiving method. Unfortunately for him, he had no clue about Bitcoin as a payment system.
This sparked his curiosity immediately, so he started Researching Bitcoin as a Payment-receiving system. After lengthy research, he discovered blockchain.com wallet and LocalBitcoins as a means to receive and exchange bitcoin. He got a blockchain.com wallet, then after he pasted his address as requested by the website, something unusual happened– He was asked to send $10 as a service fee to receive his $1,000 reward.
As naive as he was, he funded his blockchain.com wallet with $12 through the aid of YouTube videos. Straightaway, he sent them the $10, which. Unfortunately for him, it was a scam. After two consecutive years of checking his wallet for the $1,000 reward, he encountered something phenomenal. When I asked Brindon what it was? He replied saying “The remaining $2 in the wallet doubled to $4 and then increased to $5 within the same week.”— That's quite an unexpected stroke of luck!
"There's no turning back!” With unwavering determination, after seeing the potential of Bitcoin, he saw Bitcoin mastery as the key to a fortune by age 25. In 2018, he dove back to explore the Bitcoin space, seizing the chance to purchase a small portion of bitcoin.
However, tragedy struck when his phone, housing his Bitcoin wallet, vanished. neglecting to back up his seed phrase and password.
The moral lesson from this unfortunate incident is the critical importance of backing up your Bitcoin wallet's seed phrase and password to prevent loss of assets in unexpected situations like losing your phone.
This is a clear reminder to be careful with digital wealth.
After all, he decided to tell the world about Bitcoin.
After learning more about the potential of Bitcoin, Brindon successfully started Adopting Bitcoin to his best friend. Surprisingly this number grew exponentially in 2019 and 2020.
In late 2020, they embarked on creating a Bitcoin education company, now known as Skill Haven Africa. However, it wasn't until May 2021 that they had their first real class, consisting of just five people.
At Skill Haven Africa, focusing solely on Bitcoin became challenging due to the need for funding within their reach. So they ventured into a few altcoin projects, learning valuable lessons in this bear market. Earlier in 2022, they collaborated with FTX and FTT, both of which are no longer operational.
The most important thing is that they learnt from their mistakes, and Skill Haven Africa officially announced on December 1st, 2022 its intentions to become a Bitcoin-only Project offering blockchain solutions. “ We take pride in the quality of our developers on the team.” Brindon said.
Recently, Brindon joined Satoshi’s Journal Team as the Uganda Lead. With the hope to use it as another platform to orange pill more people and share Satoshi’s vision and also to connect with Bitcoiners around the world.
Back then, when Blink was formerly known as Bitcoin Beach, Brindon was researching for the best lightning wallet to use. Ultimately, he found Blink.. Since then he started interacting and began onboarding people through Blink.
All this has allowed him to see the potential of Bitcoin and how it can help solve economic problems in Uganda. Inspired by this, Brindon decided to establish Gorilla Sats for Bitcoin Tourism.
The official theme song of Gorilla Sats was crafted by ManLikeKwesks.
Brindon has been a source of inspiration for many both in Uganda and beyond. Using every opportunity to spread Bitcoin to everyone and everywhere.
Bitcoin Kampala Uganda was born out of the inspiration of Bitcoin Ekasi and Bitcoin Beach Brazil. A month before the BTC Prague 2023 conference, Bitcoin Ekasi issued a tweet challenging anyone who believed they could build a Bitcoin circular economy, drawing from the success of Bitcoin Beach in El Salvador. The offer was a conference ticket for BTC Prague, providing an opportunity for the right person to learn how to create a circular economy in their local community.
Through a Twitter community poll, Brindon Mwiine B emerged as the winner, demonstrating his previous efforts in organizing local Bitcoin meetups, educating the community about Bitcoin, and fostering adoption. He was awarded the conference ticket and embarked on a fundraising journey, utilizing the Geyser Fund, to cover his expenses for the trip to Prague. Against all odds, he succeeded in raising the necessary funds, getting a late visa and making it to the conference on the morning of the appointed day.
Attending BTC Prague and delving into the circular economies booth proved to be valuable experiences for him. The knowledge and guidance he gained, particularly from the creators of Bitcoin Ekasi in South Africa and Bitcoin Beach Brazil, made the establishment of Bitcoin Kampala Uganda an inevitable and exciting endeavor.
To reproduce the successful Bitcoin experiments by establishing and sustaining a Bitcoin Circular Economy that caters to the residents of Uganda, starting from Kampala and Bugiri districts. Additionally, to revitalize their community's image to attract Bitcoin enthusiasts.
Ever since Bitcoin Kampala has provided evidence for their efforts by successfully completing each task outlined in their crowdfunding campaign and sharing the results publicly on Twitter.
Bitcoin Kampala has been active in their project. To learn more about Bitcoin Kampala and its crowdfunding campaign and projects click here
Brindon interest in Bitcoin grew exponentially as he wanted to implement Bitcoin in every Ugandan life by utilizing it as the foundation for a communal banking platform.
In December 2023, MasterGuantai and studentofbtc embarked on a journey to explore Bitcoin-exclusive projects in Uganda and Tanzania, Headed by BrindonMwiine and crew of the Gorilla Sats in Uganda, and manlikekweks of POWA in Tanzania.
Upon their arrival in Kampala, Uganda, MasterGuantai and studentofbtc were warmly welcomed by Brandon Mwiine, Afan sabila. The hospitality extended by their hosts set a positive tone for their exploration of Bitcoin projects in the region.
MasterGuantai and studentofbtc explored Gorilla Sats Bitcoin projects and were pleased. So after, they all headed to Tanzania to visit ManLikeKwesks on his POWA project. Along the way, on the trip they drew inspiration from a local Juice shop in Kenya. It was during this moment that they got inspired to infuse a touch of Bitcoin into the juice shop
Excited by their idea, studentofbtc wasted no time in seizing the opportunity. Partnering with Brindon Mwiine and Afan sabila they swiftly moved forward to establish their pioneering Bitcoin juice shop, aptly named Juicy B. This collaboration marked the beginning of an innovative venture merging Bitcoin with the refreshing world of natural fruit juices.
ManLikeKwesks, renowned for his exceptional rapping skills, took the initiative to craft the official theme song for Juicy B. His musical talent added another layer of creativity and excitement to the Bitcoin juice shop's identity, captivating the attention of enthusiasts and customers alike.
Bitcoin Kampala has been so effective in putting the town of Kampala on the Bitcoin map. Bitcoin Kampala has a lot of projects. Kampala, Uganda is not yet fully a Bitcoin place, as a Bitcoin Organisation or enthusiast looking for a community to make an impact in Bitcoin, Uganda is the place to come to because 80% of their population are youth.
This gives every Bitcoin campaign an upper hand due to the amassing population of youth. Some youths are jobless due to the bad economic crisis, so with the intervention of Bitcoiners worldwide, Uganda can have a better shape.
Bitcoin Kampala needs your support too.
In either case, Bitcoin would soon be generally accepted by merchants and shopkeepers. Meanwhile, tourism continues to grow in Uganda through Gorilla Sats.
If you want to support this mission, feel free to donate at: bitcoinkampala.org
