Tando was all the rage at this year's Africa Bitcoin Conference

Even before reaching this year's edition Africa bitcoin ConferenceI saw attendees posting about tandoa new payments app based in Kenya that allows users to spend their sats with merchants that do not accept bitcoins.

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I just arrived in Nairobi and the first thing I see when I leave is the <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/tando_me?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@tando_me sign

COME ON <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/AfroBitcoinOrg?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@AfroBitcoinOrg pic.twitter.com/zhPSP2dTH8

— OKIN | Nikolai Tjongarero (@OKIN_17) <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/OKIN_17/status/1865719606519726486?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>December 8, 2024

“How is this possible?” you may ask. Well, let me explain.

To use Tando, simply download the app and get ready to pay any merchant that accepts payments via M-PESAKenya's mobile money service. (Note that I didn't say you have to go through a setup or KYC process, as neither is necessary; Tando does not collect any identifying information from its users.)

When the merchant presents you with your invoice, simply click the “Send Money” box on the app's home screen. From there, you enter the mobile phone number linked to the M-PESA account you are sending money to and then enter the amount of Kenyan shillings you want to send.

The app automatically calculates the number of sats that will be needed to cover the amount of shillings you entered. Then you click the green “Create Invoice” button to get a Lightning invoice. After that, you copy the invoice and pay it through your preferred Lightning wallet. Tando receives the sats and then settles the account in shillings with the merchant in a matter of seconds.

I can barely count how many times I've seen Bitcoiners use Tando to pay restaurant bills or taxi fares since I've been here. (I have been to many restaurants and ridden in many taxis since I arrived).

Now, I know what some of you are thinking: Tando interacts with a fiat payment system, which means it should be excommunicated from the Church of bitcoin.

But before you indulge in that kind of thinking, consider the following notions:

1. You are a loser.
2. Here in Kenya, like other parts of Africa, people use bitcoins to make payments.
3. When you show someone how to use Tando, it gives you the opportunity to show the trader what bitcoin is while showing them how the app works. (I looked gorilla kit' <a target="_blank" href="https://x.com/brindonmwiine”>Brindon Mwiine Make this masterfully for a waitress at a post-conference party.)
4. M-PESA requires its users to KYC and some Kenyan citizens do not have the proper documentation to do so, meaning they are excluded from the system. Using Tando, they can be included in Kenya's broader monetary system.

The excitement around Tando at the conference was part of the broader excitement around applications that are making bitcoin easier to use across the African continent: applications like Bitsacco, they are drunkFedi and bitnob.

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A big thank you to the developers who are doing <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/hashtag/bitcoin?src=hash&ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>#bitcoin easier to use wallets.<a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/bitsacco?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@bitsacco <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Machankura8333?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@Machankura8333 <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/fedibtc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@fedibtc <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/tando_me?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@tando_me <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/Loicbtc?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>@loicbtc pic.twitter.com/UhVw5bnBxO

—Frank Corva (@frankcorva) <a target="_blank" href="https://twitter.com/frankcorva/status/1866782926823887319?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw”>December 11, 2024

African Bitcoiners are miles ahead of their US counterparts when it comes to using bitcoin as intended: as peer-to-peer electronic money.

And while many Africans are working tirelessly to onboard as many merchants as they can to bitcoin, Tando is a great intermediate step that allows Bitcoiners to spend their sats even if the merchants they spend with don't yet accept bitcoin payments.

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