Bio
Kgothatso Ngako is a South African developer and the Founder and CEO of Machankura, a service launched in 2022 to let people send and receive Bitcoin through USSD and other text interfaces on feature phones. Machankura uses the Lightning Network and phone-number-linked addressing to reach users without smartphones or continuous internet access. Ngako also founded Exonumia, a project translating Bitcoin educational material into African languages.
Machankura
USSD works through mobile-network signaling and does not require a smartphone data connection, but the service itself still relies on telecom and backend infrastructure. Machankura connects users to Lightning payments and aliases; document custody, keys, limits and recovery precisely from current documentation. Country coverage, USSD codes and fees vary and can change with telecom partners. Do not say Bitcoin works with no infrastructure; USSD still depends on mobile networks and service backends. Do not call the wallet non-custodial unless current technical documentation proves key control.
Exonumia
Exonumia is an open education and translation initiative separate from Machankura, focused on making Bitcoin literature available in African languages.
Profile at a glance
- Country
- South Africa
- Status
- Active
