JAIPUR, India, November 2, 2026 — Tando Bitcoin Payments took centre stage at Bitmela Jaipur as the Kenyan payments company showcased how Bitcoin integrates with everyday mobile money transactions through M-Pesa. The festival, billed as India's first Bitcoin festival, took place on October 30–31 at InterContinental Jaipur, bringing together Bitcoin builders, entrepreneurs and innovators from around the world.
What can India learn from Africa?
Jason appeared on the opening day in “What Can India Learn From Africa?”, a 30-minute session with Jodom Konuko of Minmo, moderated by Santosh Vadivelu of Student of Bitcoin. The two builders took on one question: how do you make Bitcoin usable?
It is a fair question for an Indian audience. UPI has made paying by phone routine here, much as M-Pesa did in Kenya, so people in both countries already expect money to move quickly and simply.
On the second day, Sabina Waithira joined “What Does Money Mean Where You Live?”, a panel of four speakers from three continents. She appeared alongside Mineey of NonceLab, Tony Nakamoto of Hodl Hodl and Shikhar Vaibhav of Fedi, with Shambhavi Soni of BitcoinHer moderating.
Bitcoin in, shillings out
Tando’s idea is simple: rather than asking merchants to adopt something new, it works with the system they already use.
A user brings any Lightning wallet and opens the Tando app, which is modelled on M-Pesa, to send money, buy goods or pay bills such as electricity, rent and internet. The user pays in bitcoin over Lightning and the recipient gets Kenyan shillings through M-Pesa. Merchants change nothing. The app needs no sign-up, and Tando says it never holds users’ funds.
Every M-Pesa number, a Lightning address
In May 2026 Tando went a step further, according to Blink. Through its bitcoin.co.ke service, every Kenyan M-Pesa number now works as a Lightning address, in the form phonenumber@bitcoin.co.ke.
That brought around 40 million M-Pesa users within reach of a Bitcoin payment, with no app or sign-up needed on the receiving end. A sender anywhere in the world can pay from a Lightning wallet. Tando converts the bitcoin to shillings for a 1% fee and delivers it to M-Pesa, for amounts between KES 15 and KES 10,000 per transaction.
Recipients who want to keep bitcoin can claim their address for a one-time KES 210 and link it to a Lightning wallet such as Blink, Phoenix or Cake Wallet. Payments then go straight to that wallet, with no conversion or fee.
A new route for money coming home
The bigger opportunity may be remittances. Kenya receives about $5 billion a year from its diaspora, according to Blink, and Tando says 99% of the amount sent reaches the recipient through its service, compared with the 5% to 10% that traditional services can take.
Tando was founded in 2024 by Jason and Sabina Waithira, with the idea taking shape after the African Bitcoin Conference in Ghana in 2023. Its service is built for Kenya and M-Pesa, but the questions it raises travelled well to Jaipur.
Tando’s service is built for Kenya, and fees and limits may change. Crypto assets carry risk. This release is for information only and is not financial advice.
About Tando
Tando is a Bitcoin payments company that lets users spend bitcoin anywhere M-Pesa is accepted in Kenya, settling over the Lightning Network. Learn more at tando.me.
About Bitmela
Bitmela is a two-day festival on the future of money, combining talks, workshops and a traditional Indian mela. Its first edition took place in Jaipur on October 30 and 31, 2026. Learn more at thebitmela.com.
About Bitnxt
Bitnxt is a crypto B2B directory, media and discovery platform, and a media partner of Bitmela. Learn more at bitnxt.io.
