Bitcoin Use in Kibera’s Soweto West Draws International Attention
Associated Press reporting documented an established Bitcoin economy in Soweto West, a neighborhood of Nairobi’s Kibera settlement, where about 200 residents used Bitcoin and some merchants and motorcycle taxis accepted it. June 9 is used as a representative date for the international documentation of a local initiative that began earlier.
On June 9, 2025, Associated Press reporting brought international attention to a small but unusually concentrated Bitcoin economy in Soweto West, part of Nairobi’s Kibera settlement. The report found that around 200 people were using Bitcoin in the neighborhood and that some vegetable sellers, other merchants, and motorcycle taxi operators accepted it for payment. For residents with limited access to conventional banking, supporters described Bitcoin as a way to save, receive money and transact without the documentation required by many financial institutions.
The activity had not begun in June. AfriBit Africa, a Kenyan fintech company, started introducing Bitcoin to the area in 2022 through a nonprofit financial-inclusion initiative. One of its practical entry points was local garbage collection: workers were paid with Bitcoin-funded grants, placing sats directly into the hands of residents who could then spend or save them locally. Over time, the experiment spread beyond the original workers to nearby businesses and users.
The same reporting also documented the risks. Some participants held a large share of their savings in Bitcoin, exposing households with little financial cushion to substantial price volatility. Kenya’s broader regulatory environment for cryptocurrency was still developing, while M-PESA remained deeply embedded in daily payments. The Soweto West experiment nevertheless showed Bitcoin functioning not as an abstract investment product but as a localized payment and savings network inside a community usually absent from institutional Bitcoin narratives.