Tehanu Makes History With Groundbreaking ‘Interspecies Money’ Transfer

An African-based tech startup, Tehanu, has completed its first “interspecies money” transfer. This lets people send money through digital wallets to help protect mountain gorillas in Rwanda.

This is the first transfer of its kind. Tehanu’s platform helps workers earn money by using AI to check on the gorillas’ needs. Workers get paid on their phones after they complete tasks. In an interview, Tehanu’s leaders shared their plans to develop new ways to help animals and learn more about nature.

Tehanu Is Working With Rwanda’s Ministry Of Finance To Support The Gorillas

The startup is also working with the Rwanda Ministry of Finance to support these gorillas, which are worth $1.55 billion because they are so important to the environment.

In a trial project, Tehanu tracks the gorillas in Rwanda, creating a list of jobs that pay people for caring about nature. This job system uses blockchain wallets and gives more ways to earn money for conservation. Right now, the project is new, but its main goal is to support nature and bring more money into protecting biodiversity.

Tindall, Tehanu’s finance leader and co-founder, is an economist interested in finances connected to nature. McSharry, who handles the tech side, is a professor of AI at Carnegie Mellon University.

Tindall said the team wanted to find a way to reward people for caring for nature in areas with lots of plants and animals but also with poor communities.

He explained there are AI systems that can look at a lot of data and pick out important details about animals, and financial tools that send small payments to local people through mobile money. Blockchain keeps track of all this data and payments.

The Platform Rewards Agents Directly For Their Conservation Work

Tindall called Tehanu a financial platform that connects digital wallets to species to help people earn income in areas with few banks. McSharry explained how the project works, saying the system uses machine learning in the firm’s “Know Your Gorilla” program to identify each Rwandan mountain gorilla.

Later, the team plans to expand this to other species. Trackers recognize each gorilla by its unique nose print, and cameras watch them in the wild. Users can see details about each gorilla like its name, family, and unique features.

Each gorilla’s identity is linked to a digital wallet with a certain amount of money. The AI gathers all the data on Rwandan gorillas. The goal is to help make the gorillas’ lives better. After the right steps are taken, a small payment is sent to the agent’s account through Pawaplay.

McSharry explained that the platform rewards agents directly based on their conservation work. Since the system uses a blockchain platform, it is easy to follow every payment and action. This setup makes it easier to manage the whole process without needing people to check every detail.