Last week, the Btrust team was in Senegal 🇸🇳 for Dakar Bitcoin Days, a 3-day conference that brought together Bitcoin builders, educators, and enthusiasts from across the francophone region and the world over. On day 1, our communications officer, @Sharon Murugi, emphasized the importance of global participation in Bitcoin development, noting that Bitcoin is a universal technology that thrives when people from all regions contribute to its code and growth. Her talk highlighted the work we’re doing at Btrust to support open-source Bitcoin development and encourage more francophone talent to join and contribute to the ecosystem. On day 2, our grantee Abdullahi shared practical insights on how developers can start contributing to Bitcoin open source, offering actionable tips and a look into what it takes to get started. Later that day, Tobechi demonstrated how BTCPay Server can connect Africa’s local payment systems with Bitcoin, advancing financial sovereignty across the continent. He also showcased the BTCPay Naira Payment Plugin (

BTCPay Server Plugin Builder

Mavapay Naira Checkout

Expand your customers reach by allowing users pay with naira (NGN) while you receive in Bitcoin

), which enables customers to pay in naira via bank transfer while merchants receive Bitcoin directly, powered by Mavapay as the offramp service. This model is already running successfully in Nigeria 🇳🇬, and the team is now exploring expansion across other African countries. We wrapped up the conference celebrating winners of the Dakar Bitcoin Hackathon, which had been going on for a little over a month. The conference sessions were thoughtfully curated, covering everything from beginner-friendly introductions to deep technical dives and local innovations. A big well done to the hosts for putting together the event. You can catch the session recordings here: https://youtube.com/@dakarbtcdays?si=CbSXT95Go-UlKTkf

A big thank you to @HRF team for featuring us in this week’s edition of the Financial Freedom Report. Read the full report and sign up here:

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You know what’s frustrating? When you’ve got the skills, the drive, and the ideas to make an impact, but the only thing stopping you is a border stamp. That’s the reality for so many brilliant Bitcoin developers across Africa and the Global South. They can write world‑class code, contribute to open‑source, and push the ecosystem forward, but collaborating in person with global peers or speaking on major stages? Too often, visa challenges make that impossible. We’ve decided that can’t be where the story ends. That's why we created the Pull Partnership; a way to place our grantees directly inside top Bitcoin teams around the world, where they can learn, share, and grow without barriers holding them back. The idea started when our grantee, Abubakar Sadiq Ismail, joined Chaincode Labs in New York 🇺🇸 last year. He spent time working alongside leading Bitcoin developers, gaining hands-on experience and navigating the visa maze. That success made us think: what if we made this kind of opportunity a standard part of our grant ecosystem? Fast forward to this year. We’ve just piloted the Pull Partnership with 2140.dev in Amsterdam 🇳🇱. We’ve paired the Btrust‑funded developers with their team, covering salaries, relocation costs, and visa support, while 2140 provided mentorship, career development, and access to key Bitcoin industry events. We’d like to say a huge thank you to the 2140 team for making this partnership a reality. Learn more about the Pull Partnership here:

Btrust Blog

Introducing The Btrust Pull Partnership

In the world of Bitcoin development, talent is everywhere. Yet, for many developers in the Global South, especially across Africa, reaching the hig...

Six outstanding Bitcoin open-source developers are the recipients of the Q3 2025 Btrust developer grants, all alumni of the @npub1353s...gajp program and now making impactful, full-time contributions to the Bitcoin ecosystem.🚀 The Btrust starter grant supports engineers beginning their full-time open-source journey by giving them the freedom to explore areas of interest, identify a long-term focus, and collaborate with the global Bitcoin developer community without financial constraints. This quarter, four talented engineers received starter grants. Rita Anene is working on transaction lifecycle management, payment tracking, and storage optimization in LDK Node, while contributing to Warnet by adding dynamic plugin configuration to address issues like stuck Replace-By-Fee transactions. Ojok Emmanuel Nsubuga is focused on modernizing BlueWallet with a migration to TypeScript, strengthening reproducible builds for F-Droid, and enhancing Silent Payments support aligned with Bitcoin Improvement Proposals. Abiodun Awoyemi is contributing to Bitcoin Dev Kit with flexible Replace-By-Fee transaction construction, improved cross-wallet interoperability, caching enhancements, and more secure signing workflows, alongside educational resources for new developers. Chuks Agbakuru is working on finalizing Human-Readable Names support in LDK Node, extending SimLN with LDK Node compatibility, and developing advanced simulation features for Lightning testing. The Btrust Long-Term Grant provides sustained monthly funding, mentorship, and peer support for experienced contributors, enabling them to deepen their impact on critical Bitcoin projects. This quarter we are celebrating one engineer progressing from a starter grant to the long-term cohort and another receiving a renewal. Itoro Ukpong is leading work on the migration of BDK-FFI to version 3.0, focused on enhancing Partially Signed Bitcoin Transactions, advancing Miniscript descriptor support, and maintaining developer-facing libraries and sample wallets, while contributing to the Book of BDK. Oghenovo Usiwoma is working on Bitcoin Core privacy and performance improvements, contributing to Silent Payments, batch verification of Schnorr signatures, and enhancements to libmultiprocess. Read about their work and learn more about Btrust developer grants on our blog:

Btrust Blog

Announcing Q3, 2025 Btrust Developer Grant Recipients

Africa, October 14, 2025 — We’re excited to recognize six outstanding Bitcoin open-source developers awarded Btrust grants, including four star...

On the 4th of October, we took part in and sponsored this year's #DevFestMauritius 🇲🇺 Our engineering lead, Kelvin, gave a keynote on building on Bitcoin that got local developers curious about open-source contribution. It was also really nice finally meeting the GDG Mauritius team in person after months of working together online.Big thank you to them for putting together such a well-organized event, and to everyone who stopped by to chat with us. Can't wait for what's next! See you in December at the #BtrustDeveloperDay. Learn more about the conference here:

Btrust Developer Day

Btrust Developer Day

#DevFest2025

In our latest blog, Btrust grantee, Itoro Ukpong, shares his journey from six years in enterprise software to becoming a full-time Bitcoin open-source developer.🚀 He first explored blockchain technology in 2023, but found clear direction after joining the @npub1353s...gajp fellowship, diving deep into Bitcoin theory, and contributing to open-source projects. Passionate about empowering people to build on Bitcoin, he focused on @Bitcoin Dev Kit. His consistent contributions caught the attention of the community, and in early 2025, he earned the Btrust starter grant, making the leap into full-time open-source work. Discover the lessons he learned, the challenges he overcame, and his advice for aspiring contributors. Read his full story here:

Btrust Blog

My Path to Full-Time Bitcoin Open-Source Development

Written by Itoro Ukpong This story details my transition from an enterprise software engineer to a full-time Bitcoin open-source developer. It co...

We’re excited to be sponsoring and taking part in #OSCAFest25, Africa’s largest open-source festival. 🎉 This gathering brings together developers, designers, students, and organizations from across the continent and beyond to learn from each other, spark new ideas, and strengthen the open-source movement. This year’s theme is "Beyond Borders", and it perfectly reflects what we believe in as an organization; building technology that connects people, communities, and opportunities across the world. 📅 August 15 – 16, 2025 📍 Landmark Event Centre, Lagos, Nigeria 🇳🇬 Grab your ticket at:

Tix Africa

and use the code OSF25BTRUST50 for 50% off. On Friday, our grantee Tobechi Chukwuleta will be hosting a workshop on Open Source Bitcoin Payment Infrastructure for African Businesses. Tobechi is a contributor to BTCPay Server, an open-source Bitcoin payment processor that gives businesses the power to accept Bitcoin without relying on third parties. In his session, he’ll walk participants through how to set up BTCPay Server 💚, use its merchant tools, integrate it with online stores, and explore its plugin ecosystem, including Lightning Network support. He’ll conclude with a live demo featuring a Naira-denominated checkout for local customers. On Saturday, our Engineering Lead, Kelvin Isievwore, will give a keynote on Building Out Africa’s Open Source Ecosystem. He’ll share our journey from an idea to a thriving community, funding developers, launching builder programs, and creating spaces where open-source collaboration can flourish. In the afternoon, Itoro Ukpong will share insights in his talk Opening Up Bitcoin: Empowering Developers Across Languages with BDK-FFI. Itoro’s work helps bridge Bitcoin Dev Kit’s core with widely-used programming languages like Python, Kotlin, and Swift. One of Saturday’s highlights will be the Women in Open Source Brunch, which we’re proud to sponsor. This is a space for women in open source to network, share, and support one another on their journey in tech. Attendance is limited, and you’ll need an OSCAFest ticket to join. You can RSVP here:

Women in Open Source (OSCAFest '25)

During the brunch: • Enigbe Ochekliye will give a lightning talk on Finding Your Place in Bitcoin Open Source, sharing stories and pathways for newcomers to get started with confidence. • Jennifer Ezeobi and Munirat Olayiwola will lead an interactive session on Building Your Career in Bitcoin, exploring how to contribute across different roles, overcome common challenges, and tap into mentorship and funding opportunities. Explore the full OSCAFest agenda here:

Open Source Festival | Speaker Schedule

A high profile event with series of talks, workshops, and awareness of open-sourced developer tools.

We’ll have around 40 members from the Btrust Builders and BitDevs Lagos communities, so you’ll definitely spot many familiar faces. We’ll also have a booth at the event. Come through to learn more about our work, and get some merch. See you in Lagos! 🇳🇬

This past week, our CEO, @npub1sn0q...tr2x, took the stage at the Baltic Honeybadger Conference in Latvia 🇱🇻 He gave a talk on The Global Majority: Bitcoin by the Billions 🌍. He reminded us why Bitcoin matters most to those who need it most, and why the people who rely on it must be the ones building it. He spoke about building for a sustainable future and how we at Btrust are committed to decentralizing Bitcoin development so it truly belongs to everyone. Abubakar also joined a panel on building communities alongside Mir Liponi, @keypleb, and Mike Peterson, moderated by @Efrat Fenigson. The discussion provided insights into the process of building bitcoin communities. Panelists shared their unique experiences from various parts of the world, highlighting efforts to build different communities. Our team members, Kelvin Isievwore and Sharon Murugi, were also present engaging with attendees and building connections within the global Bitcoin community. Catch the livestream recordings on @Hodl Hodl's YouTube channel: https://youtube.com/@hodlhodl?si=Ij9AiSiY6FqOFCFI #BH2025

We're hiring a part-time accountant at Btrust 📢 If you have experience with budgeting, financial reporting, and setting up accounting systems, especially in a non-profit setting, we’d love to hear from you. As our accountant, you’ll keep our financial records accurate, help us stay compliant, and support the team with financial advice as we grow. You’ll also play a key role in building efficient financial systems that can scale with our work. This is a remote, short-term role, with flexible working hours. We especially encourage people based in Africa to apply. 👉 Learn more about the role and apply here: https://btrust.homerun.co/accountant-part-time/en 🗓️ Applications close on August 15th, 2025.