Six outstanding Bitcoin open-source developers are the recipients of the Q3 2025 Btrust developer grants, all alumni of the @Btrust Builders 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 @Btrust Builders 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, @Abubakar Nur Khalil, 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 excited to announce our partnership with the @Africa Bitcoin Conference to bring the #BtrustDeveloperDay back for 2025. 🚀 The event will take place on December 2nd at the Trianon Convention Centre, Mauritius 🇲🇺, serving as the official developer-focused kickoff for #ABC2025. Expect a full day of deep technical sessions, hands-on workshops, and networking, all focused on our theme: "Build Locally, Contribute Globally." This is a free event open to all builders. Register to attend: https://clooza.com/events/BTRUSTDEVELOPERDAY Apply to speak:

Btrust Developer Day

Btrust Developer Day

Learn more about the event on our blog:

Btrust Blog

Announcing the 2025 Btrust Developer Day in Mauritius

We are excited to share that Btrust is once again partnering with the Africa Bitcoin Conference (ABC) to present the 2025 Btrust Developer Day. Th...

We’re excited to announce that we are partnering with Open Source Community Africa (OSCA) to sponsor the 4th edition of OSCAFEST this August. 🚀 OSCAFEST is Africa’s largest open-source festival, bringing together developers, students, designers, and organizations to share knowledge, spark new ideas, and strengthen open-source communities. This year’s theme, Beyond Borders, is about pushing past traditional boundaries in technology and collaboration. It invites participants to work together across countries, industries, and areas of expertise, enabling bold innovation, inclusivity, and growth for Africa’s tech community. 📅 Save the date: August 14 – 16, 2025 📍 Landmark Event Centre, Lagos, Nigeria 🇳🇬 Secure your spot and be part of this exciting event:

Tix Africa

👉 Learn more about our partnership and what it means for Africa’s tech community in our blog:

Btrust Blog

Btrust Partners with the Open Source Community Africa to Sponsor OSCAFEST 2025

Lagos, Nigeria – 17th July 2025 We’re excited to share that we’re partnering with the Open Source Community Africa (OSCA) to sponsor the 4th...

We’re excited to share the Q2 2025 Btrust Developer Grant recipients. This round features three new Starter Grant and two renewed Long Term grantees, all driving open-source Bitcoin development. Check out the full list of grantees here:

Btrust Blog

Announcing Q2 2025 Btrust Developer Grant Recipients

Africa, July 2, 2025 — We are excited to present the recipients of our Q2 Starter Grants and welcome returning members to the Btrust Open-Source ...

Starter Grants empower talented engineers to contribute full-time to open-source Bitcoin development, giving them the flexibility and security to identify their specialty and deepen their community involvement. Sulaiman Aminu Barkindo is focusing his efforts on the Validating Lightning Signer (VLS) project. With the support of the Starter Grant, he’ll be working on enhancing HTLC security, advancing on-chain state enforcement and disaster recovery, optimizing signer performance for rapid synchronization, and ensuring robust data persistence. He’s also expanding system test coverage and implementing advanced tools to bring VLS closer to production-readiness, helping make non-custodial, secure Lightning solutions more reliable and accessible, especially where self-custody is essential. Peter Tyonum is making Bitcoin wallet development more approachable and powerful through the Bitcoin Dev Kit (BDK) libraries. He’s focused on releasing bdk-cli version 1.0.0, integrating new features like hardware wallet support, building advanced wallet templates, and improving compatibility with chain clients and RPC proxies. Peter will also be expanding documentation and contributing code reviews across the ecosystem. Jamal ERRAKIBI is dedicating himself to boosting the stability and usability of rust-bitcoin. His priorities include regular code reviews, expanding documentation, improving serialization consistency, and helping guide core rust-bitcoin libraries towards a stable release. This work will support both core developers and newcomers as Bitcoin’s open-source foundation continues to grow. The Btrust Long Term Grant helps experienced contributors continue making high-impact, sustainable advances in Bitcoin infrastructure. Both Long Term Grant renewals will provide two more years of dedicated support to each recipient. Duncan Dean is working on the Lightning Development Kit, particularly advancing dual-funded channels. He is enabling funding contributions from channel acceptors, introducing robust APIs for channel initiators, and developing interactive fee-bumping. Duncan’s future plans include pioneering simple taproot channels to enhance privacy and exploring the integration of Point Time Locked Contracts. Abubakar Sadiq Ismail is deepening his work on Bitcoin Core, focusing on fee estimation improvements and strengthening mempool infrastructure. He’s developing a cluster-aware fee estimator, contributing to multiprocess support and mining interface testing, and continuing to mentor new contributors, host review sessions, and advance his expertise in Bitcoin cryptography. At Btrust, we believe supporting developer talent is key to a stronger, more decentralized Bitcoin. Our grant applications are open year-round, and new grantees are announced every quarter. If you’re passionate about contributing to Bitcoin open-source, we encourage you to apply. Visit our website to learn more about our ongoing grant programs:

Grants

Get funding to work on Free and Open-Source Bitcoin projects

We’re excited to announce that we're partnering with @BTC Prague, the largest Bitcoin conference in Europe, to bring you this year’s Dev/Hack/Day. 🚀 This one-day, in-person event will be happening at Hotel Duo in Prague and is for anyone who’s interested in Bitcoin technology. You’ll get to dive into sessions covering the foundations of Bitcoin technology, the latest Layer 2 solutions, next-generation digital cash, and user-friendly Bitcoin design. Plus, our team will be running workshop sessions throughout the day, so come join us, learn and connect. Our CEO, @Abubakar Nur Khalil, will also be speaking this Thursday at BTC Prague on the panel, “Behind the Magic: Why Bitcoin Technology Just Works.” If you’re curious about what makes Bitcoin secure, reliable, and built to endure, this is a conversation you won’t want to miss. Visit

BTC Prague

dev/hack/day - BTC Prague

to learn more about Dev/Hack/Day, get tickets, and stay updated. See you in Prague! 🇨🇿

At this year’s Oslo Freedom Forum 🇳🇴, our CEO @Abubakar Nur Khalil took the stage during the Freedom Tech track to share the story of Btrust and our mission to decentralize open-source Bitcoin development across the Global South. Abubakar spoke about the work we’ve been doing to build an ecosystem of African Bitcoin developers, from the early days with just a few contributors to now reaching thousands through grants, education, and infrastructure support. His message was clear: those most affected by financial repression must be empowered to build the tools that safeguard financial freedom. That’s why Btrust exists, to educate developers, fund talent, and grow a developer base that reflects the communities Bitcoin was built to serve. It was also an honor to have our Engineering Lead Kelvin Isievwore, along with Theophilus Isah, Olutobi Adeyemi and Duncan Dean, representing Btrust at the conference. A huge thank you to the @HRF team for bringing together such a thoughtful, impactful group of individuals working at the intersection of technology and freedom.