We are hiring a Chief Executive Officer for Btrust 🔥 Btrust is a non-profit organization established to decentralize the development of free and open-source Bitcoin software. Initially focused on Africa, our mission is to locate, educate, and remunerate developers in the global south to contribute to the Bitcoin protocol and its associated technology stack. Although no prior Bitcoin experience is necessary, we’re seeking a leader who shares our enthusiasm for Bitcoin’s potential and values and the importance of a decentralized contributor community collaborating to shape the future of global money. If this sounds like you, go ahead and apply here:

Jobs

On friday, the Central Bank of Nigeria released a circular reversing its bitcoin ban 🔥 Given the scant information available online on the circular and questions I've been getting from folks, I decided to distill the 11-page document into a piece, which I've just published. The piece walks through the details of the CBN's circular, important changes, and its effects going into 2024. Hopefully this provides more clarity on this important development. https://www.forbes.com/sites/abubakarnurkhalil/2023/12/24/nigerian-central-bank-issues-circular-reversing-2021-bitcoin-ban/?sh=69910ce57350

Trojan Mining, a member of the Green Africa Mining Alliance (GAMA) and Nigerian Miner, announced their 500KW hydro-powered mining facility in Nigeria on Saturday. A first of its kind in many respects 🔥 Spoke with the CEO, Yassar Siyanbola, and wrote about this development and Trojan's plans for 2024 in my new piece for Forbes Crypto. Lots more exciting developments coming up in 2024 on the Bitcoin mining side in Nigeria 🚀 https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/11/20/nigerian-bitcoin-miner-trojan-mining-launch-500kw-hydro-mining-site/?sh=5aef11915e22

Lots of activity on both the USD-NGN FX rates and BTC-NGN price action over the last few weeks. So I decided to cover this in my latest piece for Forbes Crypto, "Amid Naira FX Oscillation, Bitcoin Surges To All-Time High In Nigeria" (3 min read). In it, I go through the following: - The Naira FX situation and the CBN's efforts to stabilize the Naira. - The Bitcoin price all-time high surge in Nigeria. - The response from Nigerians ahead of next year's Bitcoin halving. Hope it provides useful insight and context 🙏🏾 https://www.forbes.com/sites/digital-assets/2023/11/17/amid-naira-fx-oscillation-bitcoin-surges-to-all-time-high-in-nigeria/?sh=c10fb4fae081

The path to truth requires extending nuance and context to counter positions and not preserving them as a privilege for one's own positions. Otherwise, falsehood and hypocrisy reign. The struggle in doing so reflects one's aversion to the truth.

There are infinite ways to arrive at the inevitable.

Here is my talk, "Traversing The African Bitcoin Landscape," from the Baltic Honeybadger '23 conference. I hope this sheds light on a region of the world that I believe Bitcoin will continue to benefit from and whose development and adoption will be led and greatly influenced by 🔥 "Two things can pan out in the next five, ten, twenty years: either Africa is filled with a bunch of rowdy young people, or highly effective young people building the future of [...] Bitcoin." Full video 🎥 (12 mins)

I just published a new piece in the Recursive Newsletter on the Recursive Thesis, the issues with a Web3 thesis, and the distinction between a crypto and Bitcoin VC. I hope this helps answer some of the questions I’ve been getting on these topics.

Recursive Research

The Recursive Thesis: A Retrospective Synthesis

In this piece, I explore our genesis thesis, its evolution overtime, and where Recursive sits today.

Last month was wild, we got a whole EP collab from Central Cee and Dave, such a legendary lethal combo. Been on 🎧 🔁 Cench and Santan don’t miss 🔥 https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PLZYWi8glj5eYSH7xE5wIfiR-yTNZVkPv3 - - - EP Link (Tidal):

Music on TIDAL

TIDAL - High Fidelity Music Streaming

TIDAL is the first global music streaming service with high fidelity sound, hi-def video quality, along with expertly curated playlists and origina...

In the end, Bitcoin mining will thrive where its value proposition is understood and appreciated the most.

In my latest piece for Forbes, I cover the growing Bitcoin mining space in Africa 🌍 Specifically, how Africans are turning to Bitcoin mining as a viable way to bring cheap and reliable electricity to the more than 500 million people across the continent currently lacking it. I hope this provides some insight for those interested in the Bitcoin mining space in Africa. https://www.forbes.com/sites/abubakarnurkhalil/2023/05/24/africans-are-pioneering-the-bright-yet-complicated-green-future-of-bitcoin-mining/?sh=292a125354ac

In religion, as in war and everything else, comfort is the one thing you cannot get by looking for it. If you look for truth, you may find comfort in the end: if you look for comfort you will not get either comfort or truth—only soft soap and wishful thinking to begin with and, in the end, despair. — C. S. Lewis

In my first piece for Forbes as a contributor, I decided to explore the Naira crisis and its relationship to Bitcoin adoption in 🇳🇬 I hope this helps shed light on the nuances missing in the naira crisis conversation that needed to be addressed, especially the fungibility ‘trilema’. The situation is yet another factor contributing to more Nigerians moving to Bitcoin. https://www.forbes.com/sites/abubakarnurkhalil/2023/03/01/the-naira-crisis-is-fuelling-bitcoin-adoption-in-nigeria

For those who want to keep track of the election here in 🇳🇬

Presidential election results and data 2023 - Stears Elections

Get the latest results on 2023 Nigerian Presidential Elections from Stears. Get live results & data as announced by the Independent National Electo...

This is definitely one of my favorite convos so far🔥 It was a great pleasure to sit down with Matt to discuss all things Bitcoin in 🇳🇬, the work I am involved in here, and the future. A lot has been built and progress has been made from when this was filmed which is really great, but there is a lot still to be done on multiple fronts. Nevertheless, I remain optimistic and more bullish than ever. Africa will lead Bitcoin development and the global fight for financial freedom. - - - I highly recommend watching the other episodes in the series; very insightful conversations. Exceptional work from Mills and the team, the production has been incredible.

Cash is universally a vital source of economic power; hence, an attack on cash is an attack on a crucial freedom—financial freedom. Given the current situation in Nigeria, it's important to remember that cash is not only essential for privacy, but it remains a critical financial bridge and a lifeline for the unbanked. In a cashless environment, Bitcoin becomes their only alternative. Though there is still hope, we must remain focused and vigilant to eliminate complacency. Financial freedom is not a shiny feature on an app. For Bitcoin, it is a consequence of having a protocol with a free open, accessible, permissionless, decentralized Global monetary network that allows people to take back control of their money. A more pertinent realization is that moving forward, this will require even more work to protect and preserve. Attacks on freedoms will never end, so we must, inter ala, continue to build and fortify ourselves to the very end.

“We suffer more often in imagination than in reality.” —Seneca

Hello World 🦝