It’s easy to tell yourself you need to learn a little more before you’re ready. One more course, one more book, then you’ll start. Nkatha Kaburu knows that feeling. She was learning, building, and showing up in Bitcoin communities, but contributing to open source still felt like something she needed to prepare for. Things began to change when she picked an issue, asked questions, and worked through the feedback. Her first contribution took two months, and helped her see that she could learn by doing. In our latest grantee spotlight, Nkatha shares her journey to contributing to Braidpool ⛏️ and becoming a Btrust grantee, alongside the people and lessons that helped her keep going. If you’ve been waiting to feel ready, her story might be the encouragement you need to take that first step. Read it here:

Btrust Blog

Get Out of the Learning Loop and Do the Work: My Journey to Becoming a Btrust Grantee

Written by Sharon Nkatha When I first started learning about Bitcoin, I understood it as money. I knew it was a decentralized monetary network and...

A developer’s journey into Bitcoin open source often starts with curiosity, a welcoming community, and a willingness to keep learning. In our latest grantee spotlight, Ansh Sharma shares how @bitshala, @npub1v863...th6q, and Chaincode Labs’ BOSS program shaped his path to working on Braidpool. His work supports the crucial goal of decentralizing Bitcoin mining and reducing reliance on a small number of pool operators. Along the way, he shares lessons from his journey for anyone looking to get started in Bitcoin open source. Ansh is one of the first developers we’ve supported through the recent expansion of Btrust’s long-term developer grants across the Global Majority. Learn more about Ansh’s journey here:

Btrust Blog

From First Commit to Long-Term Support: My Bitcoin Open Source Journey

Written by Ansh Sharma A year and a half ago, my idea of Bitcoin open source was mostly a Discord server I visited late at night. Today, I work o...

Bitcoin’s code is open to everyone. But access to the code is not the same as an opportunity to contribute. Technical education, mentorship, supportive communities, and the time and funding to keep building all shape who can participate, and sustain their work. In our latest article, we explore why decentralizing Bitcoin development takes more than geographic diversity, and how Btrust supports pathways for more people, experiences, and perspectives to help shape the technology. Read the full article here:

Btrust Blog

Why Decentralizing Bitcoin Development Takes More Than Geographic Diversity

When people talk about decentralizing Bitcoin development, the conversation often starts with geography: more developers from more countries contri...

As AI coding tools become more widely used, generating code that looks ready to merge is easier than ever: passing tests, a polished PR description, and a green CI run. But none of those guarantees correctness, and in Bitcoin, where mistakes can have irreversible consequences, that distinction matters. At @btcplusplus Nairobi 🇰🇪, our Head of Engineering, Kelvin Isievwore, discussed responsible AI use in Bitcoin open-source development; where it can help contributors, where it falls short, and why understanding and verifying the code you submit remains your responsibility. Watch the full session:

Over the past two editions, #BtrustDeveloperDay has brought together developers, designers, contributors, and builders from across the Bitcoin ecosystem. Unfortunately, we won’t be hosting the event this year. We know many of you were looking forward to gathering again, and we’ll miss the opportunity to learn, connect, and build together. We’re using this time to listen, reflect, and prepare for a bigger next chapter in 2027. Thank you to everyone who has joined us, contributed, spoken, volunteered, and built alongside the community so far. We can’t wait to welcome you back in 2027. More details are coming soon. Watch this space.

We are excited to be attending and speaking at @TABConf 8 - Oct 12-15, 2026 ATL 🎉 TABConf is a conference focused on Bitcoin, bringing together developers, researchers, and open-source contributors to share ideas, explore new technologies, and collaborate on building Bitcoin’s future. Open-source development is at the heart of Bitcoin, and we’re looking forward to contributing to conversations on the tools, people, and communities shaping its ecosystem. Catch our Head of Engineering, Kelvin Isievwore, and Btrust developer grantee, Itoro Ukpong Oluwasegun, on the main stage today. 🕦 11:30 am - Beyond the FFI Frontier: What It Actually Takes to Expose Rust Bitcoin Across Multiple Languages Itoro will unpack the engineering challenges of making Rust-based Bitcoin wallet logic accessible across languages like Swift, Kotlin, Python, and Dart, including how developers can use UniFFI to build and distribute cross-platform SDKs 🕛 11:45 am - A New Centre of Gravity: Bitcoin Open Source Development in the Global South Kelvin will explore how Bitcoin open-source development is becoming more geographically decentralized, with contributors in the Global Majority building communities, organizing conferences, mentoring developers, and becoming maintainers of open-source projects. We’re looking forward to meeting fellow developers, open-source contributors, and members of the Bitcoin community, exchanging ideas, and exploring opportunities to build together. See you there!

What does it take to build an ecosystem where developers in the Global Majority can do more than participate in Bitcoin, but help shape where it goes next? In the final episode of season one of Btrust in Focus, Paul Eke sits down with Abubakar Nur Khalil, CEO of Btrust, to talk about the thinking behind Btrust, how the organization has evolved, and what it takes to build the foundations for a stronger Bitcoin ecosystem in the Global Majority. They discuss the challenges of creating pathways for developers, building a team around a shared mission, and why Btrust sees its role as creating the conditions for others to build. Abubakar also looks ahead at what Btrust is working towards: a stronger Bitcoin ecosystem where more developers from the Global Majority have the opportunity to build for the world, while Btrust continues to strengthen the foundations that make that possible. Watch the final episode of Btrust in Focus here:

We’re excited to announce the Q3, 2026 Btrust developer grant recipients. 🚀 Ten Bitcoin open-source developers are receiving support this quarter, including five starter grant recipients and five open-source cohort members. This cohort continues our mission to decentralize Bitcoin open-source development by supporting contributors from the Global Majority working across Bitcoin Core, mining ⛏️ infrastructure, Lightning⚡ tools, wallet libraries, and privacy-preserving payments. Q3 also marks an important first: Btrust developer grants are going directly to developers outside Africa. Following the recent expansion of our long-term grants, we’re welcoming Leonardo and plebhash from Brazil 🇧🇷, and Ansh from India 🇮🇳. A defining theme of this cohort is community. Several recipients developed their skills through BitDevs, @npub13s0k...5g70, @bitshala, @Btrust Builders, @npub129hv...pkpk bootcamps, Dada Devs and other learning programs. By supporting these communities, events, and programs, we help developers build their skills and discover emerging talent. The Btrust starter grant supports software engineers ready to contribute full-time to Bitcoin open source. It provides time, mentorship, and financial support to develop a focus and grow into long-term contributors. The Q3, 2026 starter grantees are Enoch Azariah, Abraham Ujah, Musa Haruna, Nkatha Kaburu, and Solomon Eze. The Btrust Open-Source Cohort provides long-term funding, mentorship, and peer support to established contributors, helping them sustain development and maintenance work. The Q3, 2026 long-term grantees are Rita Anene, Ifeanyichukwu Amajuoyi, Ansh Sharma, plebhash, and Leonardo. Learn more about the recipients and their work:

Btrust Blog

Announcing Q3, 2026 Btrust Developer Grant Recipients

Global Majority, 23rd September, 2026 — We’re excited to announce the Q3 2026 Btrust developer grant recipients. This quarter, ten Bitcoin open...

Applications for Btrust developer grants are open year-round, with new grantees announced quarterly. If you’re looking to contribute to Bitcoin open source, we encourage you to apply. Explore Btrust developer grants here: https://btrust.tech/grants/developer

We’re excited to support the Nairobi 🇰🇪 edition of Hack4Freedom, happening from September 22nd to October 5th. The two-week program will bring together women interested in Bitcoin development for hands-on learning, building, and connecting with developers and mentors from the ecosystem. @npub12qj0...w8vy, Frankline Omondi, @npub1zm2d...f260, Sharon Nkatha and Brandon Odiwuor will also be joining the program and contributing to the sessions over the two weeks. Huge thanks to Sekinah Ibrahim, @Brianna HD, Dada Devs, and everyone involved in making this happen and helping grow the pipeline of female Bitcoin open-source developers. 🧡 If you haven’t registered yet, there’s still time to join us. Register here:

Evento

👩‍💻 Hack4Freedom Nairobi - Evento

Hack4freedom Nairobi is a two-week bitcoin and freedom technology bootcamp and hackathon for women developers in Kenya, hosted in collaboration wit...

Btrust’s long-term developer grant program is expanding beyond Africa, starting with Brazil 🇧🇷 and India 🇮🇳. We’re excited to welcome three new developer grantees: plebhash, Leonardo L., and Ansh Sharma. This expansion is being carried out in partnership with @npub13s0k...5g70 in Brazil and @bitshala in India, two organizations that have supported the developers’ growth and connected them to local Bitcoin communities. Read the full announcement:

Btrust Blog

Expanding Btrust’s Long-Term Developer Grants Across the Global Majority

Global Majority, 16th September, 2026 — We’re excited to announce three new recipients of Btrust’s long-term developer grants: plebhash and L...

Experienced Bitcoin open-source developers across the Global Majority can now apply for the Btrust long-term developer grant here:

Btrust

Open Source Cohort

Work on Bitcoin open-source projects as an individual contributor within a team structure and receive monthly payments through a grant

What happens when learning Bitcoin stops being just about understanding the technology and starts becoming about building something with it? In the latest episode of Btrust in Focus, Paul Eke sits with Fidel Otieno, founder of @npub1pcwq...eat5, to talk about his path into Bitcoin development and the experiences that shaped his approach to building. They discuss the challenges of learning Bitcoin as a developer, the programmes and communities that helped Fidel deepen his technical understanding, and how those experiences eventually led to Bitika, a platform making it easier for people in Kenya 🇰🇪 to access Bitcoin through M-Pesa and Lightning⚡. The conversation also explores Fidel's vision for building useful Bitcoin products in Africa and his advice to developers who have ideas but are still waiting for the right moment to act on them. Watch the full episode here: