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...

We’re incredibly proud of what the team at Librería de Satoshi has built, and excited for its next chapter as ISMOS. Their work aligns closely with our mission to support developers in the Global Majority and create pathways into Bitcoin and open source. We’re happy to continue supporting the team as they expand access to technical education and mentorship. Check out ISMOS: ismos.xyz Are you a teacher or community leader in Bitcoin open source? Explore how you can get involved here:

ISMOS

Teach with us | ISMOS

ISMOS — Bitcoin education for Spanish speakers. Courses, B4OS, Ambassador, LN & AI programs and fellowships.

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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, @npub1353s...gajp, @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

Last week, we had the pleasure of sponsoring and presenting at the Genesis Workshop hosted by OSGuild in Mauritius 🇲🇺. Two of our developer grantees, @Chuks and @npub1zm2d...f260, joined the workshop to share their knowledge and experiences with the local community. On day 1, Sy introduced participants to the fundamentals of bitcoin, covering the basics of how it works, and mining ⛏️. Chuks ended the day with a session on the Lightning Network⚡, explaining how it enables fast, low-cost bitcoin payments and the technology that makes it possible. On day 2, they joined a panel discussion to share their journeys into Bitcoin open-source development, offering practical advice and encouragement to developers looking to contribute to the ecosystem. Across the two days, participants took part in technical presentations, thoughtful discussions, and the interactive @npub1vmpf...xhm7 LARP, making for an engaging and collaborative learning experience. A huge thank you to Sadiq Rabiu and the OSGuild team for organizing such a fantastic event. We're grateful to have been part of it and look forward to supporting more initiatives that help grow the Bitcoin open-source community.

At Btrust, we believe a stronger Bitcoin open-source ecosystem starts with better developer education. Developers need structured learning, mentors, and communities that help them grow from learners into contributors. We’re excited to announce the first round of 2026 Bitcoin Developer Education Grant recipients. 🚀 This round, we’re awarding $904,000 across five education initiatives: • Hack4Freedom by @npub1ytws...ju8r • Summer of Bitcoin • @bitshala • @npub13s0k...5g70 • @ISMOS & B4OS Together, these programs are helping developers across Africa and the Global Majority build technical skills, contribute to open-source Bitcoin projects, and become the next generation of maintainers, educators, and full-time Bitcoin developers. From hackathons and fellowships to study cohorts, internships, mentorship, and long-term developer support, each program creates meaningful pathways into Bitcoin open source. Read more about the programs we're supporting:

Btrust Blog

Announcing the First Round of 2026 Bitcoin Developer Education Grant Recipients

Over $900k awarded across five education initiatives supporting Bitcoin open-source development in Africa and the Global Majority.

Btrust Education Grants are open year-round to initiatives advancing Bitcoin developer education, mentorship, and open-source contribution across Africa and the Global Majority. Learn more and apply here: https://www.btrust.tech/grants/education

For many developers, the first step into Bitcoin open source is often a meetup, workshop, hackathon, conference talk, or technical session. These events create entry points for curious developers, connect new builders with mentors and peers, and give contributors a platform to share their work and find collaborators. We’re excited to announce the first batch of 2026 Btrust event grant recipients. 🚀 This round, we are supporting eight events: • @Adopting Bitcoin Cape Town 2026 • @npub129hv...pkpk Lightning Developer Bootcamps • @btcplusplus Nairobi & Seoul 2026 • Code & Chain Senegal by Bitnob • The Genesis Workshop by OSGuild • Dakar Bitcoin Days IV • DevFest Kaduna 2026 Learn more about the recipients here:

Btrust Blog

Introducing the First Batch of 2026 Btrust Event Grants

For many developers, the first step into Bitcoin is not a grant, a fellowship, or a full-time open-source role. It is a local meetup, workshop, hac...

Btrust event grants are open to events, conferences, bootcamps, workshops, hackathons, and technical gatherings growing the Bitcoin open-source ecosystem. Learn more and apply here: https://www.btrust.tech/grants/event

We're excited to support the Genesis Workshop in Mauritius 🇲🇺, a two-day hands-on Bitcoin and open-source workshop organized by OSGuild in collaboration with BitDevs Mauritius. Designed for developers, students, and curious builders, the workshop introduces participants to open-source culture, Bitcoin development, and real-world contribution pathways through practical, mentor-led sessions. We're also excited to have two of our developer grantees, @Chuks and@npub1zm2dg6fjl8aw0rcmhhc8kcdax6nzmsvvdwxcwc9upnvctl5vvwlslpf260, joining the workshop as speakers, sharing their experience and helping guide the next generation of Bitcoin open-source contributors. If you're in Mauritius, don't miss this opportunity to get started. 🔗 Learn more and register to attend here:

Genesis Workshop — Building Open Source Developers

Join the Genesis Workshop to build your skills as an open source developer, connect with industry experts, and get funding for open source contribu...

Lightning⚡ can make bitcoin payments fast and low cost, but building a Lightning-enabled app from scratch can still feel like a lot. There are channels to open, liquidity to manage, invoices to create, payments to track, and events to handle. LDK Node makes that path more practical by packaging the hard infrastructure choices into a smaller, production-ready API. In our latest blog, 👩‍💻 Rita Anene walks through building a working Lightning node in Rust 🦀, step by step: connecting to a peer, opening a channel, handling the ChannelReady event, receiving and sending BOLT11 payments, creating and paying BOLT12 offers, and sending a spontaneous payment without an invoice. It is a hands-on starting point for developers who understand Bitcoin and want to begin building on Lightning, without needing to learn every layer of the protocol first. Read the full article here:

Btrust Blog

Getting Started with LDK Node: Building a Lightning Node in Rust

Written by Rita Anene If you've spent time in the Bitcoin developer space, you've probably heard of LDK, (the Lightning Development Kit). LDK g...

Getting your first pull request merged is a milestone, but it is rarely the point where the journey becomes easier. If anything, it marks the beginning of deeper learning, greater responsibility, and continued contribution. In this article, we spoke with our Head of Engineering Kelvin Isievwore and two long-term developer grantees, Abubakar Sadiq Ismail and Enigbe Ochekliye, about what really changes after that first merge. From navigating code reviews to finding your place within an open-source project, they reflect on the lessons that stayed with them long after their first contribution was accepted. Read the full article on our blog:

Btrust Blog

What Happens After Your First Merged PR?

There are few moments in open source that feel as rewarding as seeing your first pull request merged. For many contributors, it marks the end of d...

https://blossom.primal.net/302f47427723a7ebb5c31bf1a5744f05927e2dd19f819622a2dd7c4a4b439809.jpgp

We’re excited to announce the Q2, 2026 Btrust developer grant recipients. 🚀 Seven Bitcoin open-source developers were awarded grants last quarter, including three starter grant recipients and four long-term open-source cohort members. The Btrust starter grant supports software engineers who are ready to contribute full-time to open-source Bitcoin development. It gives recipients the time, mentorship, and financial support they need to explore a focused area of Bitcoin open source, make meaningful contributions, and grow into long-term contributors. Q2, 2026 starter grantees are: • Jemimah Nagasha working on Polar ⚡ • Oyindamola Oladapo working on Rust-Payjoin and the Payjoin Development Kit • Yankho Ngolleka working on @Mostro The Btrust Open-Source Cohort provides long-term support to established Bitcoin open-source contributors. Members receive funding, mentorship, and peer support to deepen their work on important Bitcoin open-source projects and build long-term careers in the ecosystem. Q2, 2026 long-term grantees are: • Abiodun Awoyemi working on Bitcoin Dev Kit and BDK-TX • Ojok Emmanuel Nsubuga working on BlueWallet • Jamal ERRAKIBI working on rust-bitcoin, rust-secp256k1, and cryptographic performance • Brandon Odiwuor Odiwuor working on Bitcoin Core CI with CTest and CDash Learn more about the recipients and what they’re working on in the blog:

Btrust Blog

Announcing Q2, 2026 Btrust Developer Grant Recipients

Africa, July 13, 2026 - We’re excited to announce the Q2 2026 Btrust developer grant recipients. Last quarter, seven Bitcoin open-source develope...

Applications for Btrust developer grants are open year-round, with new grantees announced quarterly. If you’re a developer looking to contribute to Bitcoin open-source projects, we encourage you to apply. Learn more about Btrust developer grants and explore other Btrust grants here:

Grants

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

The final day of @btcplusplus Nairobi 🇰🇪 brought together developers, educators, and builders for a full day of talks, workshops, hackathon presentations, and community discussions. Sessions explored a wide range of topics, including bitcoin mining, Lightning payments, privacy, mobile money integration, and open-source development. The workshop track offered hands-on learning opportunities, with Abdullahi Yunus leading an L402 workshop on using Lightning for API authentication and payments, while Sonkeng Maldini demonstrated how developers can send and receive Silent Payments using Bitcoin Dev Kit tooling. Several Btrust community members took the stage throughout the day, including Simon, Abdullahi Yunus, Muhammad Shehu, Sonkeng Maldini, Michael Ariwaodo, Ojok Emmanuel, and @npub12qj0...w8vy, sharing insights on open-source development, privacy, Lightning, mining, and community building. The afternoon featured the hackathon finals, where teams showcased innovative projects spanning developer tooling, financial infrastructure, privacy, and open-source maintenance. The event concluded with the hackathon awards, celebrating the builders and projects that stood out during two days of intensive hacking and collaboration.

Day 2 of @btcplusplus Nairobi 🇰🇪 kept the momentum going with a mix of technical deep dives, design conversations, and discussions about the future of bitcoin adoption. The day explored how bitcoin can become more accessible and usable across different contexts, from Lightning⚡ as bitcoin's translation layer and cross-platform wallet development, to open bitcoin mining and building better on and off-ramp experiences. There were also conversations around product design, the role of African designers in shaping bitcoin's future, and how more women across the continent are contributing to and reimagining Bitcoin innovation. We're especially proud of our grantees who took the stage, including John Osezele, who shared insights on building cross-platform bitcoin wallets with Flutter and BDK-Dart, and Tobechi Chukwuleta, who spoke about extending BTCPay Server through plugins while maintaining the integrity of the core project. Meanwhile, hackers continued building throughout the day, refining their projects, collaborating with mentors, and turning ideas into working solutions ahead of the Hackathon Expo.

Last week, the Btrust team had the privilege of attending the Oslo Freedom Forum, joining builders, activists, technologists, and advocates from around the world in conversations about freedom, human rights, and open technologies. Our CEO, @Abubakar Nur Khalil, took the stage during the closing panel of the Freedom Tech Track alongside Anaïse Kanimba, @npub1kp7j...487l, and @Sabina to discuss one of the most important questions in the Bitcoin ecosystem today: How do we make bitcoin practical for everyday people? A key theme throughout the discussion was Africa's growing role in Bitcoin adoption. Across the continent, people are already using Bitcoin for payments, savings, financial inclusion, and economic empowerment, demonstrating real-world use cases at scale. The conversation explored how builders, entrepreneurs, and advocates can continue creating tools that reduce barriers to access, expand freedom, and make bitcoin more useful in people's daily lives. Watch the full discussion here: https://www.youtube.com/live/Q-7xMYnMXfc?t=12208 A huge thank you to the @npub17xvf...c9as team for curating such an impactful space for dialogue, learning, and collaboration.

On June 2nd, @npub17xvf...c9as will be hosting the Freedom Tech Track at the 2026 Oslo Freedom Forum, bringing together builders, founders, and advocates exploring the role of technology in advancing freedom around the world. Our CEO, @Abubakar Nur Khalil, is one of the featured speakers and will be joining the panel on bitcoin adoption in practice. He’ll be speaking alongside: • Anaïse Kanimba, director & founder, Africa Bitcoin Institute • @npub1kp7j...487l, founder & CEO, @Fedi • @Sabina, co-founder, @Tando.me 📍 Oslo Konserthus, Deep Dive Stage ⏰ June 2nd, 5:45pm This is one session you won’t want to miss. Check out the Freedom Tech Track speaker lineup and schedule here:

Oslo Freedom Forum

Freedom Tech at the Oslo Freedom Forum

June 2, 2026 June 2 Buy Tickets June 2, 2026 June 2 Buy tickets Meet Our Freedom Tech Speakers Meet Our Workshop Speakers Explore the Freedom Tech ...