We're excited to announce that @nourou, founder of Yité Technologies, will be joining us as a speaker at this year’s #BtrustDeveloperDay. 🎉 Nourou is a pioneering Bitcoin builder and one of West Africa’s most active advocates for Bitcoin development and education. He discovered Bitcoin during the 2017 bull run and later deepened his technical expertise by attending Chaincode Labs' Bitcoin Protocol Development and Lightning Protocol Development seminars. Driven by his passion for Bitcoin’s potential in Africa, Nourou founded Bitcoin Sénégal 🇸🇳 and the Dakar Bitcoin Days conference, both instrumental in growing the regional Bitcoin community. Most recently, he launched @Banxaas App, an instant swap solution bridging BTC and the XOF fiat currency through the Lightning Network. At Developer Day, Nourou will lead a session on Banxaas. In this talk, he’ll unpack the journey of building, from concept to launch, explaining how Lightning can power fast, seamless swaps between bitcoin and local currencies, paving the way for everyday bitcoin use in West Africa. Don’t miss the chance to learn directly from Nourou and explore how Bitcoin innovation is driving financial inclusion across the continent. RSVP now to secure your spot: https://clooza.com/events/BTRUSTDEVELOPERDAY

We're happy to have Abdias AFOUDA, an open source contributor at Plan ₿ Network and Flash, joining #BtrustDeveloperDay as a speaker 🎉 A backend developer deeply passionate about Bitcoin, Olaniran has honed his expertise through advanced training programs, including the BOSS Program, Lightning Development Path at Chaincode Labs, and the Bitcoin CLI course by Btrust Builders, where he ranked among the top ten participants. As a co-instructor at the Cotonou 🇧🇯 Lightning Developer Bootcamp and speaker at BitDevs Cotonou , he actively shares his knowledge to strengthen the Bitcoin community in Benin. His open-source contributions span initiatives such as Plan ₿ Network and onboarding to Bitcoin Core, driving both local and global protocol development. In his session, Olaniran will explore the current state of Bitcoin adoption among French-speaking communities in West Africa, highlighting progress, programs, and tools supporting their integration, and showcasing how open-source collaboration fuels this growth. Discover how grassroots education and contribution are reshaping Bitcoin development across Francophone Africa. Register here to attend: https://clooza.com/events/BTRUSTDEVELOPERDAY

We’re excited to announce that Megasley, General Manager at @Africa Free Routing, will be speaking at the upcoming #BtrustDeveloperDay! 🎉 Megasley is a Bitcoin educator, builder, and advocate leading grassroots Lightning Network adoption across Africa. Over the past three years, he has hosted eight Lightning Developer Bootcamps across Nigeria 🇳🇬, Kenya 🇰🇪, Ghana 🇬🇭, Benin 🇧🇯, Zambia 🇿🇲, and South Africa 🇿🇦, training hundreds of developers and entrepreneurs to build practical, everyday Lightning tools. He’s spoken at major global Bitcoin gatherings, including the Lugano Plan B Conference, Africa Bitcoin Conference in Ghana, and the Adopting Bitcoin Conference in South Africa, and continues to mentor developers integrating Lightning into real-world systems. At Developer Day, Megasley will lead a session titled Building Lightning from the Ground Up: Insights from Developer Bootcamps Across Africa. In this talk, he’ll share lessons from teaching Lightning to developers, the creative ways his team solved local challenges, and how community-driven education is shaping Bitcoin innovation across the continent. Don’t miss the chance to learn how meaningful Lightning education programs are being built, and how you can run your own. 👉 RSVP now to secure your spot: https://clooza.com/events/BTRUSTDEVELOPERDAY

In July, we put out a call for a Chief Executive Officer, and after a long, thoughtful, and rigorous selection process, we’re excited to share that @Abubakar Nur Khalil has been appointed as the new CEO of Btrust. Abubakar will be stepping down from his position on the Board to take on this full-time role, where he will report directly to the Btrust Board. His appointment marks an important new chapter for Btrust as we continue our mission to strengthen and support open-source development across Africa and beyond. This is a three-year term, with the possibility of renewal by a subsequent board for one additional three-year period. Read more about the appointment, as featured on @Bitcoin Magazine:

Bitcoin Magazine

Btrust Names Abubakar Nur Khalil As New CEO

After a stint as interim CEO, Abubakar Nur Khalil is officially Btrust's new chief executive officer.

Join us in congratulating Abubakar on this new role and in looking forward to what’s ahead for us.

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:

Google Docs

Women in Open Source (OSCAFest '25)

Women in Open Source Brunch is an event by OSCA to inspire, empower, and connect women in open source through dialogue, knowledge-sharing, and comm...

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