Founded in 2021 with a generous 500 BTC donation from Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z, we believe that decentralization of the people building for and on Bitcoin enhances its resilience, reach, and relevance as a global currency.
Btrust Builders is our program designed to educate existing software developers from Africa about Bitcoin and Lightning development to start them on their journey as open-source Bitcoin contributors. The application is open all year round for mid-to-senior level engineers who are ready for the transition.
We have two grant schemes for developers who want to start or continue their contribution efforts to open-source Bitcoin projects.
This grant supports software developers new to Bitcoin open-source contributions. It provides full-time funding for six months to help you focus on key projects and prepare a strong proposal for long-term support.
Working in open source can feel isolating, especially for developers in the Global South facing pay and career uncertainties.
Our Open Source Cohort offers support, allowing you to contribute to Bitcoin projects independently within a supportive team framework.
Our builders run BitDev meetups across thirteen African cities—Abuja, Accra, Cotonou, Douala, Gitega, Goma, Johannesburg, Kaduna, Kampala, Kano, Lagos, Nairobi, Uyo,and Zambia, —with support from Btrust in administration, communication, and funding. The goal is to expand these meetups to more African cities, growing the pipeline.
These monthly meetups follow the established BitDevs format and are highly localized. They offer a high-signal environment to deepen understanding of Bitcoin development and communicate opportunities within the technical community.
Global Majority, April 9, 2026 — 2025 was a pivotal year for us at Btrust, as it marked the start of what we believe will serve as the generational foundation for the organization and Btrust Builders for years to come.
In this post, we provide a simplified, high‑level explanation of how Silent Payments work, their advantages over existing approaches, and how they can be used in practice. We will also walk through a practical example of receiving and scanning Silent Payment outputs using Frigate and BDK.
Africa, April 1, 2026 — We're excited to announce our largest Btrust developer grant cohort to date. Ten outstanding Bitcoin open-source developers have been awarded grants, comprising six starter grant recipients and four open-source cohort members, including two renewals and two promotions from starter to long-term grants.
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