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Btrust Announces First Batch of 2026 Event Grants: Supporting Bitcoin Developer Growth Across Africa and Beyond

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BY ORANGEMAN
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| 1D AGO | 3 MIN READ |
Btrust awards 2026 event grants to eight Bitcoin events across Africa, boosting developer onboarding and open-source contribution.
DEVELOPMENT ECOSYSTEM PRESS RELEASE

Btrust, the non-profit organization dedicated to decentralizing Bitcoin open-source development in Africa and the Global Majority, has revealed its initial 2026 event grants.

The organization is backing eight key gatherings designed to onboard new developers. Foster technical collaboration, and strengthen grassroots Bitcoin ecosystems.

Why Bitcoin Events Matter for Developer Talent?

For many aspiring contributors, the journey into Bitcoin development begins not with formal grants or full-time roles. But through accessible entry points like local meetups, workshops, hackathons, and conferences.

These events introduce participants to Bitcoin as a buildable protocol, connect them with mentors. And peers, and create pathways for ongoing open-source contributions.

Btrust’s event grants support a wide range of initiatives, from hands-on technical bootcamps to large-scale conferences. Helping to build a more resilient, inclusive Bitcoin developer community.

The 2026 Event Grant Recipients

  1. Adopting Bitcoin Cape Town 2026: South Africa’s premier Bitcoin-only event, focused on real-world adoption, circular economies, self-sovereignty, and grassroots usage in Southern Africa. The 2026 edition, held January 30–31 in Cape Town, featured workshops, technical sessions, and community discussions. Btrust supported it as the Honey Badger sponsor, reinforcing its role as a regional hub for builders and adopters.
  2. Africa Free Routing Lightning Developer Bootcamps: A series of intensive five-day programs teaching Bitcoin and Lightning fundamentals, channel management, routing, and application building. Previous cohorts trained over 250 developers across multiple African countries, resulting in 30+ projects. The 2026 expansion aims to onboard more than 300 new developers with practical, hands-on experience.
  3. Bitcoin++ Nairobi & Seoul 2026: Bitcoin++ is the leading global series for deep technical Bitcoin development.
    – Nairobi edition (June 17–19): The first Bitcoin++ event in Africa and its first open-source edition. It included a hackathon with 90 participants and 37 projects, offering prizes and international visibility for African builders.
    – Seoul edition: Focused on privacy, a critical area encompassing wallet design, transaction construction, and surveillance resistance.
  4. The Genesis Workshop (Mauritius, July 25–26): A hands-on workshop by OSGuild and BitDevs Mauritius, guiding participants toward their first open-source Bitcoin contributions. It covers development pathways, workflows, and ongoing mentorship through OSGuild’s contributor system.
  5. Code & Chain Senegal: Led by the Bitnob Developers Network, this series equips African developers with tools for building on Bitcoin infrastructure. Past events have trained over 5,000 developers across seven countries. The Senegal edition continues this expansion with practical workshops on remittances, payments, SDKs, and open-source utilities.
  6. DevFest Kaduna 2026: One of Northern Nigeria’s major developer conferences, introducing a dedicated Bitcoin-only track. It will cover protocol fundamentals, Lightning development, node operation, and open-source contributions, reaching engineers already skilled in tech but new to Bitcoin.
  7. Dakar Bitcoin Days IV (November 6–7, Senegal): Senegal’s flagship Bitcoin-only forum in French-speaking Africa. The fourth edition will emphasize building decentralized payment systems, with talks, demos, and hackathons. It shifts focus toward education, practical use cases, and open-source work.
Btrust awards 2026 event grants to eight Bitcoin events across Africa, boosting developer onboarding and open-source contribution.

Building Pathways into Bitcoin Open-Source

Btrust emphasizes that events serve as critical first-contact points. They help developers:
  • Move beyond price speculation to technical understanding.
  • Meet contributors and maintainers.
  • Learn node operation, Lightning building, and developer tools.
  • Make initial open-source contributions.
  • Access mentorship, grants, and fellowships.
This approach is particularly vital in regions with strong technical talent but limited global network access.

How to Apply for Btrust Event Grants?

Applications remain open for developer-focused, Bitcoin-aligned events (conferences, bootcamps, workshops, hackathons) that promote education, open-source contribution, and community building, especially in Africa and the Global Majority.
 
Full eligibility criteria and submission details are available on the Btrust website.
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