From Code to Contribution: How Btrust is Engineering the “Global Majority” Future of Bitcoin
As the Adopting Bitcoin Cape Town 2026 conference concludes its latest session, a clear narrative has emerged: the center of Bitcoin’s technical development is shifting. Leading this charge is Btrust, the non-profit endowment founded by Jack Dorsey (@jack) which has transitioned from a silent funder to a high-signal engineering powerhouse.
Under the leadership of Abubakar Nur Khalil, who was officially appointed as permanent CEO in late 2025, the organization is currently executing a strategy focused on the “Global Majority.” The thesis is simple: the protocol’s long-term resilience depends on a developer base located in the regions where Bitcoin is a necessity, not a luxury.
The “BOSS” Transition: From Sprint to Career
The 2026 BOSS (Bitcoin Open-Source Software) Challenge, a rigorous partnership with Chaincode Labs that kicked off on January 12, has reached a pivotal juncture this week.
After a month of intense coding “sprints,” Btrust confirmed today that the top-performing African developers from the current cohort are being transitioned into Advanced Mentorship. This stage moves them away from exercises and directly onto “Proof-of-Concept” projects for Bitcoin Core, the Lightning Network, and the Bitcoin Dev Kit (BDK).
“We aren’t just teaching people how to code; we are teaching them how to become maintainers,” says a Btrust Builders faculty member. “By the time this cohort finishes in April, these developers won’t just be looking for jobs—they will be the ones reviewing the pull requests of the global community.”
Breaking the “Passport Problem”
One of the most significant updates discussed this week is the operational success of the Btrust Pull Partnership. Introduced to solve the chronic “Visa/Border” issue that prevents African talent from reaching global stages, the partnership has successfully “pulled” its first 2026 residency candidates.
This week, Btrust highlighted the work of grantees like Simon, a Bitcoin engineer and BitDevs Nairobi co-founder. Simon is currently working on Stratum V2, a critical upgrade to Bitcoin’s mining protocol that decentralizes the power of mining pools. Through the Pull Partnership, developers like Simon are no longer working in isolation; they are being integrated into global open-source “War Rooms” via both digital and physical residencies in hubs like Amsterdam and Miami.
The BitDevs Playbook: Decentralising Intelligence
To ensure the pipeline remains robust, Btrust officially began distributing its <!–>BitDevs Playbook–>, to regional leaders across the continent this week. The goal is to expand the current 13-city African BitDevs network (including Lagos, Accra, and Johannesburg) to over 25 cities by the end of 2026.
This “Socratic Seminar” model ensures that high-signal technical discussions happen on-the-ground, creating a natural filter for the next generation of Btrust grant recipients.