HRF Funds Three African Bitcoin Projects in Latest Grant Round, Bringing Cumulative Total to $12.2 Million Across 383 Projects
500 Million Satoshis, 16 Projects, Three Building in Africa
The Human Rights Foundation announced on August 25, 2026, that its Bitcoin Development Fund has distributed more than 500 million satoshis across 16 projects worldwide in its second grant round of the year. Three of those projects are building directly in Africa: BitSpenda, a non-custodial mobile money-to-Bitcoin bridge now live in five countries; Bitzed, a Zambian platform connecting mobile money networks directly to self-custodial Bitcoin wallets; and Hack4Freedom, a two-week developer education programme training women in Lagos, Nairobi, and Sao Paulo to build on Bitcoin and open-source freedom tech.
Since launching in 2020, the BDF has now granted a cumulative $12.2 million in BTC to 383 projects across 70 countries. The round follows the fund’s April 2026 distribution of 1.5 billion satoshis to 26 projects, which included African grantees Banxaas, ChapSmart, Tando, Tapnob, and Bitcoin Benin. The pace of HRF funding directed at African Bitcoin infrastructure has accelerated significantly across 2026.
BitSpenda: Lightning to Mobile Money Across Five Countries
BitSpenda is a non-custodial, account-free mobile money-to-Bitcoin bridge that lets users in Nigeria, Kenya, Cameroon, Uganda, and Ghana send Bitcoin from a Lightning wallet straight into a mobile money account, with the recipient receiving local currency on the other end. Founded by Bright Kportiklah, BitSpenda is a subsidiary of Bitcoin Dua and also operates as a Fedi Mini App, allowing Fedi wallet users to send payments directly to mobile money recipients across West and East Africa. The grant will help BitSpenda expand its payment tools to make cross-border transfers faster, cheaper, and more accessible across the region.
Bitzed: Self-Custodial Bitcoin for Zambia's Mobile Money Users
Mobile money is widely used in Zambia, but buying Bitcoin has typically meant going through banks or centralised exchanges that maintain identity records and control users’ assets. Bitzed, built by Bitcoin educator Humphrey, connects Zambia’s mobile money networks directly to Bitcoin, letting users buy with their existing mobile money accounts and receive funds straight into their own Lightning wallet through recommended wallets including Blink, Breez, and Machankura. HRF’s support will help extend Bitzed’s coverage to more mobile money providers and reach more communities across Zambia who currently have no practical path to non-custodial Bitcoin ownership.