₿trust, an initiative dedicated to supporting open-source Bitcoin developers in the Global South, has announced the recipients of its Q3 Starter Grants and the new members of its ₿trust Open-Source Cohort.

1/ 📢 Announcing the ₿trust Q3 Grants!

We are excited to announce the recipients of our Q3, 2024 ₿trust Starter Grants and the Open-Source Cohort Members! 🚀

A key part of our mission is to empower talented developers from the Global South to contribute to Bitcoin’s open-source ecosystem. photo.twitter.com/FnlgPGJoHu

— Btrust (@btrustteam) August 16, 2024

The Starter Grants, which provide full-time funding to Bitcoin software developers, are a sign of ₿trust’s commitment to expanding the number of open-source Bitcoin contributors from regions such as Africa, MENA, Southeast Asia, and Latin America.

Each recipient will receive six months of support, including a bitcoin stipend, technical guidance, and support in developing proposals to join the ₿trust Open-Source Cohort with long-term funding.

Why ₿trust Starter Grants are important

₿trust Starter Grants provide financial stability to talented open source developers, helping them focus on their work without financial stress. They also provide mentorship and support to help developers build long-term, sustainable careers in the Bitcoin space.

“Through these grants, we can make a tangible contribution to the decentralization of Bitcoin’s open-source development by introducing developers with diverse perspectives, thereby strengthening the resilience of the Bitcoin network,” ₿trust interim CEO Abubakar Nur Khalil said in a press release shared with Bitcoin Magazine.

The Starter Grants also provide a pathway to the ₿trust Open-Source Cohort. Developers in the ₿trust Open-Source Cohort receive mentorship, professional development, and extensive financial support while contributing to open-source initiatives.

“The intention is to make the Bitcoin open source careers of the beneficiaries sustainable and, in addition to the long-term financial support we provide, create an enabling environment in which they can flourish and experience a greater sense of community,” said Nur Khalil.

Starter Grant recipients

The recipients of the Q3 2024 Starter Grants are as follows:

Enigbe Ochekliye

Ochekliye has over two years of experience in backend engineering and has worked on projects such as Galoy’s Stablesats and Easepay’s payment service provider (PSP).

Ochekliye will contribute to the rust-lightning of The Lightning Development Kit through this grant. She will also work on improving the onboarding process for new contributors to Bitcoin open source projects.

Enigbe Ochekliye

Tobechi Chukwuleta

Chukwuleta is a highly experienced backend developer with a background in data analytics. He has also been instrumental in improving the functionality of BTCPay Server, particularly in terms of the system’s multisig capabilities and plugin development.

With the funds from his Starter Grant, he can further improve the functionality of the BTCPay Server store and the modularity of the platform.

Tobechi Chukwuleta

Kelvin Isiev wore

Isievwore currently contributes to Bitcoin open source projects like Polar and LND. While working under the Starter Grant, Isievwore will focus on streamlining the testing and development process for engineers building on Lightning.

Kelvin Isiev wore

New members of the open source cohort

The new members of the ₿trust Open-Source Cohort are as follows:

Abubakar Sadiq Ismail

Sadiq Ismail is a Nigerian Bitcoin Core contributor who is actively involved in optimizing the Bitcoin protocol. He works on critical areas of Bitcoin Core such as long-term cost estimation and transaction analysis.

Sadiq Ismail’s work on Mempool fee estimation analysis showcases his technical skills, which helps improve Bitcoin’s scalability and usability. While he is part of the group, he will continue this work, while refining his skills to contribute to the Bitcoin ecosystem.

Abubakar Sadiq Ismail

Duncan Dean

Dean is a Lightning contributor from South Africa. He has been heavily involved in the development of the highly modular Lightning library, rust-lightning.

Dean is also actively participating in projects like ldk-review-club and lndk, where he has helped improve continuous integration (CI) practices and helped maintain the robustness of the codebase. While in the cohort, Dean aims to strengthen his skills to contribute to Bitcoin and Lightning.

Duncan Dean

Oghenovo Usiwoma

Usiwoma is a Bitcoin Core contributor based in Nigeria and has been with ₿trust since 2023. Under the ₿trust Starter Grant, he focused on improving the functionality of silent payments.

As part of the ₿trust Open-Source Cohort, he will work on introducing new key formats and descriptions for silent payments into Bitcoin Core, continuing his work to improve Bitcoin’s privacy and scalability features.

Oghenovo Usiwoma

Applying for a trust grant

Developers based in Africa, the MENA region, Southeast Asia and Latin America can apply for ₿trust grants.

Developers in other regions of the South are also eligible for grants, which are assessed on a case-by-case basis, primarily based on their evidence of work in the Bitcoin sector.

Apply for a ₿trust Starter Grant via this ₿trust link.