Celebrating our Q2-Q3 2026 Pathway Cohort Graduates

Between May and July 2026, developers from across Africa and beyond came together for four Btrust Builders pathway cohorts: Rust for Bitcoiners, Language Clubs, Mastering Bitcoin, and Learn Bitcoin from the Command Line.

Together, the cohorts recorded 204 enrollments and 87 successful graduations, supporting developers at different stages of their journey, from understanding Bitcoin’s foundations to building the programming skills needed to contribute to its open-source ecosystem.

All four cohorts ran in a live format, combining structured study with peer discussions, practical exercises, and support from dedicated chaperones and teaching assistants. While each pathway focused on a different area, they shared a common goal: helping developers build technical understanding, confidence, and the relationships that make continued learning possible.

For some participants, that meant running a Bitcoin node for the first time. For others, it meant constructing transactions, exploring Rust codebases, or building tools of their own.

Rust for Bitcoiners

Rust is increasingly important to the Bitcoin development ecosystem. The six-week Rust for Bitcoiners pathway helps developers build the language skills and technical understanding needed to engage with projects that use it.

This cohort brought together 102 developers from 15 countries, supported by 12 chaperones and teaching assistants. Participants joined from across Africa and from countries including Germany, Brazil, India, Pakistan, and the United States.

Learners worked through The Bitcoiner’s Intro to Rust by BTCdemy alongside weekly Builders technical exercises, building toward a capstone project.

The exercises connected Rust concepts directly to Bitcoin development. Participants parsed transactions, implemented CompactSize encoding, serialized transaction components, constructed scripts, and worked toward interacting with Bitcoin Core through RPC.

By the end of the pathway, 51 developers from nine countries graduated, meeting requirements for weekly exercises, homegroup participation, office-hour engagement, and a complete capstone project.

For learners, the value went beyond becoming familiar with a new language. The pathway helped make Bitcoin’s underlying mechanics more concrete.

Before this cohort, Bitcoin felt like a black box. Going through it in Rust forced me to understand it at the lowest level. I wasn't just calling APIs, I was building the primitives myself.

— Hamsa Harcourt, Nigeria

The community was equally important. Homegroup calls and Discord discussions gave learners space to ask questions, work through difficult concepts, and learn from one another.

But what stood out most of all was the community. Learners who freely shared resources from day one, a chaperone who consistently pointed us to the right sites and repos. Everyone was genuinely invested in helping each other grow.

— Rose Njuguna, Kenya

Several learners identified contributing to rust-bitcoin, BDK, and LDK as their next steps. Others shared plans to publish technical articles, start local Bitcoin developer meetups, or joining the Btrust Open Source Fellowship.

Language Clubs

Meaningful open-source contribution requires more than understanding Bitcoin. Developers also need confidence working in the languages used across its tools and projects.

The six-week Language Clubs pathway focused on building that fluency through Python and C++, combining Exercism practice with Bitcoin-focused Builders tasks.

The cohort enrolled 17 developers from eight countries, with 10 learners in the Python track and seven in C++. Four chaperones and teaching assistants supported participants across four homegroups.

Learners worked through programming exercises that challenged their problem-solving skills, discussed their approaches during regular check-ins, and applied their learning through a capstone involving Bitcoin Core RPC.

By the end of the program, eight developers from five countries graduated.

Participants highlighted the combination of independent practice and peer accountability as a key part of their progress.

The Language Clubs pathway helped me find a balance between learning and doing. Having accountability partners and silent cheerleaders made it impossible to quit.

— C++ track participant

For Python learners, the pathway also provided a practical connection between stronger language skills and Bitcoin development.

My experience in the Language Clubs pathway was very good and helpful. It helped me improve my Python skills and also strengthened my understanding of Bitcoin development using RPC.

— Ndikumana Idris, Burundi

Though smaller than the other cohorts, Language Clubs created a focused space for developers to strengthen the foundations they need for further technical learning and open-source work.

Mastering Bitcoin

The second Mastering Bitcoin cohort of 2026 welcomed 42 developers from 14 countries, supported by eight chaperones and teaching assistants. Women made up 26% of enrolled learners.

Over eight weeks, participants studied Mastering Bitcoin: Programming the Open Blockchain, Third Edition, by Andreas Antonopoulos. The pathway explored Bitcoin from first principles, covering transactions, wallets, cryptography, scripting, networking, mining, and consensus.

Technical reading was only one part of the experience. Learners prepared answers to Socratic questions, discussed concepts with study partners, and joined weekly group sessions to work through challenging ideas together.

Twelve developers from seven countries graduated, meeting the pathway’s requirements for preparation, participation, and technical understanding.

Breakout discussions were a consistent highlight, helping learners test their understanding by explaining concepts and hearing different perspectives.

The breakout room discussions stood out the most for me, hearing different perspectives, explaining concepts together, and learning from others made the material more engaging and memorable.

— Ummu Salmat Abdullahi, Nigeria

For some participants, the learning also extended beyond the reading and discussion sessions.

I went from knowing almost nothing about Bitcoin to understanding its core concepts and even learning how to run my own pruned node on my machine at home.

— Bibi Shania Tinkouree, Mauritius

Many identified Learn Bitcoin from the Command Line as their next step, while others expressed interest in Rust and direct open-source contribution.

Learn Bitcoin from the Command Line

While Mastering Bitcoin develops conceptual understanding, Learn Bitcoin from the Command Line asks learners to put that understanding to work.

The second CLI cohort of 2026 brought together 43 developers from seven African countries, supported by seven chaperones and teaching assistants.

Over seven weeks, participants followed Learning Bitcoin from the Command Line by Christopher Allen and Shannon Appelcline, working directly with Bitcoin Core to run nodes, create wallets, construct transactions, inspect scripts, and explore how the system behaves in practice.

Technical exercises covered topics including multisignature transactions, timelocks, partially signed Bitcoin transactions, and Bitcoin Script. The pathway concluded with a capstone project that required learners to bring those skills together.

Sixteen developers from four countries graduated, achieving a 37.2% graduation rate, up from 31.1% in the first CLI cohort of the year.

The practical work helped turn familiar terminology into deeper understanding.

I had heard terms like multisig, CSV timelocks, P2SH, SegWit; I could honestly list them all day. But hearing about them and actually understanding them are two very different things.

— Wisdom Osuji, Nigeria

One graduate, Collins Okoth from Kenya, built BitScope, a Bitcoin Core learning and experimentation platform, as his capstone project.

The capstone project was especially meaningful because it allowed me to apply what I had learned by building BitScope, a practical Bitcoin Core learning and experimentation platform.

— Collins Okoth, Kenya

Learners described leaving with greater confidence to build, review code, and participate in Bitcoin open-source projects.

What We Learned

Across all four cohorts, one theme stood out: learning is stronger when developers do it together.

Homegroup calls, breakout discussions, study partnerships, and chaperone support helped participants stay accountable and work through difficult material. Practical exercises were especially valuable when they connected language skills and protocol concepts to real Bitcoin development tasks.

Learners also shared suggestions that will help shape future cohorts. These insights will help us improve the balance between independent study, practical work, and collaborative support.

What’s Next?

Graduation is a milestone, not the end of the journey.

Some graduates are now participating in the Open Source Fellowship, continuing their development through hands-on involvement in Bitcoin open-source projects. Others are building tools, publishing technical write-ups, sharing their knowledge in local developer communities, and preparing for their next Builders pathway.

These next steps reflect what the pathways are designed to support: a progression from learning Bitcoin fundamentals and strengthening programming skills to contributing meaningfully to open-source projects.

For those ready to take the next step, the upcoming Rust for Bitcoiners and Language Clubs cohorts are scheduled to begin in October 2026. Whether you want to explore Rust in a Bitcoin context or strengthen your Python or C++ skills, these pathways offer structured learning, practical exercises, and a community to learn alongside. Apply to join one of the cohorts here.

Join our Discord community to stay connected and receive updates on upcoming pathways, events, and ecosystem opportunities.

Thank You to the Builders Community

These cohorts were made possible by the dedication of our chaperones, teaching assistants, and the wider Builders community.

Thank you to everyone who guided a discussion, reviewed an exercise, answered a question, or helped a learner get unstuck.

And to every participant who made time to read, build, debug, and support their peers: thank you for being part of this learning community.

Congratulations to the graduates of the four cohorts. We look forward to seeing what you build next.

About Us

Btrust Builders is Btrust’s comprehensive engineering program dedicated to training and funding African software developers to contribute to Bitcoin and Lightning open-source projects. The Builders program provides technical mentorship, community support, and structured pathways to sustainable Bitcoin development careers.