Introducing the Second Round of 2025 Btrust Event Grant Recipients
Global, December 31, 2025 - At Btrust, we know that growing the Bitcoin open-source developer ecosystem starts with creating gateways; spaces where curious builders can connect, learn, experiment, and ultimately take their first steps toward meaningful contribution.
These gateways often take the form of events: technical meetups, grassroots workshops, hackathons, and conferences that combine knowledge-sharing with real collaboration.
Through our event grants, we partner with initiatives that expand these entry points, laying the foundation for deeper engagement with Bitcoin developer education programs and helping to feed the open-source pipeline we’re building across Africa, Latin America, and the broader Global South.
In the second half of 2025, we supported nine unique events, each serving a distinct community, yet all contributing to a powerful network of collaboration, innovation, and opportunity for new Bitcoin contributors.
Dev/Hack/Day at BTC Prague
June 18 - Prague, Czech Republic
Ahead of BTC Prague, this one-day, in-person conference brought together Bitcoin devs, hackers, and tech enthusiasts for high-signal talks and networking. Inspired by its execution and energy, Btrust joined to learn from the model as we evolve our own Btrust Developer Day format. The program combined deep technical presentations with expert-led conversations, fostering connections across Europe’s Bitcoin builder community with the Global South.
OSCAFEST 2025
August 15 - 16 - Lagos, Nigeria
Africa’s largest open-source festival went beyond borders this year, uniting developers, students, designers, and organizations across industries. OSCAFEST’s mission of growing Africa’s open-source movement aligns squarely with Btrust’s goal of decentralizing Bitcoin development. With our sponsorship, we amplified Bitcoin’s presence in broader open-source conversations, inspiring cross-pollination between African FOSS communities and the global Bitcoin ecosystem.
Hack4Freedom
Late September to Early October - Kaduna & Online
Bitcoin, Lightning, Nostr, and eCash became tools for tangible change during Hack4Freedom, a two-week hackathon aimed at Nigerian women developers. Starting with an in-person kickoff, participants built open-source solutions to real local challenges, from censorship resistance to digital identity. Through mentorship, team collaboration, and a project showcase finale, Hack4Freedom empowered a new wave of female Bitcoin builders, making freedom tech personal and practical in the everyday lives of participants.
DevFest Mauritius 2025
October 4 - Moka, Mauritius
While not Bitcoin-exclusive, DevFest Mauritius served as a strategic outreach opportunity ahead of the 2025 Btrust Developer Day. With three parallel tracks centered on Google technologies, the event attracted a technical audience. Btrust’s participation ensured the conversation around open‑source Bitcoin development remained front and center, reaching new potential contributors within Mauritius’ growing developer community.
Code and Chain: A Bitcoin Meetup
October 18 - Lagos, Nigeria
Hosted by Bitnob, this developer‑focused meetup convened Bitcoin engineers, product builders, and open‑source contributors for demos, panel discussions, and networking.
The event spotlighted emerging local innovation and connected attendees directly to Btrust’s mission and resources. Code and Chain is designed to seed long‑term collaboration across Nigeria’s Bitcoin ecosystem, laying the groundwork for future hackathons, workshops, and co‑led programs.
Bitcoin CoreDev Meetup
October 2025
Organized by Brink, this focused gathering brought together Bitcoin Core contributors, Lightning implementers, and researchers to collaborate deeply on complex reviews and discussions.
We supported attendance for talented contributors, knowing that some breakthroughs happen only face‑to‑face.
Bitcoin Dev Summit & SatsConf at São Paulo Bitcoin Week
November 3, and 7-8 - São Paulo, Brazil
As part of the growing Latin American Bitcoin ecosystem, São Paulo Bitcoin Week brought together a full week of developer‑focused education, collaboration, and innovation.
Organized by Vinteum, the inaugural Bitcoin Dev Summit marked the first dedicated conference for Bitcoin developers in Latin America. With an audience of at least 80% software developers, the summit explored everything from consensus and validation to Lightning, Stratum V2, and developer tooling. Btrust’s support helped Vinteum expand its pipeline for open‑source onboarding, linking Latin American developers directly to global maintainers and leading projects.
Now in its third edition, Satsconf is the largest Bitcoin conference in South America and the centerpiece of São Paulo Bitcoin Week. While broad in audience, it remains deeply rooted in open‑source developer engagement, particularly through accompanying programs like SatsHack and Bitcoin Students Days.
Together, the Bitcoin Dev Summit and Satsconf underlined how regional collaboration and developer education can scale globally, strengthening the bridge between Latin America and the wider Bitcoin FOSS community.
DevFest Lagos 2025
November 18 - 22 - Lagos, Nigeria
DevFest Lagos, Africa’s largest community‑driven developer festival, returned for its 12th edition, bringing together thousands of developers, designers, and entrepreneurs.
By reaching a wide and diverse developer audience, the event introduced new contributors to Bitcoin’s infrastructure and sparked meaningful, long‑term open‑source participation.
Why These Events Matter
These events range from highly technical, focused meetups to large‑scale multi‑topic conferences, across continents, skill levels, and formats. Yet each shares the same purpose: attract talent, spark curiosity, and connect communities to open‑source Bitcoin development.
In the Global South, the path to becoming a Bitcoin developer is more than technical training, it’s about access, community, and opportunity. Event grants ensure that these gateways stay open and inclusive, feeding into later-stage education programs, developer fellowships, and full-time open-source work.
We’ll keep identifying and supporting gatherings that set the stage for new contributors to thrive in Bitcoin’s open‑source future, in Africa, Latin America, and beyond.
Applications for Btrust Grants
Applications are open year-round for events that act as gateways into the Bitcoin open-source ecosystem. If your initiative inspires, educates, and connects potential Bitcoin contributors, we’d love to hear from you. Learn more about Btrust Event Grants and apply via our website.
Stay updated on our initiatives and future opportunities by following us on X, Nostr, LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook.
About Us
Btrust is a non-profit organization with a dedicated mission to decentralize the development of Bitcoin Open-Source Software. Our focus is on fostering developer talent in the Global South and supporting the free and open-source Bitcoin ecosystem.
