This lamppost in Prague depressed me a bit. All over the city you see 500 year old monuments and 700 year old buildings, but this lamppost specifically made me pause. I’d just finished a run, and was thinking about the infrastructure of Nairobi and how the light rail system that we need still doesn’t really exist. Then I saw this. I looked it up and this lamppost is 159 years old, made in 1867, and I couldn’t help thinking how Nairobi itself was only a railway depot in 1899, and it took another 20 years to be recognized as a municipality. When this lamppost was made Nairobi was mostly highland plains, marshy ground, rivers, and seasonal grazing land. So the timeline is kind of crazy to think about. But what really got me was the care. The design. The fact that they put so much effort into it and then have maintained it for longer than Nairobi had been a city. I want us to care about what we make. I want us to maintain what we have that is good.

Ethiopia Rises to #8 Globally in Bitcoin Mining ​Ethiopia has quietly become a global powerhouse in blockchain infrastructure, officially climbing to the #8 top country globally for Bitcoin mining. Powered by mega-projects like the Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam (GERD), the country now commands roughly 2.6% of the global network hashrate. ​The secret sauce? An abundance of sustainable, renewable energy priced at a fraction of global costs, combined with strong state support via Ethiopian Investment Holdings. Major international infrastructure firms have already deployed hundreds of megawatts near Addis Ababa. ​As the nation executes its Digital Ethiopia 2030 strategy, the focus is clear: Ethiopia isn't just participating in the Web3 revolution... it is helping power its core foundation.

It's amazing to see months of planning and strategizing come to life this way. This year our goal was to take Bootcamps to cities with zero to little Bitcoin activity, and I am grateful we did! Thanks to @HRF, @btrust_builders and @Tether_Africa for their continuous support.

⚡️EBW x Bitcoin birr⚡️ We are thrilled to announce that we are partnering with Bitcoin Birr for our upcoming event, Ethiopian Blockchain Week 2026!

✅ Day 1 of our Lightning Developer Bootcamp in Kisumu, Kenya. What an incredible start! We welcomed a record breaking 90 participants, making this one of the largest bootcamps we've hosted to date. As always, we started with the fundamentals, exploring the history and properties of money, the problems Bitcoin solves, and why it matters. Participants then got hands on experience interacting with their own Bitcoin Core nodes, taking their first steps toward becoming Bitcoin and Lightning developers. Special shoutout to @dzeg5 for leading an engaging and insightful first day. A huge thank you to @Zone01Kisumu for hosting us and helping make this possible. And of course, thank you to our sponsors, @btrustteam, @HRF, @Tether_Africa, @afribitcoiners, and @planb_network for supporting the next generation of Bitcoin builders across Africa. 🚀

The Btrust team is heading to Prague 🇨🇿 @kelvinator05, @Murugi___, @ItoroUk, @sadeeq_ismaela and @Eunovo9 will be attending @FreedomTechSum, @BTCPrague, and BTCPay Day from June 10-14. Across these events, they'll be joining builders, entrepreneurs, open-source contributors, educators, and advocates from around the world who are working to advance freedom through technology. We're excited to connect with the global Bitcoin ecosystem and contribute to conversations around open-source development, financial empowerment, digital sovereignty, privacy, and censorship-resistant technologies. If you'll be in Prague for the events, we'd love to connect.

Bitcoin, not blockchain. Everyone learns this lesson at some point in their journey. I learned mine in 2022. Very powerful testimony from Kal.

Bitcoin @BitDevsAddis Ethiopia 🇪🇹 Proud of the amazing work you’re doing, @KalKassa. Bitcoin $BTC Ethiopia 🇪🇹 Summer2026

BitDevs Addis Ababa #02 Register here for tonight’s event: luma.com/tal13bwe

Behind every active Bitcoin open‑source contributor is a system that helped them get there; one that helped them discover Bitcoin, develop the skills to work on it, and find a place within the open‑source ecosystem. Supporting that system across the Global Majority is what Btrust grants are designed to do. Developer grants support open‑source contributors working across the Bitcoin stack, from core protocol development to wallets, privacy tools, and user‑facing applications. Through funding and support, developers are able to focus on contributing to the software that powers the network. Education grants strengthen the pipeline of future contributors by supporting programs that introduce developers to the Bitcoin open‑source ecosystem. By funding these initiatives, the grants help expand access to Bitcoin development education and prepare more engineers to participate in open‑source work. Event grants support meetups, bootcamps, workshops, and conferences that create the spaces where developers meet, collaborate, and find their way into Bitcoin open‑source contribution.

The Prime Minister of Ethiopia speaking to media professionals on how he spends 30 minutes daily reviewing a news dashboard built by @openclaw. The PM suggests the audience use similar AI tools to deliver better results in their newsrooms.

Yesterday @BitDevsAddis 🇪🇹 hosted its inaugural meetup at weVenture Hub, bringing together 75 developers and Bitcoin enthusiasts for the community’s first Socratic Seminar. 🚀 The session featured a lively discussion, led by Yeabsra, exploring recent developments in the Bitcoin ecosystem. The level of engagement in the room made it clear that there is strong interest among developers in Addis to better understand Bitcoin from a technical perspective. If you're a developer in Addis Ababa curious about Bitcoin development, BitDevs Addis is building a local community where developers can connect, discuss Bitcoin’s technical developments, and discover resources, programs, and pathways that support getting started and contributing to the ecosystem. Join the community and attend the monthly meetups to be part of the conversation and connect with other builders in the ecosystem. A big thank you to @KalKassa, @hananext, and Yeabsra for getting the ball rolling. 🧡

Setting the stage for BitDevs Addis Ababa… Huge thanks @btrustteam for helping bring together Bitcoin developers, researchers, and enthusiasts for a Socratic Seminar. Looking forward to next month!

NEW: 🇪🇹 Addis Ababa joins an elite global network of technical hubs as BitDevs officially launches in Ethiopia. This inaugural event marks a shift for the local ecosystem, moving the conversation to the heart of Bitcoin protocol development.🚀 Read More: bitcoinnews.africa/bitdevs-a…

Welcome BitDevs Addis Ababa 🇪🇹🧡

Really glad to finally see this out in the world! Over the past few years, I’ve had the privilege of working closely with #BitDevs communities across Africa and seeing what it actually takes to build technical spaces that last, not just meetups, but real cultures of learning, openness, and collaboration. This playbook is an attempt to document those lessons in a practical, honest way: what works, what’s hard, and what organizers should think about if they’re serious about building credible, technical #Bitcoin spaces. It’s all in there. Thank you @ihate1999, @dzeg5, and @TChileta for shaping this first release! Also, to @btrustteam for backing the work and continuing to invest in long-term ecosystem building. If you care about open-source, learning-driven communities, or you’re thinking about starting (or improving) a BitDevs chapter, I hope this is genuinely useful. It’s fully open-source and meant to evolve. Contributions are welcome!

Excited to support the first BitDevs meetup in Ethiopia 🇪🇹 Huge shoutout to @KalKassa and the entire team for making this possible. This is a big step toward building a Bitcoin developer ecosystem in the country. Follow @BitDevsAddis to stay in the loop on upcoming meetups and more. RSVP here: luma.com/tafunqff 🚀

BitDevs is coming to Addis Ababa!