On 19 September 2026, Bitcoin Victoria Falls posted photos of its latest My First Bitcoin graduation in Livingstone, Zambia. The post showed a room of young graduates and read: "This was a wonderful experience, from understanding the problems with our current money to discussing the future of money and the practical use of Bitcoin."
What the graduates learned
The My First Bitcoin diploma is a free, open‑source curriculum that runs as a multi‑week in‑person course. It starts with what money is and why national currencies lose purchasing power, then moves to how Bitcoin works as a payment network. The final lessons focus on wallets and everyday spending: students learn to receive and send Lightning payments, then walk into shops in Livingstone that already accept Bitcoin.
A second cohort launched the same day
On the same day as the Livingstone graduation, Sats and Stories posted: "Finnaly Launched the Cohort. New Location: Mwinilunga, N‑Western Zambia. New Cohort: 27 Entries." The post tagged @MyFirstBitcoin, @BitcoinVicFalls, and @NSimatende. Sats and Stories runs programs that combine basic literacy with Bitcoin education for rural Zambian youth.
Bitcoin Victoria Falls
Bitcoin Victoria Falls is Zambia's first Bitcoin circular economy, launched on 10 January 2024 in Livingstone, Zambia's tourism capital next to Victoria Falls. It operates as a Light Node in the My First Bitcoin Node Network and ranks third globally on the education leaderboard.
The project was co‑founded by Adam Cowperthwait, who visited Bitcoin Beach in El Zonte, El Salvador in 2022, and Humphrey Simwinga, a Zambian educator who leads the team on the ground. Mabvuto Banda was also named in the launch announcement as a teacher alongside Simwinga. Early supporters included Bitcoin for Fairness, Bitcoin Ekasi, Bitcoin Beach, and My First Bitcoin. The project later received a Bitcoin Beach grant in November 2025 and provided the first external funding to BitJR Academy and Space, a Bitcoin education program for kids aged 6 to 17 in the same city.
As of mid‑2025, 61‑plus merchants in Livingstone accepted Bitcoin, including shops, markets, lodges, print shops, and tour operators. The number has continued growing. Merchants are mapped on BTC Map, accept Lightning payments through wallets like Blink, and the project runs Bitcoin tourism packages including visits to nearby Mukuni Village. At its largest Bitcoin Pizza Day meetup in 2025, 106 people attended.
The My First Bitcoin diploma
The My First Bitcoin diploma started as Mi Primer Bitcoin in El Salvador and now runs in over 30 countries through the Node Network, a collection of independent, community‑led educators who teach the same open‑source material adapted to their own communities. The program is free, impartial, and Bitcoin‑only.