On 23 September 2026, Btrust announced its Q3 2026 developer grant recipients (full post). Ten Bitcoin open‑source developers are receiving support: five starter grants and five long‑term grants. For the first time, Btrust developer grants go directly to developers outside Africa, with recipients in Brazil and India alongside contributors in Nigeria and Kenya.

What Btrust developer grants are

Btrust is a non‑profit founded in 2021 with a 500 BTC donation from Jack Dorsey and Jay‑Z. Its mission is to decentralize Bitcoin open‑source development by supporting developers from the Global Majority. Applications are open year‑round and recipients are announced quarterly.

Starter grants give developers six months of support, including a stipend paid in bitcoin, technical guidance, and a pathway to the long‑term cohort. Long‑term grants give developers the continuity to take on sustained maintenance and deeper contributions.

Q3 2026 starter grant recipients

  • Enoch Azariah, Adamawa, Nigeria. Working on Bitcoin Core's inter‑process communication (IPC) mining interface, libmultiprocess, and the Stratum V2 template provider. His work connects Bitcoin Core with external mining software.

  • Musa Haruna, Borno State, Nigeria. Focused on Bitcoin Core review, fee estimation research, and kernel and API development. He completed the 2025 BOSS program and the Btrust Builders Open‑Source Bootcamp, and serves as a chaperone for the Mastering Bitcoin pathway.

  • Sharon Nkatha, Nairobi, Kenya. Working on Braidpool's mining infrastructure, specifically Stratum V1 reliability and scalability. An alumna of Dada Devs and Btrust Builders, she completed the 2026 BOSS Challenge and is an active member of BitDevs Nairobi.

  • Solomon Eze, Lagos, Nigeria. Working on Cashu wallet infrastructure, primarily Coco, with downstream integration into eNuts. Solomon is a Btrust Builders faculty member. His work connects shared Cashu wallet components with a user‑facing application.

Q3 2026 long‑term grant recipients

  • Rita Anene (@Camilla_rhi), Lagos, Nigeria. Working on LDK Node, a ready‑to‑use Lightning node library. Rita is an active member of BitDevs Lagos and a Btrust Builders pathway chaperone.

  • Ifeanyichukwu Amajuoyi (@AmajuoyiIfeanyi), Lagos, Nigeria. Working on LDK Server: monitoring, Postgres support, unified logging, and API improvements. His work strengthens the operational foundations that make Lightning node infrastructure easier to run and maintain.

  • Ansh Sharma (@AnshSharma54105), India. One of the first developers Btrust has funded outside Africa. Working on Braidpool's performance, scalability, and network resilience for decentralized mining pools.

  • plebhash (@plebhash), Brazil. Working on Stratum V2, the protocol for communication between mining devices, proxies, and pools. Maintaining the specification and reference implementation, improving interoperability, and strengthening production reliability.

  • Leonardo (@_oleonardolima), Brazil. Working on the Bitcoin Development Kit (BDK), maintaining BDK's blockchain data‑source clients alongside developer mentorship. BDK is a collection of libraries and tools that helps developers build Bitcoin wallets.

Why this cohort matters for Africa

Seven of the ten recipients are based in Nigeria and Kenya. Their work spans Bitcoin Core, Lightning (LDK Node, LDK Server, rust‑lightning), mining (Stratum V2, Braidpool, Bitcoin Core's mining interface), wallet libraries (BDK, rust‑bitcoin), and privacy‑preserving payments (Cashu/Coco/eNuts).

Several came through African Bitcoin developer communities: BitDevs Kaduna, BitDevs Lagos, BitDevs Nairobi, Dada Devs, Africa Free Routing's bootcamps, and the Btrust Builders program. The pipeline from local BitDevs meetup to grant‑funded open‑source contributor is becoming a repeatable path.

The three non‑African recipients, in Brazil and India, mark Btrust's expansion from an Africa‑focused organization to one that funds across the Global Majority while keeping its African base. The expansion is carried out in partnership with Vinteum in Brazil and Bitshala in India, two organizations that supported the developers' growth and connected them to local Bitcoin communities.

How to apply

Btrust developer grant applications are open year‑round. Starter grants are for developers ready to contribute full‑time. Long‑term grants are for established contributors prepared for sustained maintenance work. New recipients are announced quarterly.

Sources: Btrust blog (23 September 2026), X announcement, and Global Majority expansion post (16 September 2026).