Exonumia's Bitcoin Glossary in Kikuyu, Swahili and Somali

In July, Linda Kariuki, founder of Bitsavers EduHub, posted from day two of a sprint to translate a Bitcoin glossary into Kikuyu. On October 26, the result went public. Exonumia Africa launched glossary.exonumia.africa, a free list of 359 Bitcoin, Lightning and mobile money terms in Gĩkũyũ, Kiswahili and Soomaali.

In Kiswahili, a wallet is a pochi, the everyday word for a purse. In Gĩkũyũ, it is a mondo. Exonumia calls the glossary "a shared vocabulary you can build on so Bitcoin education and products can speak to people in their own language."

Here's what's in it, how native speakers agree on each term and how teams can use it.

What's in Exonumia's Bitcoin Glossary

The glossary's 14 categories range from wallets and security to Lightning, mobile money and SeedSigner, a do‑it‑yourself signing device. English is the source language, and the project's files hold an entry for all 359 terms in each of the three African languages.

Each entry gives a definition and usage notes. Users can search terms, filter by language or category and compare languages side by side. A private key, for example, is cabi ya hitho in Gĩkũyũ, funguo za faragha in Kiswahili and fura sir ah in Soomaali.

The project calls the translations community contributions that "remain a work in progress."

How Native Speakers Agree on Each Bitcoin Term

Every term goes through four steps, the site says. Native speakers propose a word that carries the concept's real meaning rather than a literal swap. Other native speakers review it. Contributors then agree on the term that communicates best, and the entry gets a definition and usage notes for product teams.

The work is split by role. Translators propose and refine terms, localisation specialists handle tone and regional fit, Bitcoin contributors check technical accuracy and community reviewers check every entry.

How Teams Can Use the Glossary and Contribute

The glossary is built for teams making wallets, apps and courses who want the same words across every screen and lesson. The site also suggests giving glossary terms to AI tools as context when translating product copy, so the output matches the agreed wording.

Anyone can sign up as a translator or request a new language through forms on the site. The code is open under an MIT license on GitHub, where the project credits a collective of translators, Localization Lab, the Human Rights Foundation and Exonumia.

Who Is Behind Exonumia Africa

Exonumia Africa is a South African non‑profit that Kgothatso Ngako started in 2019 and registered in 2021. It translates Bitcoin literature, including the Bitcoin whitepaper, and says it manages translations across more than 21 languages. In September it launched Mantra, an encrypted tool for groups translating together.

Kg also founded Machankura, whose Bennu group wallet launched the day before the glossary. On the first day of the Kikuyu sprint, he explained the name to the translators, Kariuki posted: exonumia means numismatics beyond government‑issued coins and paper currency.