Nominations are open for the Most Impactful African Bitcoiners 2026 awards, run by African Bitcoiners and sponsored by Trezor Academy. You can nominate people, projects, products, communities, media and mining operations across seven categories until 00:00 GMT on 31 October 2026, using the nomination form.

The awards honor Africans who moved Bitcoin adoption forward this year, from educators and open‑source developers to merchants and miners.

The Seven Award Categories

Three categories are new this year: Builder, Product, and Media Initiative/Personality of the Year.

  1. 21 Most Impactful African Bitcoiners: The flagship list of 21 people who moved Bitcoin adoption forward across Africa this year, including educators, open‑source builders, circular‑economy organizers and community leaders.
  2. Builder of the Year (new): A developer shipping open‑source code, tools and infrastructure that make Bitcoin work better for Africans.
  3. Education Project of the Year: An initiative or program that made a measurable difference to Bitcoin education, access or adoption.
  4. Product of the Year (new): A wallet, app, service or piece of hardware that made Bitcoin easier, safer or more useful for Africans.
  5. Circular Economy of the Year: A community where people earn, save, spend and learn in Bitcoin every day.
  6. Media Initiative/Personality of the Year (new): A podcast, publication, personality, channel or campaign that informed Africans about Bitcoin this year.
  7. Mining Project of the Year: Home miners, teams and industrial operations securing the network while powering local energy and jobs.

How to Nominate

Most Impactful African Bitcoiners 2026: Nominations Open — photo

  1. Pick a category on the nominations page: The form opens with it already selected.
  2. Name the nominee: Add their full name, their country and, if you have one, a link to their work on X, Nostr, GitHub or a website.
  3. Explain their impact: in up to 1,200 characters: what they did this year and who benefited.
  4. Submit with your name and email before 00:00 GMT on 31 October.

The number of nominations doesn't decide the list. African Bitcoiners says its team reviews each nominee's actual contribution, so one strong nomination counts for more than a hundred copies. A strong one says what the person did, where and when, links to proof such as events, code, posts or press coverage, and shows how many people benefited.

Who Made the 2025 List

Last year's list, also sponsored by Trezor Academy, put Abubakar Nur Khalil of Nigeria at number one for his work as Btrust CEO and as a Bitcoin Core contributor. The top five also included Carel van Wyk of MoneyBadger in South Africa, Hermann Vivier of Bitcoin Ekasi in South Africa, Bernard Parah of Bitnob in Nigeria and Janet Maingi of Gridless in Kenya.

The 21 names covered 11 countries, from Senegal and Benin to Burundi and Malawi.

Frequently Asked Questions

When do nominations close?

At 00:00 GMT on 31 October 2026.

Who runs the awards?

African Bitcoiners, a Bitcoin education and adoption platform. Trezor Academy sponsors them.

Do more nominations improve someone's chances?

No. Nominations help the team find people, and the final list is based on each nominee's actual contribution.

What's new in 2026?

Three categories: Builder of the Year, Product of the Year, and Media Initiative/Personality of the Year.

Sources