{"id":509,"date":"2024-08-16T17:41:23","date_gmt":"2024-08-16T17:41:23","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/ci02e521b9e0002533"},"modified":"2024-08-16T17:41:23","modified_gmt":"2024-08-16T17:41:23","slug":"bitcoin-non-profit-trust-announces-q3-grants-for-open-source-developers","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/business\/bitcoin-non-profit-trust-announces-q3-grants-for-open-source-developers","title":{"rendered":"Bitcoin Non-Profit \u20bftrust Announces Q3 Grants For Open-Source Developers"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"bsf_rt_marker\"><\/div><p><a href=\"https:\/\/x.com\/btrustteam\">\u20bftrust<\/a>, an initiative committed to supporting open-source Bitcoin developers based in the Global South, has announced the recipients of its Q3 Starter Grants and the new members of its \u20bftrust Open-Source Cohort.<\/p>\n<blockquote class=\"twitter-tweet\" data-width=\"550\" data-dnt=\"true\">\n<p lang=\"en\" dir=\"ltr\">1\/ \ud83d\udce2 Announcing the \u20bftrust Q3 Grants!<\/p>\n<p>We&#39;re excited to announce the recipients of our Q3, 2024 \u20bftrust Starter Grants and the Open-Source Cohort Members! \ud83d\ude80<\/p>\n<p>A key part of our mission of empowering talented Global South devs to contribute to Bitcoin&#39;s open-source ecosystem. <a href=\"https:\/\/t.co\/FnlgPGJoHu\">pic.twitter.com\/FnlgPGJoHu<\/a><\/p>\n<p>&mdash; Btrust (@btrustteam) <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/btrustteam\/status\/1824500622248284549?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">August 16, 2024<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n<p><script async src=\"https:\/\/platform.twitter.com\/widgets.js\" charset=\"utf-8\"><\/script><\/p>\n<p>The Starter Grants, which provide full-time funding to Bitcoin software engineers, are a sign of \u20bftrust\u2019s dedication to expanding the number of open-source Bitcoin contributors from regions such as Africa, India, MENA, Southeast Asia and Latin America.<\/p>\n<p>Each recipient receives six months of support, including a stipend paid in bitcoin, technical guidance and support in developing proposals to to join the \u20bftrust Open-Source Cohort with long-term funding.<\/p>\n<h2>Why \u20bftrust Starter Grants Matter<\/h2>\n<p>\u20bftrust Starter Grants provide financial stability to talented open source developers, which helps them focus on their work without financial stress. They also provide mentorship and support aimed to help the developers establish long-term, sustainable careers in the Bitcoin space.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;Through these grants, we can tangibly contribute to decentralizing Bitcoin open source development by introducing these developers with diverse perspectives to strengthen the resilience of the Bitcoin network,&#8221; said <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/business\/jay-z-and-jack-dorsey-backed-bitcoin-non-profit-trust-appoints-bitcoin-core-developer-as-interim-ceo\">\u20bftrust Interim CEO Abubakar Nur Khalil<\/a> in a press release shared with Bitcoin Magazine.<\/p>\n<p>The Starter Grants also provide a pathway to the \u20bftrust Open-Source Cohort. Developers in the \u20bftrust Open-Source Cohort receive mentorship, professional development and extended financial support while contributing to open-source initiatives.<\/p>\n<p>&#8220;The intention is to make grantees&#8217; Bitcoin open-source careers sustainable, and in addition to the long-term financial support we provide, create a supportive environment for them to thrive and feel a larger sense of community,&#8221; said Nur Khalil.<\/p>\n<h2>Starter Grant Recipients<\/h2>\n<p>The recipients of Q3 2024 Starter Grants are as follows:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Enigbe Ochekliye<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/enigbe\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Ochekliye<\/a> has over two years of experience in backend engineering and has worked on projects including <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/technical\/galoy-brings-us-dollars-to-bitcoin\">Galoy\u2019s Stablesats<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/www.easepay.io\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Easepay<\/a>\u2019s payment service provider (PSP).<\/p>\n<p>Ochekliye will contribute to The <a href=\"https:\/\/lightningdevkit.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Lightning Development Kit<\/a>\u2019s <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/lightningdevkit\/rust-lightning\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">rust-lightning<\/a> through this grant. She will also work to improve the onboarding process for new contributors to Bitcoin open source projects.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/enigbe.jpg\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Tobechi Chukwuleta<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/TChukwuleta\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Chukwuleta<\/a> is a highly-experienced backend developer with a background in data analysis. He has also been instrumental in enhancing <a href=\"https:\/\/btcpayserver.org\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">BTCPay Server<\/a> functionality, especially as it pertains to the system\u2019s multisig capabilities and plugin development.<\/p>\n<p>The funds from his Starter Grant will support him as he continues to advance BTCPay Server\u2019s store functionality as well as the platform\u2019s modularity.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/tobechi.jpg\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Kelvin Isievwore<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/kelvinator07\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Isievwore<\/a> is currently contributing to Bitcoin open source projects such as <a href=\"https:\/\/lightningpolar.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Polar<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/lightningnetwork\/lnd\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">LND<\/a>. While working under the Starter Grant, Isievwore will focus on streamlining the testing and development process for engineers building on <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/guides\/lightning-network\">Lightning<\/a>.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/kelvin.jpg\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<h2>New Members Of The Open-Source Cohort<\/h2>\n<p>The new members of the \u20bftrust Open-Source Cohort are as follows:<\/p>\n<p><strong>Abubakar Sadiq Ismail<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/ismaelsadeeq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Sadiq Ismail<\/a> is a Nigerian Bitcoin Core contributor who is actively involved in optimizing the Bitcoin protocol. He works on critical areas of Bitcoin Core such as long-term fee estimation and transaction analysis.<\/p>\n<p>Sadiq Ismail\u2019s work on <a href=\"https:\/\/hackmd.io\/@kEyqkad6QderjWKtcBF5Hg\/cChallengies-with-estimating-transaction-fees\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Mempool fee estimation analysis<\/a> showcases his technical abilities, which helps to improve the scalability and usability of Bitcoin. While a part of the cohort, he will continue this work, as he refines his abilities to contribute to the Bitcoin ecosystem.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/abubakar.jpg\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Duncan Dean<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/dunxen\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Dean<\/a> is a Lightning contributor from South Africa. He has been deeply involved with developing the highly-modular Lightning library, rust-lightning.<\/p>\n<p>Dean also actively participates in projects like <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/lightningdevkit\/ldk-review-club\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">ldk-review-club<\/a> and <a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/lndk-org\/lndk\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">lndk<\/a>, where he has contributed to improving continuous integration (CI) actions and helped maintain the robustness of the codebase. While in the cohort, Dean aims to strengthen his abilities to contribute to Bitcoin and Lightning.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/duncan.jpg\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<p><strong>Oghenovo Usiwoma<\/strong><\/p>\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/github.com\/Eunovo\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Usiwoma<\/a> is a Bitcoin Core contributor based in Nigeria who has been with \u20bftrust since 2023. Under the \u20bftrust Starter Grant he focused on advancing <a href=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/technical\/bitcoins-privacy-just-got-better-with-silent-payments\">Silent Payments<\/a> functionality.<\/p>\n<p>As part of the \u20bftrust Open-Source Cohort, he will work on introducing new key formats and descriptors for Silent Payments in Bitcoin Core, continuing his work of enhancing the privacy and scalability features of Bitcoin.<\/p>\n<figure><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/novo.jpg\" title=\"\"><\/figure>\n<h2>Applying For A \u20bftrust Grant<\/h2>\n<p>Developers based in Africa, India, the MENA region, Southeast Asia and Latin America can apply for \u20bftrust grants.<\/p>\n<p>Developers in other regions of the Global South will also be considered for grants on a case-by-case basis, predominantly based on their proof of work in the Bitcoin space.<\/p>\n<p>Apply for a \u20bftrust Starter Grant via <a href=\"https:\/\/btrust.homerun.co\/starter-grants\/en\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">this \u20bftrust link<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey-backed organization shares the list of recipients for its latest round of Starter Grants as well as the newest members of its Open-Source Cohort.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2510,"featured_media":516,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[84,245,374,372,373,93,278,376,375],"class_list":{"0":"post-509","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-business","8":"tag-africa","9":"tag-developers","10":"tag-global-south","11":"tag-latin-america","12":"tag-mena","13":"tag-news","14":"tag-non-profits","15":"tag-nonprofit","16":"tag-southeast-asia"},"author_data":{"id":2510,"name":"Frank Corva","nicename":"frank-corva","avatar_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/03\/Frank_Corva-1.jpg"},"featured_image_url":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/11\/img_6237.png","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2510"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=509"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/509\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/516"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=509"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=509"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bitcoinmagazine.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=509"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}