Bitcoin-focused nonprofit Btrust has appointed Abubakar Nur Khalil, a Nigerian software engineer and Bitcoin Core contributor, as its first Chief Executive Officer. His appointment marks a new chapter for the organisation as it begins expanding its open-source Bitcoin development efforts across Africa and beyond.
Abubakar Nur Khalil, aged 25, is one of the youngest developers working on Bitcoin infrastructure globally. Before his new appointment, he served as interim CEO and a non-voting board member at Btrust. Over the past few years, he has become one of the most visible voices driving Bitcoin education and developer capacity building in Africa.
Btrust was established with a 500 BTC endowment, valued at over $30 million at the time of its launch, with a vision to decentralise Bitcoin development and make it more inclusive. The organisation provides funding, mentorship, and technical support to engineers building Bitcoin-related tools and applications in underrepresented regions.
Under Khalil’s leadership, Btrust plans to deepen its investment in developer training through Btrust Builders, an initiative he co-founded to mentor African engineers building on Bitcoin and the Lightning Network. The program has already supported dozens of developers and organised educational workshops across Nigeria, Ghana, and Kenya.
In addition to training, Btrust funds open-source contributions and community events such as BitDevs meetups, hackathons, and workshops that encourage collaboration among Bitcoin developers. Since its inception, the nonprofit has distributed more than $1.7 million in grants and partnered with organisations such as Tether, OpenSATS, and African Bitcoiners to expand technical capacity on the continent.
Khalil’s appointment is seen as a natural next step for the organisation, reinforcing its commitment to nurturing homegrown Bitcoin talent and strengthening Africa’s role in the global crypto ecosystem. With his experience as both a developer and community leader, Khalil is expected to guide Btrust into its next phase of growth, focusing on education, inclusion, and sustainable innovation in Bitcoin development.
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