The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has announced its most recent round of Bitcoin Development Fund grants.
According to the organization, 20 different projects from all over the world have begun to receive 10 BTC (1 billion satoshis), which is about $590,000. The grants focus on Latin America, Asia, and Africa with the operators selected working on issues that advance human rights including:
- Technical education for people living under authoritarian regimes
- Bitcoin development conferences
- Decentralized mining
- Providing human rights groups with private financial solutions
HRF did not disclose the exact amount to be awarded to any of the projects.
Below is a complation of the successful grantees from Africa.
1.) African Bitcoiners
African Bitcoiners, a community that is working on initiatives to onboard Africans to bitcoin. Some of its initiatives identified by HRF include:
- A ‘Bitcoin for Beginners’ course
- Free Lightning payment routing for merchants, and
- The ability to buy airtime and data with Bitcoin
“With the continent plagued by political and economic turmoil, Bitcoin can serve as a path to financial sovereignty. Funding will support the production of educational materials and support operational expenses, including salaries, infrastructure, and tools,” said HRF.
2.) KiveClair
KiveClair is a community in the Democratic Republic of Congo that is educating locals about Bitcoin.
The community, which is led by Gloire Wanzavalere, Co-Founder of the Africa Bitcoin Conference, organizes monthly meetups and training sessions for activists, journalists, and developers, while also providing shelter for refugees. The organization is preparing to host its first local conference.
Funds will cover the cost of meetups, educational materials, equipment purchases, and the rental of an educational space, said HRF.
3.) BTC Shule
This is an educational initiative by Belyï Nobel Kubwayo. It equips Burundians with the knowledge and skills to use Bitcoin for uncensorable payments under Burundi’s authoritarian regime.
According to HRF, the project is structured around three key initiatives:
- A bilingual (Kirundi and French) educational platform
- A physical center to host meetups, and
- A Bitcoin support community via Whatsapp and Telegram
“The grant will support the development of the digital platform, educational materials, and the building of the center.” – HRF
4.) Etta Wallet
Etta Wallet is an open-source, self-custodial mobile Lightning wallet by Collin Rukundo, a software developer and Co-Founder/CTO of Splice Africa.
The wallet is designed to enhance usability and accessibility, aiming to challenge the dominance of custodial wallets and empower individuals in the Global South to gain full control over their funds.
The grant will support further development of the wallet, improve localization efforts, and foster a growing community of users.
The projects from the rest of the world include:
- Stratospher, a Bitcoin Core developer focused on enhancing the privacy and decentralization of the Bitcoin protocol
- Coracle, a Nostr web client designed to create a social media experience that empowers individuals
- Harbor, an open-source ecash wallet built to provide better Bitcoin privacy
- 256 Foundation has a mission to make bitcoin mining more free and open
- Jeff Gardner, a full-time developer focused on bringing end-to-end encryption to Nostr Direct and Group Messages without centralized servers, making them resilient against state intervention
- Silentium, a self-custodial, privacy-focused Bitcoin wallet with built-in Silent Payment
- Rixto Xonghoti, a Bitcoin education initiative led by Anurag Saikia, Basanta Goswami, and Pallab Goswami focused on creating a Bitcoin circular economy in the state of Assam
- Yes Bitcoin Haiti, a grassroots organization led by Val, Papouche, and Armand. It seeks to empower Haitians living in political and financial turmoil with Bitcoin
- Bitcoin Indonesia focuses on building an educational platform in Bahasa Indonesia (local language), expanding the local Bitcoin community, and connecting Indonesian talent with Bitcoin-related companies to drive career opportunities.
- Bitcoin ++, a Bitcoin-only developer conference series organized by software developer and educator Lisa Neigut
- TABConf, a Bitcoin conference hosted by Michael Tidwell in Atlanta, Georgia, United States of America.
- Baltic Honeybadger, the world’s first non-profit, Bitcoin-only conference hosted by Hodl Hodl.
- LaBitconf and Descentralizar, two annual conferences in Argentina.
- SatsConf, the largest Bitcoin-only conference in South America.
- Solidarity Summit: Standing with Political Prisoners, a Vienna-based event organized by Hager Eissa that unites former political prisoners, human rights advocates, and others to address the challenges faced by political prisoners.
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