The Human Rights Foundation (HRF) has announced its most recent round of Bitcoin Development Fund grants.
A total of 700,000,000 satoshis (7 BTC) currently worth $706,000 at the time of writing, is being distributed across 20 projects worldwide, including 3 in Africa.
While the HRF did not reveal the specific amounts awarded to each project, the following 20 initiatives have been selected as recipients of today’s grant round, totaling 7 BTC:
1.) Naiyoma
Naiyoma, the first female Bitcoin Core developer from Africa, is from Kenya and is committed to promoting an open financial system based on transparency, freedom, and fairness.
👩🏿💻 @ANaiyoma is the first female #Bitcoin Core developer from Africa. Her work focuses on reviewing pull requests (PRs), addressing bugs through new PRs & improving Bitcoin Core’s codebase.
The grant will support her full-time contributions to advancing Bitcoin Core.
— Femi Longe (@femilonge) December 19, 2024
Her efforts involve:
- Reviewing pull requests (PRs)
- Resolving bugs by creating new PRs, and
- Enhancing Bitcoin Core’s codebase
The funding will support her full-time work in advancing Bitcoin Core.
2.) Tando
Tando, a new payment application co-founded by Sabina Gitau, empowering 54 million Kenyans to have the option to use Bitcoin for everyday transactions. By integrating with M-PESA, Kenya’s leading mobile payments system, Tando allows users to pay in Bitcoin via a Lightning wallet while merchants receive Kenyan Shillings.
⚡@tando_me, cofounded by @waithiraah, integrates #Bitcoin with Kenya’s M-PESA system, enabling KYC-free, fee-free Lightning payments for everyday transactions for 54 million Kenyans.
The grant will help boost Tando’s liquidity, support user growth & drive African expansion.
— Femi Longe (@femilonge) December 19, 2024
The platform is KYC-free and has no fees, offering an affordable and private payment solution. Funds will help boost Tando’s liquidity, support a growing user base, and drive expansion across the African continent.
3.) African UX Bitcoin Bootcam
African UX Bitcoin Bootcamp, a program that empowers talented Bitcoin UX designers from authoritarian countries, was granted the opportunity to attend the Africa Bitcoin Conference (ABC) for hands-on training and networking.
🎓 African UX Bitcoin Bootcamp, led by @MouxDesign, empowered 10 African UX designers with #Bitcoin UX research skills ahead of the Africa Bitcoin Conference & support to test 5 popular Bitcoin products during the conference
Funds cover all program expenses for participants.
— Femi Longe (@femilonge) December 19, 2024
Led by Bitcoin Design Foundation’s co-founder, Mogashni Naidoo, participants will receive on-ground training and test the usability of their products at ABC. Funds will cover the program expenses, including flights, accommodations, and logistics, ensuring accessibility for all participants.
Recipients from the rest of the world include:
- Krux, open-source software that turns generic devices into hardware wallets for secure Bitcoin self-custody and transactions
- Stratum V2 Reference Implementation (SRI), an open-source software that decentralizes Bitcoin mining by enabling nodes to construct their own block templates.
- Public Pool, a free and open-source mining pool optimized for low hash rate devices (a mining device with limited computational power).
- Daniela Brozzoni, an experienced software developer.
- UX/UI Design for Bitcoin Core, redesign work by product designer Michael Haase that aims to bring the Bitcoin Core App to mobile devices (making it accessible beyond desktop use).
- No BS Bitcoin, a newsdesk delivering the latest Bitcoin news and updates on open-source technologies in a clear and accessible format.
- YakiHonne, a client for the decentralized Nostr protocol built by a team in East and Southeast Asia.
- SeedSigner Multi-language Support, a translation project by developer Ace to integrate multi-language functionality into the fully customizable, open-source SeedSigner hardware wallet.
- Vexl, a peer-to-peer Bitcoin trading application founded by Lea Petrasova to provide users with a private and Know-Your-Customer (KYC) free Bitcoin experience.
- Tomatech, a community focused on building a team of developers in India to advance Bitcoin infrastructure and Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) projects.
- Iris, a Nostr web client created by developer Martti Malmi designed to make private and secure messaging simpler and safer.
- Bitcoin History, a research project by Pete Rizzo dedicated to documenting and preserving key people, events, and materials (ie. photographs, videos, links, information) that shaped Bitcoin’s rise as a global monetary and human rights force.
- Cashu-ts, the primary Software Development Kit (SDK) in the Cashu ecosystem developed by Gandlaf21.
- Unify, a Payjoin wallet developed by Fontaine to enhance privacy in Bitcoin transactions.
- The Financial Freedom Policy Coalition, a policy coalition founded by Venezuelan activist, Jorge Jraissat
- Jon Atack, a Bitcoin Core contributor and Bitcoin Improvement Proposal (BIP) editor, recognized as one of the top all-time contributors to Bitcoin Core.
- Brink, an organization committed to strengthening the Bitcoin protocol through research and development.
The HRF continues to raise support for the Bitcoin Development Fund, and interested donors can find more info on how to donate here.
Applications for grant support by the HRF can be submitted here.
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