₿trust Bitcoin nonprofit backed by Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey names a core Bitcoin developer as interim CEO

₿trust, a non-profit organization focused on training and funding developers in The Global South for open-source Bitcoin development, recently announced a Bitcoin Core contributor and one of its board members, Abubakar Nur Khalil, as interim CEO.

1/ 📢 Exciting news from ₿trust!

We are pleased to announce that Abubakar Nur Khalil (@ihate1999), Nigerian Bitcoin Core contributor and current board member, has been named interim CEO of ₿trust pic.twitter.com/km5iYQU6Pe

— Btrust (@btrustteam) August 8, 2024

The nonprofit was founded in 2021 and received initial funding from Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey. Since then, it has developed an ever-expanding network of Bitcoin developers in Africa, Latin America and India.

₿trust has trained hundreds of developers, including some working on projects like the Satoshi Library and Bitshala, launched BitDev meetups in five African cities, and held annual events like the African Bitcoin Conference.

Nur Khalil will serve as interim CEO for one year, beginning in August 2024. During this time, he will retain his seat on the board and serve as a non-voting member.

This role should be familiar to Nur Khalil, as he founded the organization, which was originally called Qala, before ₿trust acquired and renamed it.

Other ₿trust board members expressed their confidence that Nur Khalil will be an excellent leader for the organization given his experience as a developer, the fact that he is a resident of the Global South (Nigeria) and is one of the leading voices in African Bitcoin . ecosystem.

“Since I first met him, Abubakar has been single-mindedly focused on supporting the advancement of Bitcoin and open-source development in Africa, the Global South and beyond,” said ₿trust founding board member and CEO Fedi Obi Nwosu. “I am grateful that he has accepted the challenge of leading the ₿trust at this early formative stage and am excited to see what he will achieve in this role.”

As interim CEO, Nur Khalil will focus on growing the ₿trust’s pipeline of developers, increasing the number of grants the institution distributes, and enhancing its developer program to continue its mission to decentralize the development of Bitcoin open- source.

“I am truly grateful for the board’s trust to take on this role in the coming year,” said Nur Khalil. “I look forward to building on our initiatives, ensuring that ₿trust is cemented as the main driving force behind Bitcoin development in Africa. and cultivating a unique Bitcoin FOSS ecosystem in the regions we serve.”