Jay-Z and Jack Dorsey-Backed Bitcoin Non-Profit ₿trust Appoints Bitcoin Core Developer As Interim CEO

TrustA non-profit organization focused on training and funding developers from the Global South to develop open source Bitcoin recently announced a Bitcoin Core contributor and board member, Abu Bakr Nour Khalilas interim CEO.

1/ 📢 Exciting news from ₿trust!

We are pleased to announce that Abu Bakr Nour Khalil (@ihate1999), a Nigerian Bitcoin Core contributor and current board member, has been appointed as 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 nurtured an ever-expanding network of Bitcoin developers in Africa, Latin America, and India.

₿trust has trained hundreds of developers including some who work on projects like: Satoshi Library And PishtalaBitDevs meetups have been launched in five African cities and support annual events such as African Bitcoin Conference.

Nour Khalil will serve as Interim CEO for one year, effective August 2024. During this period, he will retain his seat on the Board of Directors and serve as a non-voting member.

This role will likely be familiar to Nour Khalil, as he founded the organization, which was originally called Qala, before it was acquired and renamed by Trust.

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

“Since I first met him, Abubakar has been resolutely focused on supporting the advancement of Bitcoin and open source development in Africa, the Global South and beyond,” said ₿trust Board Member, Founder and CEO. And covers Obi Nwosu. “I am grateful that he has taken on the challenge of leading ₿trust during this early formative phase, and I am excited to see what he will achieve in this role.”

As interim CEO, Nour Khalil will focus on growing ₿trust’s developer pipeline, increasing the number of grants the foundation distributes, and improving its developer program to advance its mission of decentralizing open source Bitcoin development.

“I am truly grateful for the Board’s trust in me to take on this role over the next year,” said Nour Khalil. “I look forward to growing our initiatives, ensuring that ₿trust establishes itself as the primary driving force behind Bitcoin development in Africa, and cultivating a unique Bitcoin FOSS ecosystem in the regions we serve.”