Skip links

Galoy Newsletter #8: Report from Central African Republic, Bitcoin Beach Wallet’s new look, btc++

Central African Republic delegation shares recommendations for Bitcoin adoption

A group of French-speaking Bitcoiners traveled to the Central African Republic to learn about the country’s adoption efforts and offer their expertise. Learn about the delegation’s recommendations in Bitcoin Magazine, listen to Nicolas Burtey on Stephan Livera Pod and check out the recap video below:

Bitcoin Beach Wallet’s new look!

The Bitcoin Beach Wallet has evolved from a localized proof of concept into the Lightning wallet of choice for communities from Guatemala to Peru. BBW is now a company with its own team, a new website and a fresh look:

Adopting Bitcoin – speakers announced

The high-signal Lightning Summit is coming back to El Salvador in November. Tickets are available, call for participation is open and initial speaker lineup has been posted to the conference website.

BTC++ hackathon recap 

The Austin Bitcoin scene is continuing to drive FOMO across the states. This month, Pleb lab and Base 58 partnered to host btc++, a four-day conference and hackathon focused on Bitcoin and Lightning development. Andrew sat down with Kyle, Sam and Nick to recap the hackathon and hear about the Austin Bitcoin scene: 

View the full hackathon recap on Thriller Bitcoin

The bear market is here – some quick reminders

The macro and crypto downturn over the past month has put the world on edge. Downstream effects from the LUNA collapse and 3AC financial troubles are still emerging and the Bank of Japan is struggling to keep a lid on interest rates. Multiple crypto companies are laying off up to 20% of staff, and BlockFi has received a lifeline from FTX. Apparently gold isn’t even scarce anymore

We have little to say that hasn’t already been said, so we’ll resurfaces some reminders: 

  • Bitcoin is the only truly decentralized money
  • Know when and how to self-custody
  • Don’t lend bitcoin you can’t lose 
  • Bear markets are for building (PS: Bitcoin companies are hiring)

Galoy hires three recent grads from the Qala developer program

Qala is a program designed to train the next generation of African Bitcoin and Lightning developers. Thirteen fellows were chosen from  800 candidates to take part in the demanding program.

Bitcoin communities driving bottom-up adoption 

Price charts are noise on the path to hyperbitcoinization. For signal, turn your attention to the people making Bitcoin adoption happen one person at a time in all corners of the world:

Praia Bitcoin: Bitcoin fixes computer labs 

Jericoacoara, Brazil is a remote destination named one of the Top 10 most beautiful beaches in the world by Washington Post. But despite being a popular destination for adventure seekers, the local economy is poor and disconnected from the financial system. Fernando, founder of Praia Bitcoin, recently found a new way to give back by helping rebuild a computer lab for a local school. Hear about the project and his vision to introduce Bitcoin education to 400 students in Jeri, and send sats to help fund the efforts.

Bitcoin Lake: Building solutions for merchants

If you haven’t been following the Bitcoin Lake project, it’s time to start paying attention. Not only is the community onboarding merchants to the Bitcoin Beach Wallet day in and day out, they’ve also started developing software to solve friction points for local users. Currently, BBW doesn’t allow users to select their display currency. So FaBu helped create a simple POS app enabling customers to create Lightning invoices using any currency as unit of account. Try it: send some sats to FaBu: https://pagar.bitcoinlake.io/fabu

Bitcoin Ekasi publishes “What is Bitcoin?” explainer in multiple languages

The Bitcoin surf community in Mossel Bay, South Africa is continuing to make big moves. They have set up a Lightning Node, started building an education center, produced merch and now have released a video to help locals understand Bitcoin in their native languages. 

A playbook for hosting a pop-up Bitcoin event

When building new communities or introducing new folks to bitcoin, the question that pops up is always how best to do this. The challenge is usually that bitcoin isn’t as intuitive for the average person, and at times can even come across as intimidating for folks who have received a lot of mixed information in the past. The idea Galoy engineer Arvin came to was to throw a pop-up event where the draw would be a fun hangout with good food/drinks and interesting folks. 

Government and country-level updates

Newly elected Colombian president Gustavo Petro rumored to look favorably on Bitcoin

In a 2017 tweet, Petro had stated “Bitcoin removes the power of emission from the states and the seigniorage of the currency from the banks.” During the beginning of the Covid crisis, however, Petro cited notorious Bitcoin critic Paul Krugman, pointing out that money printing had no impact on inflation. Time will tell how Colombia’s first leftist President in decades will approach Bitcoin.

Brazilian congressman sees Bitcoin as a tool for freedom and prosperity

In contrast to Petro, Brazilian MP Fábio Ostermann’s comments on Bitcoin were less ambiguous, expressing his belief that “technology will set us free” at a recent episode of Brazilian Bitcoin podcast “bitcoinheiros”. Brazil has experienced severe inflation, and occasional moments of hyperinflation in the past. Brazilians are used to not trusting money issued by the government, which may be a major reason for bitcoin’s popularity in the country.

Join the conversation

Whether you’re an engineer, a community leader or a pleb looking to participate in open source projects, you are welcome to join us in building the future of open source Bitcoin banking. Find us on the following channels: 

Look forward to hearing from you, and see you next month!

Header photo credit: @SebGouspillou