Btrust, the Bitcoin development nonprofit funded by a 500 BTC donation from Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z in 2021, has appointed a new Board of Directors. Janet Maingi, Bruno Garcia, and Laurence Aderemi will now guide grantmaking and oversee the Btrust Builders Programme, replacing the inaugural board that included Obi Nwosu, Ojoma Ochai, Carla Kirk-Cohen, and Abubakar Nur Khalil. The transition, which concluded April 30, 2026, fulfills the founders' original mandate to eventually step back from governance.
The selection process
The new board emerged from a global open call and a multi-stage selection process. Btrust says the process was guided by its Genesis Principles — the same framework that shaped the organization's mission since Dorsey and Jay-Z donated roughly $24.5 million in Bitcoin back in 2021. The move was always part of the plan: the founders wanted to seed the entity and then let it run independently.
Who's on the board now
Janet Maingi brings a background in African tech policy and open-source communities. Bruno Garcia has deep roots in Latin American Bitcoin education and grassroots adoption. Laurence Aderemi is a Nigerian software engineer and Bitcoin core contributor. Their geographic and skill diversity isn't accidental — Btrust has signaled expansion into Latin America, and the board's composition reflects that ambition. Abubakar Nur Khalil, who was formally named CEO in late 2025 after serving as interim chief, is now leading day-to-day operations.
What Btrust does now
Beyond grantmaking, Btrust runs the Btrust Builders Programme — a developer training initiative it acquired in 2023 when it bought Qala, a Bitcoin and Lightning Network training firm. The programme targets developers in Africa and India, but with the new board, the org is eyeing underrepresented developer communities worldwide. Latin America is the next frontier. The board will also strengthen oversight of the Builders Programme and sharpen the grantmaking strategy.
The board is expected to meet in the coming months to set priorities for the next grant cycle. Btrust hasn't announced a timeline for its Latin America expansion, but the new directors' regional expertise suggests moves could come before the end of 2026. The big unresolved question: how much of the original 500 BTC remains in the treasury, and how the new board will deploy it.
