Crypto News
5 Ways Bitcoin Mining Benefits Ethiopia

Ethiopia is emerging as Africa’s most promising bitcoin mining hub, poised to claim a significant share of the global hashrate as the hum of miners reverberates across the globe.
– Jaran Mellerud & Kal Kassa
Recent attention from a Bloomberg article and the announcement of a bitcoin mining investment by the Ethiopian Government signals a newfound global spotlight on the Ethiopian bitcoin mining sector.
The potential of Ethiopia as a bitcoin mining hub resides in the promise of a mutually beneficial relationship between the nation and the industry. In this article, we delve into the transformative power of bitcoin mining to uplift Ethiopian society, unveiling five compelling avenues for prosperity in this East African gem.
Bitcoin mining monetizes Ethiopia’s surplus electricity
Bitcoin mining allows Ethiopia to transform excess electricity into a valuable commodity, fostering economic growth while maximizing the utilization of its abundant hydropower reserves.
Ethiopia’s allure for bitcoin miners is undeniably anchored in its abundant hydropower resources. Nestled within the country’s mountainous terrain lies the source of the Blue Nile, accounting for a staggering 85% of the Nile’s water. This abundant water wealth translates into the immense potential for hydropower generation, making Ethiopia a prime destination for electricity-intensive industries like bitcoin mining.
Kal Kassa, Bitcoin Educator at BitcoinBirr and Alen Makhmetov, CoFounder of Hashlabs Mining at “Exporting energy through the internet” a Hashlabs Mining event in Addis Ababa
With the potential to harness an estimated 60 GW of hydropower, geothermal, wind, and solar, Ethiopia stands as a powerhouse that could theoretically become capable of generating more than three times the electricity consumed by the entire bitcoin mining network. Presently, the nation has tapped into a fraction of this potential, having an electricity generation capacity of 5.3 GW.
Assuming a capacity factor of 40%, Ethiopia’s current electricity generation capacity translates to a potential of 18.6 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year under normal rainfall conditions. Comparatively, in 2022, the country’s electricity consumption amounted to only 14.7 TWh, leaving approximately 20% of the electricity generation potential unutilized. This number will be even higher during particularly wet years.
As if Ethiopia’s electricity surplus wasn’t already substantial, the nation is on the brink of nearly doubling its generation capacity with the commissioning of The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. This awe-inspiring project will claim the title of Africa’s largest hydropower plant, boasting an impressive nameplate capacity of 6.5 GW.
With an anticipated capacity factor of 29%, sustained by the continuous influx of water to the dam, the power plant is projected to yield approximately 16.5 terawatt-hours (TWh) of electricity annually. This output is equal to 10% of the consumption of the Bitcoin mining network, underscoring Ethiopia’s potential to become a dominant force in both energy production and bitcoin mining.
The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam
The forthcoming Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam’s anticipated 16.5 TWh of electricity production will propel Ethiopia’s total potential generation to a staggering 35.1 TWh annually under typical rainfall conditions. With current consumption at 14.7 TWh, the surplus electricity generation will amount to an impressive 20.4 TWh, corresponding to a percentage electricity surplus of 58%.
Ethiopia is one of the world’s fastest-growing economies and is set to see a surge in electricity demand, necessitating the expansion of its hydropower infrastructure. However, the non-modular nature of hydropower plants often leads to overbuilt capacity, resulting in surplus generation until demand catches up.
The flexibility inherent in bitcoin mining makes it the perfect match for Ethiopia’s surplus electricity, offering a means to monetize until residential, commercial, and industrial consumption catches up. Once demand increases, miners can adapt by relocating or contributing to the financing of new power plants.
Without Bitcoin mining, Ethiopia faces the prospect of significant electricity wastage until demand aligns. By seizing the opportunity to leverage its abundant energy resources, Ethiopia positions itself for sustained economic growth, with initiatives like Bitcoin mining serving as a catalyst for optimizing resource utilization and driving prosperity.
Bitcoin mining increases Ethiopia’s exports and access to foreign currency
Ethiopia grapples with a daunting challenge: a staggering trade deficit. With more dollars flowing out than in, the nation faces mounting difficulties in importing vital goods and services. Compounded by a struggling currency, ironically named the Birr, Ethiopia’s citizens are vulnerable to soaring inflation rates.
In 2022, Ethiopia imported $23 billion worth of products and services while exporting just $11 billion, leaving a cavernous trade deficit of $12 billion. This deficit is straining the nation’s ability to meet debt obligations, showcased by the ongoing negotiations with the International Monetary Fund (IMF) for a potential bailout.
Luckily, Ethiopia’s abundant electricity surplus presents a promising opportunity for foreign currency generation through exports. However, traditional avenues like selling electricity to neighboring countries have been limited due to low demand and weak economies in the region, yielding modest returns of around $70 million annually.
Enter Bitcoin mining, a revolutionary solution that transcends geographical constraints by allowing electricity to be converted directly into digital currency. With minimal investment in transmission infrastructure, Ethiopia can tap into the global Bitcoin network as a lucrative consumer of its surplus energy.
Jaran Mellerud, Alen Makhmetov, and Marek Šafárik, Cofounders of Hashlabs Mining
By embracing Bitcoin mining, Ethiopia diversifies its export income and reduces reliance on neighboring countries for electricity sales. With the ability to export electricity through the Internet, the nation gains a stronger negotiating position and can demand higher prices for its exported power.
In a recent interview with Bloomberg, Yodahe A. Zemichael of the Information Network Security Administration (INSA) highlighted the government’s motivation of legalizing the bitcoin mining industry, citing that companies pay in foreign currency for the electricity they consume in data center operations.
Considering the official bitcoin mining tariff of $0.0314/kWh, Ethiopia stands to generate a substantial export income of $640 million if it sells all its excess electricity to Bitcoin miners. Furthermore, by self-mining with the most efficient machines available, the country could potentially yield an export income of $3.9 billion, making Bitcoin mining a transformative force in Ethiopia’s economy and potentially its largest export industry. This tantalizing prospect underscores the transformative potential of Bitcoin mining for Ethiopia’s economic landscape.
Indeed, it’s prudent to adjust our expectations to account for real-world factors such as the Bitcoin halving and Ethiopia’s likely utilization of a portion of its electricity surplus for other purposes. A more realistic estimate of Ethiopia’s export income from Bitcoin mining would likely fall somewhere between $640 million and $3.9 billion, settling in the middle at around $2.3 billion.This figure still positions Bitcoin mining as the largest export industry in Ethiopia, representing a significant economic opportunity for the nation.
A $2.3 billion boost in export income would indeed wield transformative power for the Ethiopian economy, providing a vital injection of foreign currency to strengthen the national currency and facilitate easier access to essential imports. Moreover, reducing dependency on foreign lenders would enhance Ethiopia’s sovereignty and bolster its economic resilience.
At this pivotal moment, Ethiopia faces the imperative of addressing its trade imbalance and charting a course for economic prosperity. Embracing bitcoin mining as a means to export surplus electricity through the internet offers a groundbreaking opportunity to unlock Ethiopia’s economic potential.
Indeed, it could represent the greatest economic opportunity of this generation for the country.
Bitcoin miners can build out electrical infrastructure in Ethiopia
The challenge of electrification in Ethiopia is stark: only 54% of the population currently has access to electricity, with rural areas significantly lagging behind urban centers. While cities boast a 94% electrification rate, rural areas struggle at just 43%. The Ethiopian Government has set an ambitious goal of achieving near-universal electrification by 2030, but this endeavor faces significant hurdles.
The electrification challenge in Ethiopia, particularly in rural areas, underscores the urgent need for innovative solutions. While the country boasts significant electricity generation capacity, the main hurdle lies in transmitting and distributing this energy to remote communities.
Bitcoin miners offer a potential solution by financing and constructing substations in rural areas with surplus electricity, such as those near The Grand Ethiopian Renaissance Dam. These substations could serve not only miners but also nearby residents, potentially providing electricity to entire towns.
A substation in Africa
This approach, akin to efforts by Gridless in Kenya, could complement Ethiopia’s goal of near-universal electrification by 2030. Unlike in Kenya, where Gridless focuses on building power plants with bitcoin mining as an anchor customer, Ethiopia already has sufficient power plants. Thus, Ethiopian miners could focus on building out substations to improve the population’s access to electricity.
Moreover, the increased revenue from selling electricity to miners could enable Ethiopia to invest in new electrical infrastructure, including substations, transmission lines, and distribution networks. As a result, bitcoin miners could indirectly finance the expansion of electrical infrastructure in Ethiopia, contributing to electrification for Ethiopians and fostering socio-economic development nationwide.
Bitcoin mining brings tech jobs to Ethiopia
Ethiopia, boasting the second-largest population in Africa with 122 million inhabitants, predominantly comprises a youthful demographic. Regrettably, the nation faces a significant challenge of high unemployment rates among its youth.
Introducing the bitcoin mining industry could potentially provide avenues for accessing tech jobs, not limited to mining facilities but also encompassing the broader bitcoin economy poised to develop alongside the foundational growth of the bitcoin mining industry.
Bitcoin mining will bring a significant amount of jobs to Ethiopians across many talents and skills. On this, Advisor at Hashlabs Mining Ethiopia, Kal Kassa says:
“500 jobs per bitcoin miner is a high goal to meet and I doubt this rumor we’ve been hearing is an honest reflection of the government’s intent to regulate and add thresholds to investment. That being said, facilities with investment over $100 million are very likely to require more than 500 personnel, contractors, vendors, and local suppliers. In fact, we see more than double that in interest from technicians and electrical engineers. Training and certifying skilled talent will be a pillar of our objectives in Ethiopia and I have no doubt we will inspire a generation forward.”
Additionally, Hashlabs Mining has sponsored the onboarding of hundreds of wallets at ALX Ethiopia, DevFest’24, and the Information Network Security Administration (INSA) in keeping with this vision.
Kal Kassa with Elias Abebe, COO of Hello Solar Technology PLC
Kassa continues, “For programmers and devs building, I urge them to build a profile and open a free lightning wallet with sost.tech and similar initiatives to get paid in bitcoin. BTrust Builders may also be a solid destination for experienced computer engineers and enthusiasts. Hashlabs Mining Ethiopia, and various additional sponsors, will be supporting these educational and vocational efforts via the funded Hashlabs Education Fund and BitcoinBirr.”
BitcoinBirr, a community of educators and innovators, boasts a strong vision for providing bitcoin learning materials across several languages and regions. Telegram is the most popular platform for communication among its mods and members. Most recently Kal Kassa gave a presentation titled “Mining Bitcoin of the Nile River” at Bitcoin Oasis in Dubai. In the next few weeks, and with sponsors from across the world, BitcoinBirr would like to complete the bitcoin training of all 2,000 staff at INSA, in addition to other institutions and organizations that have requested bitcoin education.
Beyond hackathons and presentations, Hashlabs Mining is committed to the training of talent in tech. Private sector leaders like Mehrteab Leul and Associates (MLA), Yingke Consultants, Grant Thornton Advisory, MMCY Tech, Boseti Energy Exploration, Meedo Records, HabeshaView, Flawless Events, Education Matters Addis, Tryst Cafe, Ethiopian Airlines and Sheraton Addis are highly appreciated and we honor your friendship during our work in Ethiopia.
Ethiopia can leverage mining to build a bitcoin treasury
The Ethiopian Investment Holdings (EIH), the country’s sovereign wealth fund, has been rumored to partner with a Chinese bitcoin and data mining group. As per a LinkedIn post shared by EIH’s official account, we understand the project will consist of a multi-million dollar investment.
Jaran Mellerud, Cofounder of Hashlabs Mining at an event in Addis Ababa
Given the natural series of events that occur with bitcoin miners, the accumulation of bitcoin may be a way for Ethiopia’s treasury to maintain a balance of BTC on behalf of its country. As methods for collateral and proof of reserves develop within the bitcoin “space”, these reserves may be used to prove creditworthiness.
The events surrounding Exchange Traded Funds (ETFs) and the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) may also be instructive to Ethiopians.
There is also a sentiment from some Bitcoiners that governments should not be involved in bitcoin mining. And that bitcoin is an experiment by cryptopunks and libertarians to create tools for the free market. Given Ethiopia’s recent communist history from 1974 to 1991, Ethiopia’s citizens and leaders may need a refresher course on the Austrian School of Economics.
Conclusion
We are witnessing significant development in real time. It’s difficult to point towards a singular event or catalyst. But we are at the center of a very serious and interesting moment in our history. The moment we are experiencing allows value to be generated from an open and free community of bitcoin miners. And this novel technology allows humanity to preserve value across time and space.
As we dive into the future, it may also be important to note the need for humility. It should be remembered that over the past few years, Ethiopians and East Africa have witnessed a haunting amount of death and destruction, often self-inflicted and many times manipulated on the world stage.
We can’t bring back our fallen friends. Like our dear brother Tekeste Sebhat Nega, an early bitcoiner and a visionary. He lost his life in the last few weeks of 2020. An energetic and smart young man died in a senseless civil war. And there are many more stories like him. The entire country is going through a syndrome of sorts, so let’s remain humble as we carry the burden.
Let’s move with purpose, passion, and dignity toward a future that values math and physics more than fiat and violence. That is our hope for ourselves and that’s the energy with which we will operate in Ethiopia.
This is a guest post by Jaran Mellerud & Kal Kassa. Opinions expressed are entirely their own and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
Expansion of Bitcoin mining in Ethiopia offers a route to monetizing a coming massive increase of energy production, and help finance the build out of electrical grid infrastructure.
Crypto News
BitVM Just Got A Massive Upgrade

The introduction of BitVM smart contracts has marked a significant milestone in the path for scalability and programmability of Bitcoin. Rooted in the original BitVM protocol, Bitlayer’s Finality Bridge introduces the first version of the protocol live on testnet, which is a good starting point for realizing the promises of the Bitcoin Renaissance or “Season 2”.
Unlike earlier BTC bridges that often required reliance on centralized entities or questionable trust assumptions, the Finality Bridge leverages a blend of BitVM smart contracts, fraud proofs, and zero-knowledge proofs. This combination not only enhances security but also significantly reduces the need for trust in third parties. We’re not at the trustless level that Lightning provides, but this is a million times better than current sidechains designs claiming to be Bitcoin Layers 2s (in addition to significantly increasing the design space for Bitcoin applications).
The system operates on a principle where funds are securely locked in addresses governed by a BitVM smart contract, functioning under the premise that at least one participant in the system will act honestly. This setup inherently reduces the trust requirements but has to introduce additional complexities that Bitlayer aims to manage with this version of the bridge.
The Mechanics of Trust
In practical terms, when Bitcoin is locked into the BitVM smart contract through the Finality Bridge, users are issued YBTC – a token that maintains a strict 1:1 peg with Bitcoin. This peg is not just a promise but is enforced by the underlying smart contract logic, ensuring that each YBTC represents a real, locked Bitcoin on the main chain (no fake “restacked” BTC metrics). This mechanism allows users to participate in DeFi activities like lending, borrowing, and yield farming within the Bitlayer ecosystem without compromising on the security and settlement assurances that Bitcoin provides.
While some in the community might find these activities objectionable, this type of architecture allows users to get some guarantees that they previously could not hope to get with traditional sidechain designs, with the added bonus that we do not need to “change” Bitcoin to make it happen (although covenants would make this bridge design completely “trust-minimized, which would effectively make it a “True” Bitcoin Layer 2). For more details about the different levels of risks associated with sidechains designs, take a look at Bitcoin Layers assessment of Bitlayer here.
However, until such advancements come to fruition, the Bitlayer Finality Bridge serves as the best realization of the BitVM 2 paradigm. It’s a testament to what’s possible after the dev “brain drain” from centralized chains back to Bitcoin. Despite all the challenges that BitVM chains will face, I remain exceptionally excited at the prospect of Bitcoin fulfilling its destiny as the Ultimate Settlement Chain for all economic activity.
This article is a Take. Opinions expressed are entirely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
Guillaume’s articles in particular may discuss topics or companies that are part of his firm’s investment portfolio (UTXO Management). The views expressed are solely his own and do not represent the opinions of his employer or its affiliates. He’s receiving no financial compensation for these Takes. Readers should not consider this content as financial advice or an endorsement of any particular company or investment. Always do your own research before making financial decisions.
The BitLayer Finality Bridge is Delivering On The Promises of BitVM – While still far from a fully trustless system, the progress made over the past year is remarkable
Crypto News
Bitcoin Banks: We Should Build Them Ourselves

Bitcoin banks are going to happen. We already have a few of them. We’re going to have more of them. Existing legacy banks are going to start offering services. New banks are going to be founded around Bitcoin. This is completely unavoidable at this point. Bitcoin doesn’t scale. Even absent that, people value other services that inherently require other parties. Debt being the chief one.
This is an inescapable reality.
Even if we could snap our fingers and roll out every well specified opcode and covenant proposal at once, it would still take a lot of time to begin building out self-custodial layers that could compete with something like credit unions and banks offering bitcoin accounts at scale. That is not a problem that can be trivially solved overnight.
So what can we do? We need to embrace a localist attitude around making interaction with your bitcoin easy. This requires a two pronged approach, one involving technical development and the other involving, I hate to say it, lobbying.
There already exist pieces of software like LNDHub or LNBits that allow people to offer custodial accounts for Lightning. We need a lot more software like this, and we need it to be miles better. It needs to not involve tinkering around on the command line and hooking up independent software, or perusing Github to follow manual installation instructions, or fumbling around trying to fix dependencies mismatches.
It needs to just work.
Click, sync to the network, done. It needs to be something that power users who are still not very tech savvy can run safely, and not lose other people’s money. It needs to support more than basic accounts for Lightning. Ecash offers privacy, which would be something important when it comes to small groups of people who know each other. You don’t want your friend seeing what you spend your money on. It needs to support things like Unchained or Nunchuck style on-chain self custody. People aren’t going to want to hold all their friends and family’s life savings, but holding a recovery key to safeguard them from their own mistakes is another matter.
We need the software that will actually scale this type of user interaction beyond a bunch of activist nerds online.
We also need a regulatory carve out. There needs to be a clear acknowledgement that running this type of software for friends and family with trivial amounts of money, say thousands of dollars, and without charging anything for it, is an unregulated activity. Helping friends and family interact with Bitcoin safely and easily, and for free, does not make you a bank. The idea of a few thousand dollars needing to comply with the regulations banks managing billions of dollars do is frankly absurd.
This is the path forward given the current constraints of Bitcoin, and the reality of growing and accelerating adoption, that leads us away from a system that eventually becomes completely captured and neutered by legacy financial institutions.
Instead of depending on them to deal with the current scaling limitations of Bitcoin, we depend on each other.
This article is a Take. Opinions expressed are entirely the author’s and do not necessarily reflect those of BTC Inc or Bitcoin Magazine.
Bitcoiners shouldn’t sit around and wait for fiat banks and financial companies to offer services built on Bitcoin, we should do it ourselves.
Crypto News
Galoy Launches Bitcoin-Backed Loan Software, Sets Groundwork For Open-Source Banking

Founder: Nicolas Burtey
Date Founded: September 2019
Location of Headquarters: United States
Number of Employees: 11
Website: https://www.galoy.io/
Public or Private? Private
Last week, Galoy launched Lana, software that enables banks to accept bitcoin as collateral for loans.
Lana helps community and challenger banks (the banks with which Galoy is looking to work) to offer bitcoin-backed loans to various types of customers.
“Some banks might want to use it to sell to retail, and some might want to use it to sell commercial customers or high-net-worth individuals,” Burtey told Bitcoin Magazine.
In offering such loans to a wide array of customers, Burtey believes that the high cost of borrowing currently associated with such products will come down.
“Today’s interest rates are 12% to 15% if you want to get a loan using your bitcoin as collateral,” said Burtey.
“The rates are high because there are so few financial institutions offering this type of product. We see an opportunity now that the regulations are allowing banks to do things with bitcoin,” he added.
“We think a lot of banks will want to enter this market.”
If Burtey is correct in his prediction that banks are keen to offer bitcoin-backed loans, this will not only lower rates for such loans, but it will also introduce open-source Bitcoin software into the world of banking, which could initiate a new trend in the industry.
But more on that in just a minute. First, some background on Galoy.
Galoy’s History: From Blink Wallet To Lana
Founded in September 2019, Galoy had intentions to enable banks to use bitcoin from the start, but it had to hold off on doing so due to an unfriendly regulatory environment.
So, instead, it focused its efforts on creating and supporting Blink wallet (which was originally called the Bitcoin Beach wallet and which Galoy recently sold), a custodial Bitcoin and Lightning wallet predominantly used at first in El Salvador and then in Bitcoin circular economies globally.
“Galoy’s mission was to onboard banks to Bitcoin five years ago,” said Burtey.
“But the regulatory environment was so bad during the last five years that we decided to create Blink. The reason we are now focusing on our original mission is because with the end of Choke Point 2.0 and the repeal of SAB 121, we think now is the perfect time to help banks adopt Bitcoin.”
Burtey spoke about his work in creating and growing Blink fondly and shared that he had to stop working on the project only because it would be too difficult to continue managing it while also aiming to serve a new type of clientele.
“Blink is a B2C (Business-To-Customer) play, and it’s hard as an early-stage startup to focus on too many things,” explained Burtey.
“Galoy is a B2B (Business-To-Business)-driven business, and we want to work with banks and financial institutions,” he added.
“It’s good to be focused on just one thing.”
And, as mentioned, that one thing will now be Lana.
How Lana Works
Lana is software that Galoy helps banks integrate and manage for a subscription fee. With this software, banks can issue bitcoin-backed loans under the terms they create.
“We’re not the ones deciding how much interest will be charged or anything like that,” explained Burtey.
“We give banks the platform to do this, and then they can figure out their cost of capital, the duration of the loan, the liquidation price for the bitcoin in the loan and the rate at which they want to lend,” he added.
“We’re giving you software, and helping you run and automate that software.”
Something else that Galoy doesn’t do for banks is custody the bitcoin provided as collateral for the loans they issue. Each of the banks with whom the company works is responsible for selecting their own custodian.
“You can go to BitGo or Fireblocks or each loan can have its own multisig,” said Burtey. “We’re agnostic on custody.”
With that said, Lana helps banks monitor the bitcoin in custody so that banks can be aware of whether or not collateral is nearing liquidation levels.
“A key piece of this product is risk management,” said Burtey.
“Bitcoin is volatile, and the bank will need a tool to show that it’s taking calculated risk. So, we’ll provide banks with a dashboard to monitor this risk,” he added.
Who Will Use Lana?
Galoy is targeting community banks and other smaller financial institutions with this new product mostly because they think these smaller players will benefit most from it — and because the big banks likely won’t need such a product.
“We don’t think JP Morgan will really want to work with us,” said Burtey. “They’re probably building something like this themselves, whereas a smaller bank, a credit union or small company probably isn’t.”
Burtey also understands that smaller lenders’ incorporating Lana as opposed to building something comparable themselves can save these financial institutions a significant amount of time and effort.
“Our goal is to say, ‘Look, you can develop this internally, and it will take you six months, a year or longer depending on how much you know about Bitcoin,’” said Burtey. “‘Or we have a lending product as a service for you, and you can launch it much more quickly.’”
And as Burtey and his team onboard their first round of smaller banks, they’ll not only be making history in enabling more banks to accept bitcoin as collateral for loans, but they’ll potentially be altering the trajectory of banking in general by introducing open-source software to it.
Open-Source Bitcoin Banking
Burtey’s long-term vision for Galoy is to do much more than just help banks issue bitcoin-backed loans. He’s looking to introduce open-source software into banking as more banks begin to embrace Bitcoin.
However, it’s important to note that Lana isn’t open-source just yet. It’s fair-source software, and, under such a license, code becomes open-source after two years.
“It’s a delayed open-source system, but it’s all available on GitHub,” said Burtey. “You can go and try it, test it, and play with it on your own.
Under the fair-source license, no company other than Galoy can sell the product to a bank right now, allowing Galoy to profit while still building with auditable code.
“We sell the deployment, and we help banks to plug in to their custodian,” explained Burtey. “We’re building in the open — but we also want to generate revenue.”
Beyond helping banks implement Lana, Burtey’s wants to develop open-source “core banking software,” as he’s looking to disrupt the “core ledger” oligopoly.
“The core ledger is where banks store the account data, customer information and transaction details,” said Burtey. “It’s the source of truth for banks.”
And only three companies — FIS, Fiserv and Jack Henry — have the core ledger market cornered.
“These are all like hundred billion dollar companies that you’ve probably never heard about because all they do is focus on selling software to banks,” said Burtey.
“Our long-term goal is to disrupt this industry by making something that is open source,” said Burtey. “Today, there is no company that does core banking with the idea of open source, and so we’re working towards this.”
Burtey envisions a world in which open-source software can make it much easier for someone to start a Bitcoin bank. (For those who wince at the words “Bitcoin” and “bank” being used in tandem, might I remind you that it was the legendary Hal Finney himself who wrote that bitcoin-backed banks would serve as a scaling solution.)
“To start a bank today is a very expensive and complicated process,” said Burtey. “You have to pay $100,000 plus just to purchase the core ledger technology.”
Burtey then referenced his own experience in starting Blink wallet, essentially a bitcoin bank run on open-source code, before continuing.
“I just went to El Salvador and started what was effectively my own bank because I wanted to,” said Burtey.
“We need to reinvent how core banking software is being made in the world of Bitcoin, and I think this is where open-source becomes relevant,” he added.
“This is really why I think the world of banking and Bitcoin will be very different from the world of banking with fiat, and I think we’re one of the companies at the forefront of this.”
Galoy founder and CEO Nicolas Burtey wants to help more borrowers use bitcoin as collateral for loans while introducing open-source software into the traditional banking stack.
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