Bitcoin builder climbs Africa’s tallest mountain to raise awareness
A Bitcoin (BTC) educator based in Tanzania has scaled Africa’s highest peak, Kilimanjaro, financing the entire trip through Bitcoin and Nostr donations.
Kweks (not his real name) crowdfunded over $1,700 in Bitcoin (0.0018 BTC) to cover the costs of the hike, which doubled as an announcement for a new Bitcoin education academy in Tanzania.
Kweks and his wife recently moved to a new city in Tanzania to open a learning center called the “Proof of Work Academy,” or POWA. Kweks told Cointelegraph that while POWA is a pun on Bitcoin’s consensus protocol, proof-of-work, it also refers to the Zwahili word “Poah,” which means fresh or cool.
To promote the new school and subtly hint at his affinity for decentralized protocols, including Bitcoin and Nostr (notes and other stuff transmitted by relay), Kweks funded the ascent to nearly 6,000 meters in satoshis or sats, which are the smallest denomination of Bitcoin equal to 100 millionth of 1 BTC.
Bitcoin Lightning Network donations streamed in from all around the world via crowdfunding on Geyser Fund and through Zapraising, which is Bitcoin Lightning Network crowdfunding via Nostr (also called Zaps.)
Kweks carried and waved a giant Nostr flag while sharing status updates throughout the multiday hike on X, Nostr and WhatsApp. Speaking from Tanzania, Kweks explained to Cointelegraph that while the money raised was meaningful to cover the costs of the climb, the impact was primarily educational:
The ascent demonstrated to his local community that a global base of Nostriches (users of Nostr) and generous Bitcoin advocates worldwide were happy to support Kweks’ climb and educational work on the ground in Tanzania.
Plus, Kweks received a tip from one of the guides leading the party to the
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