Gridless

Distributed, rural, hydro Bitcoin mining in Africa that supports local energy development.

[Gridless @GridlessCompute]

Today we’re announcing a developer release of the Jua Kali Miner - an open source project that allows farmers and small industries to make use of their excess solar energy to mine Bitcoin.

With a live demo at #abc25

[Gridless @GridlessCompute]

@nduku_jay at it.

[Oslo Freedom Forum (OFF) @OsloFF]

During the Freedom Tech track at the 2026 Oslo Freedom Forum, Janet Maingi, co-founder and COO of Gridless, says the focus for Africa has to be getting Bitcoin mining equipment into more hands. Last year, Gridless launched Juakali, an open-source miner designed to help small-scale farmers and rural operators integrate Bitcoin mining into their existing setups.

This means more people earn Bitcoin, more communities stay powered, and Bitcoin becomes more decentralized, making it harder for anyone to control.

[Gridless @GridlessCompute]

There’s going to be a great open source bitcoin mining section at this event.

Including @protomining, @tether, @Braiins, @256FOUNDATION and of course the Gridless’ Jua Kali miner.

[bitcoin++ @btcplusplus]

JUST IN: HRF (@HRF) to sponsor bitcoin++ Nairobi, open source edtion 🦒 as our Headline sponsor

Join us this June 17-19, 2026 👉 https://t.co/T2Wna1QZUU

[Gridless @GridlessCompute]

Some of the people building meaningful bitcoin apps, services, and research in Africa.

@waithiraah of @tando_me
@obi of @fedibtc
@AnaiseKanimba of @AfriBitInst
@ihate1999 of @btrustteam

[Gridless @GridlessCompute]

We have our COO @nduku_jay at the @OsloFF speaking on bitcoin mining decentralization.

[Daniel Batten @DSBatten]

The data is unequivocal: Bitcoin mining is the way to make renewable projects that would otherwise need subsidies viable.

A new paper recently found that pairing large-scale solar PV with Bitcoin mining
* transforms a standalone solar project with a10-year payback, ~5% IRR into a highly profitable venture with 2–5 year payback and 33% IRR
* reduces ~10,457 tons of CO₂ avoided emissions per annum

The study was done on a 10 MW Solar Farm and supports the earlier findings of Hakimi et al that Bitcoin mining reduces the ROI from 8.1yrs to 3.5yrs while reducing CO2 emissions by 50,000 tonnes/year on a 50MW solar farm (source: https://t.co/RGsIe6z75Z)

The recent paper "Techno-economic Assessments of Large-Scale Solar PV and Bitcoin Mining" (Keshavarzfard & Zinati Yazdi 2025) was published in Solar Energy.

Source: https://t.co/MqAgiWv6CB

The journal has an impact factor of 6.6 (top 6% of academic journals)

[My First Bitcoin @MyFirstBitcoin_]

We went to Kenya and filmed stories the Bitcoin space has never seen.

Students learning. Educators teaching and building communities where Bitcoin is not just an investment; it is a way to rewrite your story. Where learning about money means something completely different than it does anywhere else in the world.

For the first time, we are bringing this story to the world.

On June 10 in Prague, we are premiering our first episode of the documentary at the Bitcoin Educators Unconference. An intimate gathering with open stage. The kind of room where this conversation belongs.

This is Trailer 1. Trailer 2 drops next week; and it carries even more weight.

If you are heading to Prague, this is where you need to be on June 10.

🎟️ Grab your ticket today: https://t.co/BgmjxZe3dP

A huge thank you to everyone who made this possible;
@EcoBitz_21m @harymo_ @MaaliMKen @AMulikatete @Angella_Jude @MukunguFelix @AfribitKibera @alphysusan @rinaaire @schoolOfSatoshi @53violaaa @Bitbiasharakids @Cosmic_spaces

And to our incredible director @thekylehuber

[Gridless @GridlessCompute]

This model works everywhere.

[Daniel Batten @DSBatten]

One year ago Paulo Gonçalves was not a Bitcoiner.
He's was (and is) renewable energy project developer who has spent his career building small hydroelectric dams across the world.

His problem was simple: many of these dams produce power that the grid can't absorb. The energy is wasted. The economics don't work. He'd seen the problem firsthand and had been searching for a solution for over a decade.

A year ago, he attended a @FREEMadeiraOrg event in Portugal, where he discovered Bitcoin mining.

That day changed everything.

Unlike others who fall into the mistake of evaluating Bitcoin mining without understanding energy, grids or renewable generation - he understood all three intimately, and as such was able to immediately see the value that others (including policymakers and regulators) sometimes miss.

Paulo is now evaluating 100s of small hydropowered sites throughout Portugal that are ideal candidates for Bitcoin miners. There are sites that are "too small" or too remote to be of interest to anyone else.

The miners consume what would otherwise be stranded energy. No subsidy required. The dam that didn't make financial sense now does.

This is the pattern critics miss.

They assume Bitcoin miners are Bitcoiners first, working backwards to justify energy use. In reality in the energy sector it happens the other way around.

Kenji Tateiwa in Japan. Paulo Gonçalves in Portugal, Bipin Patel in Sweden are real people solving real energy problems. Different countries, different energy sources, same discovery pattern:

When you know a lot about energy, and do deep research into how to solve energy problems, you arrive at Bitcoin mining.

[Gridless @GridlessCompute]

This.

[Fog Hashing @FogHashing]

Africa has the strongest, steadiest solar irradiation on the planet. Solar panels are landing faster than projects to monetize them. For investors with land and solar, the question is what to do with the power.

Had a group of customers from the region at our factory last week, asking exactly that.

Mining and modular data centers are two of the cleanest answers. No PPA, no transmission, no offtaker. Power in, compute out, revenue back.

If that's your question too, come see the Fog Hashing factory.
#BitcoinMining #SolarEnergy #Africa #LiquidCooling #ModularDataCenter

[Gridless @GridlessCompute]

Made in Africa: Kurt and the Open-Source Bitcoin Miner That Anyone Can Make https://t.co/j8ClTzHmCo

[Gridless @GridlessCompute]

Ronnie is the real deal.

[Bitcoin Africa Story @btcafricastory]

Bitcoin is not coming to Nairobi; it has already been here 🔥

The Bitcoin Nairobi Conference, happening for the first time in East Africa, is bringing together curious minds from policymakers and banks to bitcoiners and non-coiners to learn, connect, and participate in the growing Bitcoin movement.

One of the highlights of the conference is the Bitcoin Circular Economy Day, where attendees will visit the Afribit Kibera Bitcoin Circular Economy and see firsthand how people are using and interacting with Bitcoin in their daily lives.

This conference is led by @AfribitKibera and @GorillaSats, with partners including @TrezorAcademy, @CapitalFMKenya, @bitika_KE, @tando_me, Talo, and many more.

The conference will be held at ASK Dome, Nairobi, and there will be lots of Bitcoin activities and pre-events.

To learn more about the conference, follow @btcnairobi_conf.

Get your tickets: https://t.co/LgJtSsBybT

[Gridless @GridlessCompute]

Next month.

[Tando @tando_me]

No crypto. No stablecoins. Just Bitcoin. You may not realize it yet but this is the future of finance. Coming soon to your village, town & city. It's gonna happen sooner than you expect. Get ready. Get educated. And get tickets: https://t.co/yEBA9nmXzU

[Fedi @fedibtc]

On Wednesday, @BitcoinMagazine published our blog post on @NodeNBO, the world's newest physical Bitcoin space, located in Kenya 🇰🇪

We couldn't be more excited to be part Node NBO alongside @GridlessCompute, @btrustteam, and @HRF!

https://t.co/PvlMphrJkK

[NodeNBO @NodeNBO]

Thanks to everyone who came out on Saturday night in the rain to open up the new space with us!

@btrustteam @fedibtc @HRF @GridlessCompute @AnganiLTD @FiresideGrp and @QhalaHQ

[Btrust @btrustteam]

Last year, we put out a global call for new Btrust Board members as part of a planned governance transition.

Today, we’re excited to welcome @laurenceaderemi, @nduku_jay, and @brrrunog as the new Btrust Board of Directors.

After a thoughtful and rigorous selection process, they now assume full governance responsibilities as the inaugural board completes its mandate.

Each brings deep experience across Bitcoin infrastructure, open‑source development, and energy systems, and will help guide Btrust’s mission to decentralize Bitcoin development and expand opportunities for builders across the Global South.

Read more: https://t.co/gQwUGTwFtm

[Frank Corva @frankcorva]

The world's newest physical Bitcoin space — @NodeNBO — has officially opened it's doors!

Located in Kenya 🇰🇪, Node NBO is an event space, a tech lab, and a co-working hub for members of the @GridlessCompute, @fedibtc, @btrust_builders, and @HRF teams.

https://t.co/tgffss1yby

[The Core - Bitcoin Education @thecore21m]

ONLY 1 DAY TO GO! 🔥🍕

On Friday, the community is linking up at The Ambience Cave, Camp Entumonto in Kasarani (Clay City) for the ultimate Bitcoin hangout!

Come through for great energy, Bitcoin board games, and solid conversations.

WHAT'S THE VIBE ??

🍕 - Pizza
🎮- Bitcoin Boardgames ( @blockhunters_
& Channel Up by @freemarketkid )
₿ - Win Bitcoin & Bitcoin Merch
🗣️- Real Bitcoin conversations
🤝- Meet the community & learn how Bitcoin works

Curious about @fedibtc ? We’ll be doing casual on-boarding to show you how Fedi empowers communities! 🌐

⚡️ Tag a friend who needs to see this and pull up together!

Thank you @fedibtc, @minmo_to , @Arktheai for supporting the Hangout

BITCOIN FOR EVERYONE !

[NodeNBO @NodeNBO]

The model that fits Africa is already running.
Modular solar + containerized compute, placed on stranded power. Bitcoin mining is the flexible load that tracks the sun. No gas needed to firm it.
Stop moving megawatts to the computers. Move the computers to the megawatts.

[Daniel Batten @DSBatten]

I just got back from the Bitcoin Energy Summit in Lisbon and I have a question that won't leave me alone.

First some context: Bitcoin mining is now stabilizing the grids of 7 nations, 4 agencies (including the Spanish Govt and the World's largest energy policy association) just called for more flexible demand being critical to the resilience of the grids of the future - and Bitcoin mining is the world's most flexible load resource by an order of magnitude.

So in light of this my question is this: why is 95% of the Bitcoin adoption conversation about Bitcoin-as-money when Bitcoin-as-energy is already deployed on grids across 3 continents?

Is it possible that energy is the Bitcoin usecase that paves the road for mainstream acceptance of Bitcoin in the West?

I've been in this space for four years now. When I started, the conversation was "bitcoin mining wastes energy." A group of Bitcoiners including @thetrocro, @jyn_urso and others changed that. Then it became "ok maybe it doesn't waste energy, but it's not useful." @gladstein, @jack and others changed that too.

But here's what I noticed in Lisbon. Three separate European organisations - the European Bitcoin Energy Association, Free Madeira, and the Institut National de Bitcoin in France - are all independently converging on the same conclusion.

@geyer_rachel, Chair of EBEA said energy is what will move the needle for Bitcoin in Europe. @andreloja at @FREEMadeiraOrg said energy is the most topical issue in Europe right now. Bastien Desteuque (@Proxy18387764), directeur général at @BitcoinPolicyFr said they're focusing on mining because France has spare nuclear capacity and that's where the biggest opportunity is.

Three organisations. Same conclusion.

And that's before you get to what's actually being built. In Sweden, a man I coach runs ASIC hardware that earns almost two-thirds of its revenue from frequency regulation - keeping the lights on, responding in seconds to the need of the grid operator, and helping to stabilize the grid an incredible 11,247 times last year alone. (Yes, you read that sentence right).

In Lisbon, I watched Kenji Tateiwa present a circular economy where bitcoin mining heat grows tropical fish and the CO2 gets converted to charcoal and micro diamonds. Bastian outlined how France's surplus nuclear energy could be absorbed by bitcoin mining by 2027.

And outside the West, from stabilizing the economy of Bhutan post-covid to helping save Virunga National Park in Africa - Bitcoin mining was behind both events and many more. This phenomenon is a global one.

The conversation has quietly moved from "does bitcoin mining help grids?" to "how many services can one machine provide?"

We've been thinking about this like monoculture - one machine, one function.

What I saw in Lisbon is permaculture. The same hardware doing frequency regulation, heat capture, Sats-minting ... and potentially in the near future - voltage regulation (something that would have prevented the 28 April 2025 Iberian Peninsular Blackout).

I talked to Bitcoin founders after the keynote who told me the energy thesis had opened their eyes. These are people who worked to advance Bitcoin payment infrastructure, and they hadn't fully grasped this.

Bitcoin solves a monetary problem the world is only beginning to understand. I'm more convinced of that than ever.

And ... as we wait for that revolution to be fully grasped, the energy revolution is already here - deployed, generating revenue, stabilizing grids. It might just be the thing that opens the door for everything else. What other Bitcoin use case is this far along ... at least in the West?

[NodeNBO @NodeNBO]

A big thank you to all the OGs and Youngblood’s of Nairobis energy and compute worlds for coming tonight and braving the rains.

Thanks to @wanjiku @bantigito @rkirubi @obi @AnganiLTD @okjodom @ihate1999 and everyone else for joining us!

[Gridless @GridlessCompute]

Excited about this. Gridless has moved into the new campus this week, with @btrustteam, @HRF, and @fedibtc joining us.

Also welcoming the @minmo_to and Nuru teams as we together create a community of builders of energy, compute, and freedom tech in Nairobi!

[NodeNBO @NodeNBO]

The new Node Coworking space is starting to come together!