Beyond Borders #11: The Pulse of Global Impact
Independent educators are changing the world. They unite once a month in a General Assembly of the Node Network, an initiative from My First Bitcoin, to create a thriving ecosystem…
Independent educators are changing the world. They unite once a month in a General Assembly of the Node Network, an initiative from My First Bitcoin, to create a thriving ecosystem of educators around the banner of “independent, impartial, bitcoin-only and community-led bitcoin education”. The GA from April 24 was attended by a record of 29 individuals!
Welcome to this eleventh edition of this series & all progress that has been made in the past month. Welcome to the stories from these 10 countries!
”We’re excited to share some incredible milestones from our work in Indonesia! This week marks our first-ever university graduation, with two cohorts graduating. We also just hosted our second online graduation, celebrating 42 new graduates joining the MFB community.
Our Jakarta cohort launches on April 26, and we’re preparing our first in-person cohort in Bali, led by one of our very first graduates—now returning as a teacher. Looking ahead, we’re planning our first university cohort in Bali for June 2025.
And big news: we’re organizing the Bitcoin Indonesia Conference + Bitcoin Week Bali this September. We’d love to see many of you there!”
From our very first node in Indonesia, we’re heading straight to Bitcoin Country – El Salvador.
”This April, we’ve continued expanding our reach across El Salvador—teaching 90 students in various cities and opening new meet-ups that have sparked local interest in starting community-led projects. Some of our attendees and co-hosts are now eager to train as future educators and potentially become nodes themselves.
We’re also re-evaluating our online class strategy due to a recent drop in attendance and are actively looking for new ways to re-engage students—so if you have ideas, we’re all ears!
Excitingly, we’re in discussions with a private university to launch intro classes for 200 students starting next week, with the goal of guiding interested students into the full Bitcoin Diploma. More updates to come in the May GA!”
From the volcanoes of El Salvador, we’re heading north – straight to the U.S!
”We’ve officially launched our first cohort in Alabama—a small group of four women meeting weekly via Zoom. They’ve already completed the first four chapters, and our next cohort is set to begin in early June.
After a few setbacks, we believe we’ve finally found the right partner to help complete our website efficiently and affordably. Our logo, press release, and social media accounts are ready to go, with a planned launch by May 10th.
We’ve also held two key meetings in April—one with a local women’s group in Birmingham and another with a Bitcoin-focused women’s group—both exploring how to offer the course to their members.
Next steps include building awareness around the Bitcoin Conference, hosting info sessions, and developing our social media presence.
Thanks so much for your patience as we regain momentum—excited for what’s ahead!”
Next stop: the Caribbean!
”We’re excited to share that we’ve officially started decorating our BTC Training Room in Curaçao! After reviewing two beautiful designs from an architect, we selected one that creates a welcoming space where students can learn, connect, and feel inspired. Furniture is already in place, one wall is painted, and locally crafted cupboards are being built by a carpenter—an opportunity we love using to educate local suppliers about Bitcoin.
Our Facebook outreach is paying off, with around five new WhatsApp inquiries daily—a great number for a small island like Curaçao.
We’re giving a masterclass at CITI.cw for 23 small business owners, simulating a Bitcoin Café where participants can try out Lightning payments in real time. We’ll also show how to accept Bitcoin on websites and for donations using open-source tools.
This hands-on experience sparks curiosity—and during the event, we’ll promote our upcoming Mi Primer Bitcoin training at the BTC Curaçao Institute and start collecting student signups.
Another exciting step forward in building Bitcoin education and adoption in Curaçao.”
We’re crossing the Caribbean once more – this time to Haiti!
”We’re proud to have completed our second cohort in Haiti, with 27 out of 30 students passing and an average score of 82%—a strong improvement over our first cohort. This brings us to a total of 42 graduates, and we’re now preparing for the upcoming graduation ceremony later this month.
We’ve also finalized an exciting partnership with Bay Area Bitcoiners 501(c)(3) in San Francisco, who will serve as our fiscal sponsor. As an affiliate project, this connection strengthens our network and support structure.
Looking ahead, we’re exploring our first online cohort, in collaboration with Future For the Kids, a nonprofit based in Hinche, a city of 50,000. We also plan to train a new teacher to expand our educator team.
In parallel, we’re working with the Haiti Development Institute, part of the Boston Foundation, to offer English classesto interested students at our school.
Transparency and integrity are key—we manage our budget carefully, review it monthly in leadership meetings, and log all expenses as they occur.
Finally, we’ve completed our first Trezor Academy (3 sessions) to serve those who want to learn about Bitcoin but can’t commit to the full diploma. It’s a lighter alternative, but a valuable tool to grow awareness and engagement in our community.”
From the spirit of Haiti, we now cross the Atlantic to our next chapter in South Africa.
”We hosted our 8th Bitcoin movie screening alongside a graduation ceremony for 6 students who completed the Bitcoin Diploma. The event sparked new interest from local attendees, highlighting the growing curiosity around Bitcoin education in our community.
We always emphasize that graduation is just the beginning—and encourage our graduates to continue attending classes to deepen their understanding. For us, it’s about quality education, not just certificates.
Our next graduation is planned for August, with 10 current students and new participants who signed up after last night’s impactful event.”
From the heartbeat of Africa, we’re looping back to the U.S!
”The Unconference was an incredible experience, and we’re excited to be teaching Chapters 6 & 7 this Saturday!
Big thanks to NoWaste BTCsigns for donating his design skills—our new 6×12 desk sign is on the way, with shipping generously covered by Bitcoin Park after the Grassroots event.”
From the States to the tropics – we’re heading straight into the heart of Costa Rica’s pura vida spirit.
”This month, our MPB teaching initiative in Costa Rica continues to grow—we’ve welcomed our second cohort of 8 motivated students, now learning from a former graduate from Uvita who’s come full circle as an inspiring local teacher.
We’re also excited about the Bitcoin Jungle Wallet’s new support for Bolt Card payments, enabling easy NFC transactions—even without a phone or reliable signal. As an open-source feature, it empowers users with transparency and customization, and adoption is steadily increasing among both individuals and businesses.
We continue to encourage Bitcoin meetups and office walk-ins, keeping the community active and connected.”
From the jungles of Costa Rica, we now journey across the globe to the heart of Zambia.
”Last Saturday, we’re celebrating the graduation of 15 students from our 5th cohort! We’re also excited to announce the launch of a new and entirely different cohort, marking the next step in expanding our impact and approach.”
From Africa to Central America’s coastline – we’re closing this round in Honduras.
”We’ve decided to separate Bitcoin from Armitage to give each initiative more focus. Moving forward, we’re concentrating on individual outreach and developing more educational content in Spanish to better serve our local communities.”
If you are a community leader and bitcoin educator and want to be part of the Node Network, check out our GitHub page.
If you want to use our open source Bitcoin Diploma workbook, you can! It’s available on GitHub as well.
For any questions about the Node Network or any other international collaboration, feel free to reach out to Arnold Hubach ([email protected]).
