Afribit: Bitcoin Circular Economy Infrastructure
Afribit Africa / 2024 to Present
I volunteer as the DevOps administrator for Afribit's self-hosted BTCPay Server — the open-source Bitcoin payment processor that powers Kibera's grassroots circular economy. 2,000+ Lightning transactions across 40+ merchants and counting.
Situation & Task
Kibera is one of Africa's largest informal settlements and home to a vibrant entrepreneurial community. But nearly 80% of residents are unbanked — locked out of savings, credit, and digital finance. Afribit, a grassroots organization featured on BBC News, AP News, and ABC News, set out to build a Bitcoin circular economy where mama mbogas, boda-boda riders, waste recyclers, and upcycling collectives could earn, save, and spend Bitcoin without relying on any intermediary. What they needed was robust, self-hosted payment infrastructure — not another third-party dependency.
Objective: My job was to set up, secure, and maintain their self-hosted BTCPay Server instance at pay.afribit.africa. That means keeping Bitcoin and Lightning Network payments reliable for Kibera's merchant network 24/7, managing Lightning channel liquidity, handling SSL certificates, and integrating with their Geyser Fund crowdfunding campaign — all as a volunteer during my off-work hours.
Action: Technical Solution
I deployed a BTCPay Server instance on a Linux VPS with Docker containers and an Nginx reverse proxy. I configured both Bitcoin and Lightning Network nodes with automated channel management for liquidity. I set up the crowdfund plugin that powers Afribit's $100,000 fundraising campaign, pulling live donation tracking directly from BTCPay. The system integrates with the Fedi federation protocol for community wallet and chat features. I manage SSL certificates through Let's Encrypt, monitor server health, handle updates, and have configured webhook integrations that push real-time payment notifications to the merchant network.
System Architecture
Result: Measured Impact
The infrastructure now supports over 2,000 Bitcoin transactions within Kibera's circular economy. More than 40 merchants accept Bitcoin payments. 120+ youth and women have been trained and earn through upcycling and waste collection. Seven boda-boda riders have been fully licensed through Bitcoin microloans. The BTCPay Server crowdfund has raised $2,800+ from 75 contributors toward the $100,000 goal. The platform serves as the financial backbone for five community programmes: Micro-Merchants, Women's Upcycling Collective, Waste Incentives, the Boda-Boda Ride to Freedom initiative, and Bitcoin Education.
2,000+
BTC Transactions
40+
Active Merchants
120+
Youth & Women Trained
$2,800+
Crowdfund Raised ($)