One of the biggest challenges in the blockchain industry is attracting and developing bitcoin developers. A report from Electric Capital shows that Bitcoin is fifth after Ethereum, Polkadot, Cosmos, and Solana on the top list of blockchains that attract developers. One reason behind this is that bitcoin is not yet suitable for building scalable dApps like Ethereum.
In spite of the situation at hand, Chaincode Labs, the team behind Qala, is creating a niche that is focused on training Bitcoin developers, especially for the African continent. Adam Jonas, Head of Special Projects, Chaincode Labs, explained that building Chaincode Labs has been challenging, especially when senior devs are not attracted to working on bitcoin.
He said that as an individual who has helped train students, matching them with job opportunities in open source projects where they are paid, he’s part of the Chaincode Labs team that’s connecting people to work together around the world.
Chaincode Labs and Qala training bitcoin devs
Adam highlighted that Chaincode Labs has the Chaincode Seminar, Chaincode Residency, and Qala that are being used as different tools to develop bitcoin devs. Breaking each program further, he said that the Chaincode Seminar is an online program where people can study technical materials together from anywhere around the world and link up with teams while doing so.
The second program, Chaincode Residency, is an in-person training that requires hands-on activities, unlike the previous one, while Qala is a full-blown program for developers. He said that Qala, which started in 2021, graduated its first set of students in July 2022.
A new teaching model
Adam revealed that the people who will truly succeed in becoming bitcoin devs and thrive in the blockchain industry are those who embrace open-source learning systems and not the usual structured form of traditional knowledge. “The only scalable education that exists in the world is peer-to-peer.”
He added that Qala and Chaincode Labs are looking to train devs who want to truly work and are interested in giving back to the world in a generous way. Adam urged the audience to emulate projects and communities like BitDevs NBO, in Kenya; The Bitcoin Academy; or El Zonte in El Salvador.
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