As part of the Dakar Bitcoin Days event, we met Vladimir Fomene, a bitcoin developer who contributes to the BitcoinDevKit library.
Hello Vladimir, can you introduce yourself and tell us about your work on Bitcoin?
My name is Vladimir Fomene and I am a bitcoin developer. Currently, I mainly work on the BitcoinDevKit, a library used to develop bitcoin e-wallets. I am funded by Btrust for this work.
Can you tell us more about Btrust?
It is a fund created by Jack Dorsey and Jay-Z whose goal is to finance African developers so they can work on Bitcoin.
A quick word about your background and training?
I trained as a computer scientist at Ashesi University in Ghana. After leaving school, I worked as a Front End and BackEnd web developer. Then, I had the opportunity to join Btrust on Bitcoin development
Do you think Bitcoin wallets could one day be really accessible to non-specialists or even illiterate people?
I think that. Work is underway in Nairobi, Kenya, to develop seed sentences in Swahili. That is to say tomorrow, when using an unmaintained Wallet, you will be able to use seed sentences in a language you understand. That’s work that can be replicated here in Senegal where we speak Wolof. Because you have surely noticed that when you arrive in Senegal, French is not the first language spoken to you, it is Wolof. This means that we need to develop tools that will allow Africans to be able to use these wallets, and have seed sentences in languages that we understand already have something, progress has already been made. Now, there are also other technologies that are being developed by Africans. For example, you have surely heard about the project called Machankura, which has bitcoin technology that can be used on USSD services.
Will the Bitcoin protocol experience changes and new features? Which ones?
The protocol continues to evolve, as people come up with interesting ideas that could push bitcoin forward. Either to make sure that many people can use it, or to make sure that we can develop interesting things on bitcoin. Every day, developers have made suggestions in the Community.
The Bitcoin protocol has never been flawed before. How long do you think this will last? Are you worried about quantum algorithms?
I believe that the system will continue to be sound as it has always been. Because there are people like us who seek to ensure that this system remains intact. And the developers have thought of solutions to block quantum algorithms. So we shouldn’t have a problem when quantum algorithms come on the market.
Can you describe the development areas and projects you have planned for 2023?
Well, personally, I would like to integrate the swalli word system we developed for the seed sentence into the Bitcoin system. We have opened an application for this.
Apart from that, we are currently working on the Bitcoin Dev Kit which will allow us to go to version 1.0. It’s really a bit of a restructuring of the entire architecture of our library. Therefore, I would like to continue to add to this work. For 2023, my focus will really be on letting Africans keep their bitcoins.
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Computer entrepreneur and resident in African lands for fifteen years. In this uncertain world, I see bitcoin and cryptos as one of the best opportunities to face the challenges ahead.
