Speaking
Conferences, panels, podcasts, interviews and workshops on payments, Bitcoin and building in Africa.
An engineer’s view of how money moves in Africa
I speak from practice: five years leading the engineering team behind Bitnob’s Bitcoin, Lightning and stablecoin payment infrastructure, building Gyvar today, and organising Bitcoin meetups, workshops and education programmes through Bitfiasi Initiative. I aim to make complex subjects concrete, whether the audience is technical, commercial or new to the topic.
- Keynotes
- Panel discussions
- Podcasts
- Interviews
- Workshops
- Guest lectures
What I speak about
The future of payments in Africa
How money actually moves across the continent today, where it breaks, and the infrastructure needed to make it faster and cheaper.
Bitcoin and financial inclusion
What Bitcoin offers people outside the traditional banking system — and what it takes to make that practical rather than theoretical.
Stablecoins and cross-border settlement
The mechanics of settling across currencies and borders, and where stablecoins fit alongside banks and mobile money.
Building fintech infrastructure
Lessons from engineering financial systems: reliability, reconciliation, integrations and the unglamorous work that keeps money safe.
Software engineering leadership
Building and leading engineering teams that ship dependable software.
Financial literacy and digital money
Teaching money from first principles, and what grassroots Bitcoin education has taught me about how people learn.
Bio and photo
Feel free to use these in programmes and promotional material.
Short bio
Gideon Kombian is a software engineer and the founder of Gyvar, a payments company connecting Bitcoin and stablecoins with bank accounts and mobile money across African markets. Before founding Gyvar, Gideon was Engineering Manager at Bitnob, leading the team building its Bitcoin, Lightning and stablecoin payment infrastructure. Gideon is also co-founder and Executive Director of Bitfiasi Initiative, which advances Bitcoin education and financial literacy in Ghana.
Long bio
Gideon Kombian is a software engineer and the founder of Gyvar, a payments company connecting Bitcoin and stablecoins with bank accounts and mobile money across African markets. Before founding Gyvar, Gideon was Engineering Manager at Bitnob, leading the team building its Bitcoin, Lightning and stablecoin payment infrastructure. Gideon is also co-founder and Executive Director of Bitfiasi Initiative, which advances Bitcoin education and financial literacy in Ghana. With more than twelve years of software engineering experience across fintech, blockchain and enterprise software, Gideon writes and speaks about payments, Bitcoin, stablecoins, engineering leadership and the future of financial infrastructure in Africa. Gideon holds a BSc in Computer Science and Statistics from the University of Ghana.
