Updated: 5 October 2026
bitcoin++ is a developer-focused Bitcoin conference series that changes theme with each edition. The Berlin 2026 edition was held from 1 to 3 October at w3.hub and was dedicated to payments: how bitcoin moves over Lightning, ecash and other layers, and what it takes to build payment products people actually use.
Key details
- Dates: 1–3 October 2026
- Location: w3.hub, Berlin, Germany
- Organiser: bitcoin++
- Official website: https://btcpp.dev/berlin26
What happened
The programme ran talks and workshops across two rooms, with 38 accepted speakers listed by the organiser. Sessions covered self-custodial Lightning tools, ecash systems such as Cashu and Fedimint, and Bark, Second’s implementation of the Ark protocol.
The 24-hour hackathon ended with 35 projects listed for demos and an eight-person judging panel. According to the official hackathon results, “cashu player” took first place and 2.5 million sats, “The Doghouse” came second and “Will I make my boat?” third. Sponsor challenges were awarded separately: Barkauf won Mempool’s transaction accelerator prize, LowTide won the Electrum plugin challenge and NWC Commission Payments won the payment protocol proposal award. Six further projects received honourable mentions.
Who it was for
The audience was technical: protocol contributors, wallet and Lightning developers, researchers and builders working on open-source Bitcoin software.
Our preview of bitcoin++ Berlin covers the Lightning, ecash and layer-two talks in more detail. New to Lightning? Our explainer on how the Lightning Network works covers the basics, and our guide to how crypto payments work explains the wider picture.
