My Summer of Bitcoin 2025 Experience with Breez
Hello Everyone, I am Ayush Saksena, I will walk you through my incredible experience at Summer of Bitcoin 2025 where I worked for Breez.
My Background Includes —
I am Sophomore at Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design and Manufacturing Jabalpur, India. I have background in AI/ML and Application Development with some projects at hand and an award at a National level Competition. I had recently developed interest in Blockchain and was planning to make projects. Then I was introduced to Summer of Bitcoin in a session by our college seniors. It made me think, what’s better to learn than by cracking a Globally Recognized Program ?
So, sit comfortably in the passenger seat as I drive you across the next 5 months which were not easy to say the least.
Summer of Bitcoin 2025 Timeline —
It is a multiple stage process, bear with me, this will take significant time and rigorous testing before you even become eligible to apply to the Organizations.
- Application Period —
This was a sort of initial shortlisting round where you were required to fill a form with your basic details like Github, LinkedIn and a Paragraph about why you want to join this program?
This was open for 15 days after which your selection for Learning Bootcamp was notified via Email.
What I learnt ?
It helped me pen down my goal and expectations from this program before it even began which is a great approach in daily life too.
Invitation Mail
- Learning Bootcamp —
This was a four-week intense Program where I was given an assignment which I had to pass before the end of every week. Only after the success of previous assignment, was the new assignment given.
This was honestly the most difficult part of the process because of the timing. It clashed with my Semester examinations so I was giving my Examination in afternoon, working on the assignment entire evening and pulling all nighter to study for the examination next day.
Adi, Summer of Bitcoin Organizer, noticed this and made the 4th test optional. Huge thanks to him !!
What I learnt ?
I learnt Grit. I was able to push myself to the extreme and it made me realize my potential and how much I can achieve just by using my time wisely. I also learnt lot about how Bitcoin works and Blockchain in general.
Advancement to Proposal Round
Proposal Round —
After completing all the tests in the bootcamp, I became eligible to apply to the Organizations. We were asked to lock 3 organizations to which we will give our proposal.
I read all the projects and chose Breez, Galoy and LND in order of the projects I liked. Simultaneously, at this time, we were having quizzes, viva and lab exams. So I was not able to make PR on any of these, which is recommended to get to know the orgs better.
I looked at all 3 orgs and their codebase and finalized Breez. Due to time constraints, I decided to go all in in one org only. I wrote detailed proposal after researching about Breez.
You can see my Proposal here — https://docs.google.com/document/d/1z3ZCnE2K9pW1I3mOf45EUCYoM6osa6gCN0cAvcCIYe0/edit?usp=sharing
What I learnt ?
I learnt to present my solution in detailed way with the help of flowcharts and demo code. It was first time writing a proposal. I got to know lot about Breez.
- Proposal Review Period —
I kept my fingers crossed during this period which lasted a week. I almost forgot about it as my End Semester Exams came up during this period so I had to focus entirely on them to pass the Semester.
- Result —
My Examinations ended on 5th May, 2025. That evening I went to watch movie with my friends and then suddenly the mail came, ‘ Summer of Bitcoin: Congratulations!’ and I wasn’t able to process it for few moments. Then it hit me, I made it. Finally this rigorous testing paid off.
I am grateful to my parents,
and my friends for being constant source of encouragement.
I thought it was the best but little did I know it was yet to come.
Proposal Acceptance Mail
About Breez (My Organization) —
The Breez SDK provides developers with an end-to-end solution for integrating self-custodial Lightning payments into their apps and services, eliminating the need for third parties and simplifying the complexities of Bitcoin and Lightning.
- My Project —
Add Nostr Wallet Connect (NWC) Protocol as Modular, Optional component in Breez SDK. This will enable seamless interface for sending and receiving payments. Along with documentation and demo website implementation. In easier words, current system is scan to pay, I am tasked to provide users with connection string that they can enter anywhere and payment will be done, thus saving the hassle of the user to enter details manually.
My work so far -
[Integration of NWC Module in SDK by ayushsaksena30 · Pull Request #920 ·
breez/breez-sdk-liquidDescription This PR is an initial draft that: Creates Directory for Bridge between NWC and SDK. Adds trait NWCService…github.com](https://github.com/breez/breez-sdk- liquid/pull/920?source=post_page—– 093f9985777f—————————————)
[Added Nostr Wallet Connect Implementation Documentation by ayushsaksena30
· Pull Request #112 ·…This PR adds a section to help devs use Nostr Wallet Connect Protocol in the SDK. I have added the following- Code for…github.com](https://github.com/breez/breez-sdk-liquid- docs/pull/112?source=post_page—– 093f9985777f—————————————)
[GitHub - ayushsaksena30/nwc_implementation_breezContribute to
ayushsaksena30/nwc_implementation_breez development by creating an account on GitHub.github.com](https://github.com/ayushsaksena30/nwc_implementation_breez?source=post_page —–093f9985777f—————————————)
- Culture —
I got the opportunity to talk to Roy Sheinfeld , Breez Co-Founder and CEO. He was very encouraging and introduced me to the super cool project mentor, Antonio. Throughout the project, Antonio has helped me grow in numerous ways, he helped me understand complicated concepts while making sure I learn from this experience. Guiding me and be available round the clock to handle all my doubts, even the most basic ones while Providing me the correct resources to study from are just some of the many things he helped me with. He made me feel comfortable with doing mistakes and learning from that experience. He never pressured me about any of the deadlines and still our work stayed ahead of decided timeline.
I am very grateful to be under his guidance. He represents the Org’s overall Positive Environment of Growth along with Learning. Working for Breez is the best part in my whole experience. I am very grateful to Summer of Bitcoin for providing me this opportunity and everyone who helped me make the chain of right decisions to land here.
Important Links —
- https://guide.summerofbitcoin.org/the-proposal-round/writing-a-winning-project-proposal
- http://summerofbitcoin.org/
- https://github.com/kallerosenbaum/grokkingbitcoin
- http://breez.technology
- https://sdk-doc-liquid.breez.technology/
That’s all I have for now. See you in the next one !
Ayush Saksena