Houston, Texas

Yusuf Nessary

I believe in Bitcoin for bringing life.

Yusuf Nessary was born in South Central Los Angeles to two refugees from Afghanistan. His family faced many difficulties, as immigrants so often do, but there was never a shortage of hope in his life. “I believe that regardless of your environment, you can still have a positive experience,” he told us. That outlook is exactly what breathed life into his vision.

Bringing hope to all

Yusuf always felt that his calling was to help others. “I just wanted to do something. I had this innate feeling of wanting to be able to do good in the world,” he said. And so in July 2014, he started Zam Zam to bring clean, sustainable water to those who needed it the most. Beyond providing people with necessities, Yusuf wanted to restore hope within these communities.

Unsurprisingly, Zam Zam’s efforts began to get noticed. In the Spring of 2017, a man by the name of Ray Youssef reached out to Nessary asking if he could make a sizable donation in Bitcoin. “What is Bitcoin? I have no idea what that is,” he laughed remembering how he had first responded to the idea. He didn’t know at the time, but that call would change everything.

Built with Bitcoin

As it turns out, Ray was the CEO of Paxful, a peer-to-peer platform for trading digital currencies, and he held a similar vision to that of Yusuf. And so, a partnership began. Together, they launched Built With Bitcoin, a nonprofit organization that would build everything from schools, water wells, and sustainable gardens in emerging communities all over the world.

Later that year, they completed construction of their very first school in Nyamata, Rwanda. It was a feeling he would never forget. “Here was a school we had built using only Bitcoin,” he remarked. In just a few months, Yusuf’s thoughts on the global economy had completely shifted. He saw the power of what Bitcoin was able to do. “It molded me to make more mature financial decisions, inspired me to be more thoughtful, and most importantly, filled me with hope.”

Bright days ahead

Since 2017, Built With Bitcoin has completed a number of additional projects and is continuing to build within the communities that need it most. To this day, Yusuf travels back to each site. He’s been able to see lives changed and people thriving because of opportunities given to them through Bitcoin. “It’s amazing to see,” he said. “I want to legitimize this type of philanthropy because the power of Bitcoin can be used for good. And that’s exactly what we’re doing.”

If you’d like to make a donation to Built With Bitcoin, you can visit their website.