Block Inc., the global tech company focused on financial innovation, has announced the winners of its highly anticipated TBD Hackathon, held in collaboration with the Africa Bitcoin Conference. The competition challenged developers to create groundbreaking payment solutions leveraging tbDEX, an open-source money protocol.
Emmanuel Kufre, a Nigerian developer, claimed the grand prize of $15,000 in Bitcoin for his project, Blink, a decentralized wallet application designed to help freelancers in Africa seamlessly process global payments. Blink addresses the needs of Africa’s $28 billion gig economy by enabling freelancers to accept payments without centralized intermediaries. Currently in beta testing across five countries, the app promises to revolutionize payments for gig workers.
Angie Jones, Global VP of Developer Relations at Block, lauded the innovation and technical expertise showcased during the event. “These solutions represent the future of financial systems across Africa. Developers like Kufre are addressing key challenges in cross-border payments and financial inclusion with remarkable creativity.”
Other standout projects included:
- tbDEX Go, a local payment solution for tourists and travelers by Andrew Glago and Eloke Ikiliagwu, earning a $10,000 BTC prize.
- Igbigi, an app enabling instant and private app-to-bank and app-to-app transfers, by Achego Tamunobelema and Fabari Agbora, which received $5,000 in BTC.
The hackathon highlighted Africa’s immense talent pool and the potential of open-source technology to address systemic financial challenges like limited banking access and high transaction fees.
Farida Bemba Nabourema, convener of the Africa Bitcoin Conference, emphasized the importance of such initiatives, stating, “These projects showcase how innovation can tackle critical issues like financial inclusion and transparency across the continent.”
Through events like the TBD Hackathon, Block reaffirms its commitment to fostering innovation in the global developer community while advancing open-source.
Source: African Publicity
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