Block Inc., a global technology company focused on financial services, has revealed the winners of the TBD Hackathon, a competition designed to promote innovation, creativity, and technological progress in African payments.
Emmanuel Kufre from Nigeria, the grand prize winner, developed Blink—a decentralized wallet application functioning as a payment processor for freelancers.
The event, held in partnership with the Africa Bitcoin Conference, challenged developers to design unique payment solutions using tbDEX, TBD’s open-source money protocol.
“The creativity and technical expertise displayed during the TBD Hackathon have been truly remarkable,” said Angie Jones, Global VP of Developer Relations at Block. “The innovation across the continent is inspiring, and the winning teams reflect the future of financial solutions in Africa. These developers have not only identified critical challenges in pan-African payment systems but also created transformative solutions. We are excited to see their continued contributions to the evolution of payments and technology.”
Hackathon participants addressed significant issues such as limited banking access, high transaction fees, and inefficient cross-border payments.
Teams of one or two developers utilized the tbDEX SDK to create payment applications within a sandbox environment.
Blink, led by Emmanuel Kufre from Nigeria, won the top prize of $15,000 in BTC for its innovative decentralized payment processor.
This solution enables freelancers to receive global payments for their services, targeting Africa’s $28 billion gig economy market.
Currently in beta testing across five countries, Blink impressed the judges with its potential to revolutionize the freelance payment landscape.
Farida Bemba Nabourema, Convener of the Africa Bitcoin Conference, remarked, “The Africa Bitcoin Conference is dedicated to fostering a thriving Bitcoin ecosystem in Africa, and we’re proud to have hosted the TBD Hackathon. This event showcased the immense talent and creativity within our community. The solutions presented have the power to address pressing challenges such as financial inclusion, cross-border payments, and transparency on our continent.”
Other standout projects included tbDEX Go by Andrew Glago and Eloke Ikiliagwu, and Igbigi by Achego Tamunobelema and Fabari Agbora.
tbDEX Go offers a local payment solution for travelers and tourists in Africa, while Igbigi enables instant app-to-bank and app-to-app money transfers with privacy features.
These projects earned $10,000 and $5,000 in BTC, respectively.
The panel of judges included Aaron Suplizio (Tech Partnerships, TBD), Adewale Abati (Staff Developer Advocate, TBD), Angie Jones (Head of Developer Relations, TBD), Ari Coleman (Product Manager, TBD), Chris Maurice (CEO, Yellow Card), Ebony Louis (Developer Advocate, TBD), Kirah Sapong (Senior Software Engineer, Square), Rizèl Scarlett (Staff Developer Advocate, TBD), Tania Chakraborty (Senior Technical Community Manager, TBD), Tony Tom (Head of Product, TBD), and Will Wilkinson (Head of Policy, TBD).
Through the TBD Hackathon, Block reaffirms its commitment to open-source technologies and the developer community.
While the TBD business has concluded, its work in decentralized identity continues through the Decentralized Identity Foundation.
To contribute to Block’s ongoing open-source initiatives, enthusiasts can visit Block’s Open Source GitHub organization.