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Ben Blaine

Ben Blaine

Fintech founder, community builder, and Bitcoin advocate

ben-blaine
Camps Bay, South Africa
Joined February 2026
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Network

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Summary

Ben Blaine is a serial fintech entrepreneur and product developer, having co-founded and contributed to the growth of several significant South African tech companies. He was part of the founding team for SnapScan, a mobile payment app later acquired by Standard Bank, and played a key role in FireID, an incubator for companies like Luno and OfferZen. His current ventures, Neurabuild and MoneyBadger, continue this trend, focusing on research-backed tech solutions and mainstream Bitcoin payments, respectively. neurabuild+2
A passionate advocate for Bitcoin adoption and usability, Ben Blaine is actively involved in making Bitcoin a practical payment method in South Africa through his work at MoneyBadger. His social media presence reflects a strong commitment to promoting crypto payments, demonstrating firsthand its use in daily transactions, and contributing to the narrative around its real-world application. x+2
Ben Blaine possesses significant expertise in community building, particularly within the developer and tech startup ecosystems. At OfferZen, he spent years developing concepts around 'Community Engineering' and implementing strategies to foster thriving communities, including projects with Investec Programmable Banking. He views community engineering as a way to empower members and facilitate the creation of new things. benblaine+2
With a Bachelor of Engineering in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Stellenbosch, Ben Blaine's career trajectory highlights a successful pivot from traditional engineering to the dynamic world of software product development and fintech. This background likely provides him with a structured problem-solving approach applied to technology and community challenges. benblaine+1

Work

Education

Writing

MoneyBadger Announces Partnership with Scan to Pay to Enable South Africans to Spend Bitcoin Effortlessly at Over 650,000 Merchant Locations

October 7, 2025

An article announcing MoneyBadger's partnership with Scan to Pay, enabling South Africans to use Bitcoin for payments at a wide range of merchants.

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Peach Payments’ MoneyBadger partnership goes live

July 28, 2025

An article detailing the partnership between Peach Payments and MoneyBadger, allowing merchants to accept Bitcoin and other crypto assets.

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MoneyBadger announces $400,000/R7m pre-seed funding raise

July 15, 2025

An article about MoneyBadger securing pre-seed funding to facilitate Bitcoin payments across South Africa.

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Programmable Banking Community: A Slack App for Better Spending Habits

March 16, 2021

An article detailing how a Slack app was built to help manage spending habits within the Programmable Banking Community.

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How Make Events Help Us Have Meaningful Community Interactions Remotely

January 29, 2021

An article discussing strategies for running engaging remote events for community building, specifically mentioning the Programmable Banking Community.

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What is a Community Engineer?

January 1, 2020

A collation of core concepts around community engineering, defining it as figuring out how to get members to achieve the purpose of a community, emphasizing shared identity, community feeling, and engineering for thriving communities.

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Hobbies

Enjoys computers, rock climbing, building products, spending time with family, exploring the internet, engaging with friends, playing games, surfing, playing guitar, making things, lifting weights, and sprinting on beaches. benblaine