Key Takeaways
- Zachary Kilgore co-founded Flexa and helped build Ampera, a payment system supported by the AMP token for secure transactions.
- He studied Computer Engineering at Duke University, earning a Bachelor of Engineering and gaining strong tech and finance skills.
- Kilgore led software engineering at Slide, improving digital gift card payments before the company was acquired by Raise in 2016.
Who is Zachary Kilgore?
Zachary Kilgore helped start Flexa, the company behind Ampera, a payment system that uses the AMP token for support. From 2002 to 2006, he attended Duke University, where he pursued a degree in Computer Engineering. He gained a strong foundation in engineering principles and technology during this time, eventually earning a Bachelor of Engineering degree.
Early Career As A Software Engineer
Zachary Kilgore has a solid background in building software and working with digital payments. He was the Director of Software Engineering at Slide, a mobile app for iOS and Android that lets users purchase, store, and organize digital gift cards. While he was in charge, Slide added more features and improved its handling of prepaid payments.
Slide Acquisition
In 2016, Raise bought Slide for an unknown amount, helping Raise grow in the digital gift card industry. This purchase allowed Raise to offer more services, attract more users, and improve its platform for buying, selling, and managing gift cards. By adding Slide’s technology and features, Raise became even stronger in the digital payments and gift card market.
Role at Raise
After Raise bought Slide, Kilgore became the Engineering Lead at Raise. In this role, he worked on improving and managing the company’s technology systems, helping to make its gift card marketplace better. His skills made the platform more straightforward to use and more efficient. He stayed with Raise until 2018, playing an active role in its growth.
Co-Founding Flexa
In March 2018, Kilgore helped start Flexa, a digital payment network designed for fast and safe transactions. He founded the company with Tyler Spalding and took on the roles of Principal Engineer and Chief Information Security Officer (CISO). At Flexa, he worked on building the platform’s core technology, ensuring it was secure, reliable, and able to grow as more people started using it in the digital payment industry.
Supporting the Acronym Foundation
Along with his work at Flexa, Kilgore leads open projects for the Acronym Foundation, a nonprofit group focused on creating new payment technologies that don’t rely on a central authority. The foundation started with a donation of AMP tokens from Flexa Network, Inc., helping it work toward its goal of developing open and accessible financial solutions.
Bringing Crypto to Everyday Use
At the ETHDenver YouTube channel, Zachary Kilgore presented how cryptocurrency payments can become easier to use in everyday life. He explains how a new software tool (SDK) helps people pay with crypto from their digital wallets, whether they are shopping online or in a store. Kilgore focuses on making crypto payments simple, secure, and fast so that more people and businesses can start using digital money in real-world transactions.
Impact on the Digital Payments Industry
Kilgore’s work with Flexa has helped more people and businesses use cryptocurrency and digital money for daily purchases. By helping to build a system that lets stores accept digital payments quickly and safely, he has played an important part in connecting regular banking with blockchain technology.
Blockchain and DeFi Involvement
Kilgore’s work at Flexa and the Acronym Foundation connects with the growing use of blockchain and decentralized finance (DeFi). By using AMP to support payments, he has helped build new financial systems that do not need banks or middlemen. His work in DeFi shows that he will likely keep exploring how blockchain can improve financial systems.
Kilgore’s Vision
Zachary Kilgore believes in a future where digital payments are fast, secure, and easy for everyone to use without depending on banks or other middlemen. Through his work with Flexa and the Acronym Foundation, he focuses on building new payment systems that give more control to businesses and people. Using blockchain and open technology, he hopes to make digital money a natural part of everyday spending, simply and reliably.
Final Thoughts
Zachary Kilgore has helped improve digital payments, from his work at Slide and Raise to co-founding Flexa. He focuses on making payments fast, secure, and easy to use with crypto. Through Flexa and the Acronym Foundation, he works to bring digital money to more people and businesses. With his background in software and technology, Kilgore is set to keep shaping the future of online payments and blockchain finance.
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