Ben Kaufman
Ben Kaufman: Software Developer at Synonym, as listed by the organiser of Plan ₿ Forum 2026 in Lugano. Synonym's team page lists him in its Paykit team, next to the teams building the Bitkit wallet and Pubky. His GitHub account, linked from that team page, is the second-largest contributor to Bitkit's native iOS wallet; in July 2026 his merged pull request moved Bitkit onto the native Paykit SDK. The same account is the second-largest contributor to Specter Desktop, the open-source Bitcoin wallet software; Bitcoin Magazine's author page describes him as a developer building Specter Desktop. At the forum: "Agents Need Money: Bitcoin, Lightning and A2A Payment Rails" (panel, P2P Stage) on 23 Oct at 17:30 Lugano time (16:30 London), plus 1 more session.
Source: planb.lugano.ch
Key facts
| Fact | Value | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Role (per the organiser) | Software Developer at Synonym | planb.lugano.ch |
| Plan ₿ Forum 2026 | 2 sessions; first: 23 Oct, 17:30 Lugano (16:30 London) | Brella, planb.lugano.ch |
| Background | Synonym's team page lists him in its Paykit team, next to the teams building the Bitkit wallet and Pubky. | synonym.to |
| Background | His GitHub account, linked from that team page, is the second-largest contributor to Bitkit's native iOS wallet; in July 2026 his merged pull request moved Bitkit onto the native Paykit SDK. | github.com |
| Background | The same account is the second-largest contributor to Specter Desktop, the open-source Bitcoin wallet software; Bitcoin Magazine's author page describes him as a developer building Specter Desktop. | bitcoinmagazine.com |
| Official X account | @_benkaufman | x.com, planb.lugano.ch |
Plan ₿ Forum Lugano 2026: sessions
Ben Kaufman is on the official agenda of Plan ₿ Forum 2026 (Palazzo dei Congressi, Lugano, 23–24 October 2026) with 2 sessions. Times are local Lugano time with London time in brackets; the organiser can still move sessions on the day.
- 23 Oct, 17:30 Lugano (16:30 London): "Agents Need Money: Bitcoin, Lightning and A2A Payment Rails" (Panel · P2P Stage · 30 min), with Roy Sheinfeld, Moritz Kaminski, Stephan Livera and Dario Varela
- 24 Oct, 16:15 Lugano (15:15 London): "Paykit: A new Payment Protocol Paradigm" (Masterclass, level: Intermediate · UTXO Room · 45 min), with Denys Zaliskyi
Source: the organiser's agenda feed [Brella] and [official agenda], checked 2026-10-21. Full schedule and other speakers: Plan ₿ Forum 2026 event page.
Who is Ben Kaufman
Software Developer at Synonym (organiser's [official speakers page]). Synonym's team page lists him in its Paykit team, next to the teams building the Bitkit wallet and Pubky. [synonym.to] His GitHub account, linked from that team page, is the second-largest contributor to Bitkit's native iOS wallet; in July 2026 his merged pull request moved Bitkit onto the native Paykit SDK. [github.com] The same account is the second-largest contributor to Specter Desktop, the open-source Bitcoin wallet software; Bitcoin Magazine's author page describes him as a developer building Specter Desktop. [bitcoinmagazine.com]
FAQ
- When does Ben Kaufman speak at Plan ₿ Forum 2026?
- Per the official agenda (checked 2026-10-21): 23 Oct 17:30 Lugano (16:30 London): "Agents Need Money: Bitcoin, Lightning and A2A Payment Rails", P2P Stage; 24 Oct 16:15 Lugano (15:15 London): "Paykit: A new Payment Protocol Paradigm", UTXO Room. The organiser can still change times.
- Who is Ben Kaufman?
- The Plan ₿ Forum 2026 organiser lists Ben Kaufman as "Software Developer at Synonym". Synonym's team page lists him in its Paykit team, next to the teams building the Bitkit wallet and Pubky. His GitHub account, linked from that team page, is the second-largest contributor to Bitkit's native iOS wallet; in July 2026 his merged pull request moved Bitkit onto the native Paykit SDK. The same account is the second-largest contributor to Specter Desktop, the open-source Bitcoin wallet software; Bitcoin Magazine's author page describes him as a developer building Specter Desktop.
See also
- Roy SheinfeldRoy Sheinfeld: CEO at Breez, as listed by the organiser of Plan ₿ Forum 2026 in Lugano. Breez makes the Breez SDK, which adds non-custodial bitcoin and stablecoin payments to apps and services. At the forum: "Agents Need Money: Bitcoin, Lightning and A2A Payment Rails" (panel, P2P Stage) on 23 Oct at 17:30 Lugano time (16:30 London), plus 2 more sessions.
- Moritz KaminskiMoritz Kaminski: Co-Founder at Alby, as listed by the organiser of Plan ₿ Forum 2026 in Lugano. Alby makes open-source Bitcoin Lightning wallets and tools, including the self-hosted Alby Hub. At the forum: "Agents Need Money: Bitcoin, Lightning and A2A Payment Rails" (panel, P2P Stage) on 23 Oct at 17:30 Lugano time (16:30 London).
- Stephan LiveraStephan Livera: Bitcoin Podcaster, as listed by the organiser of Plan ₿ Forum 2026 in Lugano. Hosts the Stephan Livera Podcast (SLP), in-depth Bitcoin interviews and education. At the forum: "Funding Bitcoin: Independence, Incentives, and Influence" (debate, WAGMI Stage) on 23 Oct at 16:00 Lugano time (15:00 London), plus 4 more sessions.
- Dario VarelaDario Varela: Engineer, Lightning Labs, as listed by the organiser of Plan ₿ Forum 2026 in Lugano. Lightning Labs' team page lists him as a full stack engineer. His GitHub profile, which links to his X account, names Lightning Labs and Numeraire Technologies as his companies; in September and October 2026 he committed to Lightning Labs' tap-sdk, a kit for building Taproot Assets applications. Numeraire, a Swiss company, lists him as a co-founder and says it mines Bitcoin using only renewable energy sources. At the forum: "Agents Need Money: Bitcoin, Lightning and A2A Payment Rails" (panel, P2P Stage) on 23 Oct at 17:30 Lugano time (16:30 London).
References
- Plan ₿ Forum 2026: official speakers page (planb.lugano.ch) planb.lugano.ch
- Plan ₿ Forum 2026: official agenda (planb.lugano.ch) planb.lugano.ch
- Plan ₿ Forum 2026: official agenda feed (Brella, PlanBLugano2026) api.brella.io
- synonym.to synonym.to
- github.com github.com
- bitcoinmagazine.com bitcoinmagazine.com
- Ben Kaufman on X (@_benkaufman) x.com