# Ben Milne

> Ben Milne is a Des Moines entrepreneur and the founder and CEO of Brale, a stablecoin infrastructure company. He co-founded Dwolla in 2008 after credit-card fees at his speaker business prompted him to investigate cheaper payments, led its shift toward business payment infrastructure, and stepped away from its board in 2025. He also co-founded Basis Theory and started V-Sum.

- **Role:** Founder and CEO at Brale
- **Organizations:** Brale, Dwolla, Basis Theory, V-Sum, Elemental Designs, Clay & Milk
- **Education:** Cedar Falls High School, Attended; left without completing a degree, University of Northern Iowa
- **Known for:** Built Elemental Designs from $1,200 in savings to approximately $1.5 million annual sales by 2008., Co-founded Dwolla and led its development from consumer payments into business payment infrastructure., Honored as an MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35 in 2013.

## Career timeline

- **2001** — Started audio-speaker business Elemental Designs as a high-school senior.
- **2008** — Sold Elemental Designs and co-founded Dwolla with Shane Neuerburg.
- **2010** — Dwolla launched nationally in December.
- **2013** — Named to MIT Technology Review’s Innovators Under 35.
- **2016** — Dwolla recapitalized and focused on its business payment platform, according to Milne’s later account.
- **2020** — Announced a CEO succession search at Dwolla; co-founded Basis Theory and started V-Sum.
- **2022** — Founded Brale.
- **2023** — Named to the CFTC Technology Advisory Committee in March.
- **2025** — Left Dwolla’s board on August 15; Brale announced $30 million financing in September.
- **2026** — Reflected on Dwolla’s acquisition by NMI and described Brale’s work with Visa on Canton settlement.

## Achievements

- Built Elemental Designs from $1,200 in savings to approximately $1.5 million annual sales by 2008.
- Co-founded Dwolla and led its development from consumer payments into business payment infrastructure.
- Honored as an MIT Technology Review Innovator Under 35 in 2013.
- Reported Dwolla’s platform had exceeded a $10 million revenue run rate and $10 billion annual gross payment volume in February 2020.
- Built Brale’s stablecoin infrastructure business; the company announced $30 million financing led by Lightspeed in September 2025.
- Appointed to the CFTC Technology Advisory Committee in March 2023.

## Latest updates

- **2026-06** — On June 21, published Graphing Standard Format, a proposed visual grammar for relationship graphs.
- **2026-06** — On June 13, described an experiment allowing software agents to pay stablecoins to send him a message.
- **2026-06** — On June 7, described Brale’s work with Visa on stablecoin settlement using Canton.
- **2026-06** — On June 6, reflected on Dwolla’s acquisition by NMI, emphasizing the teams continuing the work.
- **2026-05** — NMI announced its acquisition of Dwolla on May 19.
- **2026-02** — Discussed Brale’s efforts to lower barriers to stablecoin issuance following a Block by Block conversation.
- **2025-09** — Brale announced $30 million financing led by Lightspeed on September 18.
- **2025-08** — Stepped off Dwolla’s board after 17 years.

## Links

- Website: https://benmilne.com/
- LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/bpmilne/
- Twitter/X: https://x.com/bpmilne

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Profile page: https://yespress.io/ben-milne
Published by YesPress — https://yespress.io
Last updated: 2026-10-20