If you already pay for this, I especially want your answer. We’re deciding what Unchained does next; new shows, stream times, and what Premium should include.
The survey takes five minutes and it’s anonymous; I read the write-in answers myself. At the end you can enter a drawing for a free year of Bits + Bips Premium. Open through Sunday, October 18.
— Laura
In this episode of Unchained Premium, Kevin Huynh, co-founder and CEO of XASH, joined Laura to talk about a rewards platform that pays stablecoin users on Solana in tokenized gold.
The conversation covers why XASH dropped its original plan for a gold-backed synthetic dollar, how users connect a Phantom or Solflare wallet to reach DeFi venues like Kamino and Orca, and how monthly XP points set each wallet’s share of a gold pool paid out as Paxos Gold (PAXG).
Kevin says the gold comes from a market development fund backed by venture capital, and that the long-term customer is the stablecoin issuer trying to push its token into new venues.
He also covers why the model was built to work with or without the Clarity Act, why XASH launched on Solana rather than Ethereum, and why early users want gold instead of cash.
Can gold work as an incentive where governance tokens fell flat? Listen to find out!
Show Highlights:
- Why XASH shelved its original gold-backed synthetic dollar and the costly hedging operation it would have required
- How connecting a Phantom or Solflare wallet lets users reach Solana DeFi venues like Kamino and Orca without depositing funds with XASH
- How XP points work as a monthly scorecard that sets each wallet’s pro rata share of a gold reward pool
- Why rewards are paid in Paxos Gold (PAXG) on Solana rather than in stablecoins, cash back, or a utility token
- Where the gold comes from right now: a market development fund financed with venture capital
- Why Kevin sees stablecoin issuers, not end users, as XASH’s eventual paying customers
- Why Kevin points to PayPal USD’s Kamino vault incentives as an example of what issuers spend on distribution
- Why XASH launched on Solana first and what the move from closed beta to public beta involves
- Hear it first. Subscriber-only interviews with under-the-radar projects and emerging crypto ideas — the stories everyone else covers six months later
- Read every word. Perfected transcripts of all Unchained episodes
- Join the conversation. A members-only Telegram community
- Ask the questions. Submit questions for guests on the main show
