Vaionex wants to breathe new life into the STAS token protocol on BSV with the upcoming release of its first stablecoin. The latest version of STAS has some features which the company thinks could gain favor with regulators and make digital asset creation more appealing to everyday users.
Vaionex is also working on releasing the first native mobile version of its Relysia wallet, which is currently desktop-only, and wants to challenge HandCash with its integration of other BSV apps and services. It will be available on iOS and Android, and features the ability to create NFTs directly within the app for various purposes (e.g., collectibles, tickets). Relysia will also interact with Vaionex’s nftana marketplace, which will be open-sourced. Users can mint their own tokens within the app, list them on nftana, and send them directly to other users.
Bitcoin needs a more business-friendly image
Speaking to CoinGeek, Head of Business Development at Vaionex Corporation Nathan Cropper said he thinks the newest version of the STAS protocol will spark interest in the enterprise and corporate world. Among the upgrades are changes to redemption functionality—now only the original issuer can destroy a token once it’s created—and the NOTE OUTPUT feature, which now permits more additional data. The former improvement could make it more regulator-friendly, he added.
Cropper said that, as someone coming from the more “traditional” financial world, he’s interested in technology and techniques that allow Bitcoin to compete globally with the existing financial system.
He wants to target the Top 500 companies, asking the questions, “How easy can you make it? How can you demonstrate the value most easily? There are so many ways to skin a cat, to get widespread adoption, and we’re thinking: How quickly can you unlock that value?”
For this to happen, there needs to be the ability to trade with absolute confidence and companies focusing on the end user.
“You really need to know what they need. That’s really the only way to do business, and it should be central to all the company’s decisions.” He said he finds joy in discovering that developers in the BSV ecosystem use Vaionex’s products without referring to the documentation. That means it’s easy, intuitive, one-click/simple, and removes friction.
Vaionex wants to “support the continued evolution that Bitcoin is going through right now,” Cropper said. That means a more business-friendly approach overall.
An important note that the public should consider is the one that sets the rules blockchains must play. Regulators he’s spoken to “seem to take issue with Bitcoin being a probabilistic network rather than deterministic (like Ethereum).” This refers to the way transactions are settled on a blockchain—a “deterministic” blockchain considers a transaction finalized/settled once it’s written on-chain, whereas a “probabilistic” blockchain like Bitcoin’s considers a transaction more secure as more blocks are added to the chain after the one containing the transaction. Dr. Craig Wright has made numerous arguments over the years that a Bitcoin transaction can be considered finalized after a single confirmation or even before. However, that issue is still debated in the wider blockchain world, meaning regulators will need further convincing or education before accepting that Bitcoin’s transactions are every bit as secure.
STAS has struggled somewhat to gain traction in the BSV world. Though praised initially for its “native to the blockchain” protocol, it has faced criticisms for excessive code and a licensing requirement. It’s now facing a new challenge from 1Sat Ordinals, the latest BSV token protocol to emerge, and one that also functions “natively” by inscribing data directly onto individual satoshi units.
In a tweet, Vaionex founder Robin Kohze said, “I’m quite happy to see the move from l2 to Ordinals of many in the ecosystem—it’s a big shift towards frictionless interoperability. With sufficient market demand, we’d also offer tools in time and offer seamless atomic swaps with the STAS stablecoins.”
I'm quite happy to see the move from l2 to ordinals of many in the ecosystem – it's a big shift towards frictionless interoperability. With sufficient market demand, we'd also offer tools in time and offer seamless atomic swaps with the stas stablecoins.
— Rob (@Rob_GCC) March 27, 2023
AI, other applications, and Bitcoin attitudes
Cropper also noted that Vaionex is exploring the world of artificial intelligence (AI) and is very interested in ways blockchain could further increase the value of what we’ve already seen in that field. The team has already completed over 40 projects on BSV and is considering ways to integrate AI into both Relysia wallets and Vaionex’s SatoLearn educational platform. For the wallet, it could be used to protect your ID. For SatoLearn, it could help develop more efficient learning outcomes by structuring learning, adding incentivization, and increasing a student’s productivity.
He noted that Bitcoin had taken a long time to gain awareness outside its own enthusiast community, and even in the mainstream, people are still looking at “crypto” and “decentralized money,” building an entire industry around these ideas. But Bitcoin could be doing a lot more.
In BSV and at Vaionex, “we’re challenging people right to the very core of what blockchain is,” he said, and “I like to focus on the technology, solving problems and creating efficiencies.”
“It does appear that there has been a lack of gratitude (among Bitcoiners) for the financial services we have now,” he said, and Bitcoin still has a long way to go to prove to the traditional finance world that it’s something of better value than what we already have.
He thinks timestamping could be the one that begins it, and BSV’s Digital Asset Recovery tools may also gain some attention. There’s a need to prove Bitcoin is suitable for finalized settlements, risk and offer users better protection against scams and thefts.
“There’s too much pie in the sky talk. We need to get reality back on track, with good services, make sure users are safe … lots of people in blockchain don’t respect businesses or people,” Cropper pointed out.
“As a company, we need to make a profit, we need to be a successful business, we need real competition,” Cropper said. He sees the traditional financial system as its competition, “and we can use BSV to take a nibble” from that.
Watch: Nathan Cropper on CoinGeek Conversations
Editor’s note: This article has been edited for clarity.
New to blockchain? Check out CoinGeek’s Blockchain for Beginners section, the ultimate resource guide to learn more about blockchain technology.
