In this episode, I speak with Xin from Sign Global, a company building sovereign blockchain infrastructure for governments — from national stablecoins and CBDCs to digital identity and real-world asset systems.
Xin explains why crypto struggles to reach real adoption: we build great tech but rarely solve problems for banks, regulators, or everyday users. Sign Global works directly with governments to modernize payments, identity, and asset rails — aiming to cut international settlement from 1–3 days to 2 minutes and unlock massive economic velocity.
We discuss global stablecoin trends, why USD stablecoins won’t dominate long term, how sovereign digital ID actually works, and why countries like Kazakhstan and the UAE are moving fastest.
A rare, practical look at the future of national-scale blockchain systems.
(Nothing here is financial advice.)
Key timestamps
[00:00:00] Cold Open: Xin on why crypto people don’t talk to the real world
[00:01:00] Intro: Sam introduces Xin and Sign Global’s mission for sovereign infrastructure
[00:03:00] Origin Story: Mining, hardware, VC and founding Sign in 2021
[00:05:00] From App to Nations: Pivoting from Web3 contract signing to CBDCs and stablecoins
[00:08:00] Crypto vs Real World: Why good tech without real users doesn’t create value
[00:11:00] Digital ID: Sovereign credentials vs centralized government databases that keep getting hacked
[00:15:00] Progressive States: Kazakhstan, UAE and how ambitious governments think about crypto
[00:19:00] Future of Stablecoins: Why Xin believes stablecoins win but USD stablecoins won’t dominate everyday money
[00:24:00] Tokenizing Nations: Governments as gatekeepers for fiat, oil, land and RWA on-chain
[00:30:00] Business Model: From government infra contracts to global payment rails
[00:33:00] Bandwidth of Money: 1–3 day SWIFT vs 2-minute settlement and the impact on global GDP
[00:34:00] Roadmap & Ask: 25+ countries, global payment network and who Xin wants to work with
Connect
https://www.linkedin.com/company/ethsign/
https://www.linkedin.com/in/xin-yan-658545172/
Disclaimer
Nothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. Finally, it would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.
Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/
Popular Podcasts
Stuff You Should Know
If you've ever wanted to know about champagne, satanism, the Stonewall Uprising, chaos theory, LSD, El Nino, true crime and Rosa Parks, then look no further. Josh and Chuck have you covered.
Dateline NBC
Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com
My Favorite Murder with Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark
My Favorite Murder is a true crime comedy podcast hosted by Karen Kilgariff and Georgia Hardstark. Each week, Karen and Georgia share compelling true crimes and hometown stories from friends and listeners. Since MFM launched in January of 2016, Karen and Georgia have shared their lifelong interest in true crime and have covered stories of infamous serial killers like the Night Stalker, mysterious cold cases, captivating cults, incredible survivor stories and important events from history like the Tulsa race massacre of 1921. My Favorite Murder is part of the Exactly Right podcast network that provides a platform for bold, creative voices to bring to life provocative, entertaining and relatable stories for audiences everywhere. The Exactly Right roster of podcasts covers a variety of topics including historic true crime, comedic interviews and news, science, pop culture and more. Podcasts on the network include Buried Bones with Kate Winkler Dawson and Paul Holes, That's Messed Up: An SVU Podcast, This Podcast Will Kill You, Bananas and more.