The cryptonomist conducted an interview with Burnt Banksy, founder of NFT art project Burnt and core contributor to the XION L1 blockchain.
Burnt Banksy is leading a mission to democratize web3 for the masses and make digital ownership accessible to everyone by removing unnecessary barriers and complications through crypto abstraction.
After launching the XION Blockchain, Burnt Banksy and his team secured a $25 million funding round – with the aim of ‘making crypto disappear’.
Burnt Banksy gave us valuable insights into topics related to Web3 adoption, crypto abstraction, ecosystem interoperability and why he and XION’s investors believe XION is the future of web3 abstraction.
XION aims to democratize web3 for the masses by removing unnecessary barriers and complications through crypto abstraction. Can you explain what crypto abstraction means and how it translates into making digital ownership more accessible?
Crypto abstraction simply makes blockchain technology easy to use by hiding all the complexities behind simple, easy-to-use interfaces that they are already familiar with. It lets people interact with digital assets without having to be technical experts. Features like metatransactions, where someone else can pay the transaction fees for you, and familiar login methods make it super accessible.
Congratulations on raising a $25 million funding round! Can you share more about how you plan to use this funding to advance XION’s mission and what specific milestones you plan to achieve in the near future?
Thank you! We are at a pivotal point in the life of every startup and are seeing great reception for our product. It’s very clear that now is the time to scale up what works. We have already succeeded in hiring key employees necessary for growth and plan to continue. We have seen our ecosystem grow exponentially and want to provide all resources to help projects thrive.
One of your goals is to ‘make crypto disappear’. What does this mean in practical terms for end users, and how does this approach contribute to wider adoption and accessibility of web3?
For so long, crypto has grown in an echo chamber with huge barriers to entry that only very technical people can access. To reap the benefits of crypto, we need to break down the walls that kept everyone out. People don’t need to know anything to enjoy the benefits of web3. Similar to how a user can scroll the internet without knowing the intricacies, the demise of crypto will make this possible.
Ecosystem interoperability is crucial to the success of blockchain projects. How does XION ensure seamless interoperability with other blockchain ecosystems, and what role do you see this playing in the future of web3?
Interoperability is extremely important to us because we know that adoption isn’t something one team can tackle alone. Our approach is to collaborate with many other L1s by providing chain abstraction for many different protocols. We have already seen success with the Abstracted Interoperability demo applications on Neutron and Injective. Additionally, we’ve brought chain abstraction to Solana, AVAX, BNB and more.
There are many projects aimed at making web3 more user-friendly. What sets XION apart from other initiatives in this area, and why do you and your investors believe that XION is the future of web3 abstraction?
I think through our chain abstraction we’re taking a different first-principles approach by saying we’re the first and only walletless L1 chain. We’ve seen firsthand the pain points that wallets cause and proven the enormous benefits of replacing wallets with smart contract accounts. Additionally, this allows us to be much more collaborative and interoperable because we have an agnostic interoperability plan with a cryptographic signature.
It’s definitely the combination of many things. Clearly, all the abstractions that make a Web2 UI/UX possible (login with email, using apps directly on your phone, no gas costs for end users, no seed sentences, complexity of plugins, etc.) are also in the protocol are built-in. reduces development complexity. We also take a very white approach to the ecosystem, helping with marketing, product development, community building, fundraising and really working closely together to support growth. We have a major marketing engine that has enabled ecosystem projects to boost their communities, gain tremendous traction and visibility and has also translated into access to top investors for right-stage projects. And the traction is there to support our approach, with over 2.5 million users, over 40 million transactions, an ecosystem of over 170+ projects, and brands like Uber and The North Face completing highly successful campaigns.