What if AI ran the government, and a private company built the digital money and IDs to make it possible? Xin Yan is doing exactly that, for over a dozen countries.
Xin Yan started as a crypto mining engineer and built Token Table into 40% market share of token distribution before pivoting his company into something almost no one else in crypto is doing: building sovereign digital infrastructure (stablecoins, CBDCs, and digital ID) directly for governments. He is now working with UAE, Pakistan, Kyrgyzstan, Bhutan, Barbados, Sierra Leone, and more, with backing from the UAE government and Binance.
In this episode Xin Yan and Ivan Patriki get into digital sovereignty, why governments (not Google or Palantir) might be the safer place for your data, UBI paid out like an airdrop, and the case for an AI Prime Minister.
We cover:
Building digital money and digital ID for over a dozen governments
Why crypto adoption failed: nobody worked with the gatekeeper
"If an entity has all your data, better the government than Palantir"
UBI distributed like claiming an airdrop straight from the Treasury
A selfie to prove you had a baby, then the government sends money?
Is centralizing everything into one digital ID dystopian?
How the world's payment rails are controlled by just two countries
Getting endorsed by the UAE government and Binance (sometimes CZ directly)
Why governments don't get "high" on Bitcoin, they just want the problem solved
His prediction: how soon until an AI Prime Minister exists
His crypto portfolio (mostly Bitcoin) and why his mom out-traded him on Doge
Real free time: walks, smoking, and people-watching to reset
Why you should "trust blockchain more" (POW) and fear centralized AI
The yin-yang of centralization and decentralization, and why Bitcoin was born in 2008
How to actually use Bitcoin privately when KYC is everywhere
MORE OF XIN YAN:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/xin-yan-658545172/
Twitter: https://x.com/realyanxin
MORE OF ON THE MARGIN:
Website: https://www.themargin.tv
Spotify:
Main Site: https://www.on-the-margin.com
MORE OF BOAZ SOBRADO:
Twitter: https://x.com/sobradob
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sobradob
Website: https://themargin.tv/boaz-sobrado
MORE OF IVAN PATRIKI:
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/artizt
Substack: https://substack.com/@artizt
Twitter: https://x.com/Ivan_patriki
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/artizt/?hl=en
TikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@ascended
Telegram: https://t.me/ivanpatriki
Timestamps:
00:00 - Building sovereign digital money and ID for governments.
01:03 - The dozen countries he already works with.
02:06 - From crypto mining geek to B2G, why crypto needed the government.
05:25 - Is a government digital ID a privacy nightmare?
07:22 - Digital ID and digital money: the two pillars of a digitized state.
09:30 - UBI paid out like an airdrop straight from the Treasury.
11:45 - "Isn't this dystopian?" Centralized control vs Palantir.
15:41 - His first government contract and how trust gets built.
18:43 - Getting backed by the UAE and Binance (sometimes CZ himself).
22:34 - Digital sovereignty, war, and who can debank a whole country.
24:05 - National stablecoins vs USDT, and why the Fed is weird.
26:50 - His portfolio: mostly Bitcoin, and mom's Doge bag.
27:31 - His mindset, sleep schedule, and thinking about the future.
29:45 - The case for an AI Prime Minister.
33:35 - Why the day-to-day is small problems, not grand ideation.
35:04 - Free time: walks, smoking, and people-watching.
37:12 - The future: real-time, multi-currency, P2P global payments.
40:40 - Advice: travel and talk to enough people.
41:31 - Trust blockchain, fear centralized AI, and the yin-yang of power.
43:53 - Monero, and how to actually use Bitcoin privately.
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