.@Stanford Professor @RuizheJia at @EASYResidency: Why is everyone racing to solve payments first? Because it’s the fastest way to own the user relationship. Once users put liquidity into your infrastructure, they don’t leave. Then you can offer lending, investing, trade finance — everything. Payment is the beachhead. The real battle starts after.

.@Stanford Professor @RuizheJia at @EASYResidency workshop: "Stablecoin-based payments can be one of the biggest shifts in financial infrastructure (esp in fragmented markets). Everyone has to think about who’s going to win the payment world — and what the killer apps on top will be." Alipay and WeChat Pay proved the playbook: own the payment layer, and you become the entry point for savings, lending, investing, and everything. For many regions, stablecoins are the next version of that story. We’re still early.

We’re excited to be part of @easyresidency Season 4 and proud to have @yzilabs as an investor in SmartX. At tomorrow’s Demo Day, we’ll share our vision: making on-chain trading more verified, personalized, and simple. Everyone follows signals, but it’s hard to know who actually makes money — or who fits your trading style. So we start with real, verifiable trading records, helping great traders get discovered. But that’s only the beginning. We believe trading will move from Search to Recommendation, just like TikTok and Amazon. Instead of searching through endless KOLs and markets, the right traders, ideas, and opportunities should come to you. From Memes and Perps to Stocks and Prediction Markets, we’re building a more social and personalized on-chain trading experience. Grateful to our mentors and the entire S4 cohort for helping us sharpen our vision. See you on SmartX.

From Bhutan to the world 🇧🇹 @EASYResidency S4 Demo Day goes live on August 26. Meet the S4 founders and see what they’ve been building across stablecoins, payments, DeFi, AI, and frontier tech. Sign up in advance for the livestream ↓

“AI trading will likely come before AI payments.” — @cz_binance at @EASYResidency S4 Demo Day During his fireside with @ellazhang516, CZ explained that payments aren’t the immediate bottleneck for most AI users -- they can still pay with their own cards. Trading is different. It demands real-time analysis, faster decisions and constant execution, making human intervention increasingly inefficient. Rather than AI companies moving into payments first, crypto players may lead by bringing AI into trading.

In two days, @EASYResidency S4 founders take the stage for Demo Day. 🇧🇹 This summer, we came to Bhutan — in the heart of the Himalayas — to build across stablecoins, payments, DeFi, AI, and beyond. Here’s a glimpse into the founders’ journey with YZi Labs.

Renaiss raises $1.5M First Round — led by @yzilabs @easyresidency Season 3. Taste is the new asset class. Custody is the new trust layer. Blockchain is the proof. Round led by YZi Labs, with participation from Gate Ventures, Hash Global, XIN Family, Redline Labs, and angels from Mask Network, Far East Group, Logoman, Hoopi, and Legit App. From vaults to chains. From collectors to believers. Trust the vault. Trust the code. Trust the taste. A new paradigm shift starts from @BNBCHAIN now.

Live now from Thimphu, Bhutan: @EASYResidency Season 4 Demo Day 🟡 @cz_binance × @ellazhang516 fireside 🟡 YZi Labs agent demo 🟡 Alumni address @realyanxin + @RicaDixuanFU 🟡 Founders presenting what they built this summer

“Starting too late is usually not a killer. Scaling too early can be.” — @cz_binance at @EASYResidency S4 Demo Day During his fireside with @ellazhang516, CZ explained that premature scaling often exposes what isn’t ready: the financing, the product-market fit or the market itself. Binance entered a market with thousands of exchanges and still found a way to grow. First movers aren’t always the eventual winners. A later entrant can still catch up, as long as the product is differentiated enough.

🎙️Tonight, we open the next chapter. From graduating from @easyresidency Season 3, backed by @yzilabs, to growing from $10M to $13M+ in platform volume in just half a month, the momentum is only getting stronger. Winchman is back from Demo Day and ready to bring that energy back to the community with a proper ceremony. Expect: •⁠ ⁠Founder Reflections •⁠ ⁠Community Awards & SBTs •⁠ ⁠Regional Expansion •⁠ ⁠Team Recruitment & Team List 2.0 Reveal •⁠ ⁠Product & Ecosystem Updates •⁠ ⁠⁠One Piece Infinite Gacha Launch Date? •⁠ ⁠Merch Alpha •⁠ ⁠Upcoming Activations And more 👀 📅 May 18, 10 PM (UTC+8) 📍 Renaiss Discord See you there.🎯