In a major step toward mainstream blockchain adoption, XION, a consumer-centric Layer-1 blockchain, has announced a strategic integration with Fireblocks, a digital asset infrastructure provider trusted by over 2,000 institutions, including BNY Mellon (NYSE:BK), Galaxy Digital (NASDAQ:GLXY) and Revolut.
While blockchain technology is designed to be transparent in terms of transaction records, the underlying technology and processes can seem obscure, complicated and hidden behind technical jargon.
XION is a Layer-1 blockchain built to eliminate these barriers. Unlike many blockchains that require users to manage complicated wallets, XION offers familiar structures like social logins and credit card payments instead of cryptic blockchain jargon, making it easier for people and companies to adopt the technology naturally.
For its part, Fireblocks provides secure custody and settlement infrastructure used by thousands of institutions worldwide. Its platform helps businesses meet compliance and security standards.
To Anzalone, this integration represents a practical step toward making blockchain more mainstream.
“For the past four years, I’ve been trying to say, let’s make crypto usable,” he explained, adding that XION found that most Web2 companies don’t expose users to traditional blockchain elements.
The Fireblocks collaboration creates an app-like onboarding experience by integrating Fireblocks’ custody platform with XION’s walletless, gasless blockchain. This eliminates complex setups, seed phrases and volatile fees, enabling companies to scale blockchain programs without being bogged down in technical complexity or regulatory risks.
“You shouldn’t have to know what a wallet is … For us, we’re trying to meet the mainstream people where they are, not confuse them with jargon, and not make them learn new words that they don’t need to (learn),’ Anzalone said.
He also emphasized the implications for the blockchain industry beyond the focus on decentralized finance, noting that XION and Fireblocks are targeting everyday consumers and enterprise uses such as payments, loyalty programs, gaming and tokenization. This integration positions both companies uniquely in the competitive landscape, offering a compliant solution that merges traditional financial security with next-generation blockchain capabilities.
Looking ahead, Anzalone expressed optimism about the future of blockchain adoption, pointing to innovations like walletless blockchains and zero-knowledge proof technologies as key accelerators.
“I think that speed is everything. People don’t want to wait even three seconds for anything to come online. And we’re trying to make that as fast as possible and trying to verify information as quickly as possible,” he said.
For Anzalone, achieving this level of performance is only the first step; the ultimate challenge moving forward lies in translating that technical efficiency into genuine, widespread utility.
“I think that actually providing use cases to crypto is going to be that thing that scales it. I think that the real, actual use case of crypto is yet to be found. And I think that catalyst of growth really comes from developing something different, but you need to abstract all crypto complexities away in order to actually find that,’ he said.
Securities Disclosure: I, Meagen Seatter, hold no direct investment interest in any company mentioned in this article.