Digital sovereignty, and onchain verification trends to watch with Xin Yan

Interview with Xin Yan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sign, a sovereign-grade digital infrastructure for national systems of money, identity, and capital. By Selva Ozelli Esq., CPA, Author of “Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally”

Xin Yan is the Co-Founder and CEO of Sign, a sovereign-grade digital infrastructure for national systems of money, identity, and capital. Under his leadership, Sign has raised a total of $55 million. Other major backers include YZi Labs, IDG Capital, Sequoia and Circle.

Trends to watch with Xin Yan

An electrical engineer by profession, before co founding Sign in 2021, Xin served as an investor at Huobi Group.  What started as an e-signature tool (EthSign) Sign has expanded into Sign Protocol, an omni-chain attestation protocol, and TokenTable, a platform for managing and distributing tokenized assets that bridge the gap between traditional legal agreements and blockchain technology.  Yan advocates digital identity and sovereign technology, arguing that the next stage of blockchain adoption will be driven by real-world utility and revenue rather than just speculation. He often refers to the community and movement surrounding the protocol as the “Orange Dynasty”.

Xin’s work currently centers on digital sovereignty, onchain verification, and building infrastructure for nation-states, including digital IDs and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).  Yan is actively working with governments (e.g., in the UAE and Sierra Leone) to implement blockchain-enabled national infrastructure.

Tell us about your educational and professional journey leading up to co-founding Sign.

I was an electronic engineer by training, secured over 10 patents at school before dive-dropping into crypto by building my own mining rigs. That hands-on experience led me to a leading VC, where I spent three years as an investment manager and engineer backing cornerstone projects like Polkadot and Avalanche. In 2021, I combined that technical grit with my VC insights to co-found Sign.

Tell us about Sign

Sign builds secure infrastructure for digital money, identity, and capital. Sign has five years of production deployments and has reached a valuation of $1.3billion. Its systems support governments and regulated institutions in delivering secure, large-scale digital transformation, reaching more than 50 million people in production. Sign works with countries like UAE, Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, Barbados and Sierra Leone. Most recently, Sign partnered with the Blockchain Center Abu Dhabi and has raised over $55M across three funding rounds.

Your work at Sign currently centers on digital sovereignty, on-chain verification, and building infrastructure for nation-states, including digital IDs and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs).  Which countries are you actively working with?

Thailand, Kyrgyzstan, Singapore, Barbados and Sierra Leone

The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a leading global cryptocurrency hub, currently ranked third globally in crypto adoption behind only Singapore and Hong Kong. Its status is defined by a “pro-innovation” regulatory environment, zero personal income tax on crypto gains, and the presence of over 1,800 crypto companies as of early 2026.  The UAE’s central bank digital currency (CBDC) project, known as the Digital Dirham, has transitioned from an experimental pilot to a formal legal reality as of early 2026 with the Digital Dirham officially recognized as legal tender under Federal Decree-Law No. 6 of 2025.   Managed by the Central Bank of the UAE (CBUAE), this initiative is a core pillar of the nation’s multi-year Financial Infrastructure Transformation (FIT) program.   How is Sign involved with UAE’s CBCD project?

Sign and ADBC recently partnered to accelerate sovereign blockchain infrastructure in Abu Dhabi.

In 2026, the tokenization of the world financial market is rapidly advancing through stablecoins and Central Bank Digital Currencies (CBDCs), which function as programmable, on-chain cash for settling digital assets. Stablecoins ($307B market, early 2026) enable fast, 24/7 cross-border transactions and tokenized asset collateralization, while wholesale CBDCs are emerging to provide secure, final settlement in interbank markets.  You believe the world financial sector is tokenizing under two different approaches stablecoin vs CBDC what are the benefits to each approach?

CBDC
Pro: It is more compatible with banking system
Con: It is not friendly for foreigners, they still need to open an account

Stablecoin
Pro: It is easy to use and transfer
Con: The liquidity for non-USD stablecoin is weak, stablecoins are not realistic in real life, no KYC/AML, no privacy (it is easy to monitor addresses).

Both CBDC and Stablecoins will equally have an edge in the future of cross-border digital payment. China and the US are the two engines for the global economy and they’re both pushing their own standards.

China has a clear strategy, given the enormous scale and systemic risks involved in serving 1.4 billion people, adopting stablecoins nationwide is considered too risky. Therefore, China is cautiously testing stablecoin-related activities in Hong Kong first.

How can people reach you?

https://x.com/Sign
https://x.com/realyanxin

https://sign.global/

About the Author:

Selva Ozelli Esq, CPA is an international digital asset legal  expert  and author of Sustainably Investing in Digital Assets Globally.  Her  writings are translated into 45 languages and republished in over 200 global publications.  She is recognized as an expert media/TV commentator on global digital asset regulation, tax and technology matters.

See more breaking stories and interviews here.