Over the last few years, crypto has managed to run from one narrative to another: NFTs, AI, RWAs, meme coins, new L1s, old L1s, the same cycle over and over again. Against that backdrop, eCas
Over the last few years, crypto has managed to run from one narrative to another: NFTs, AI, RWAs, meme coins, new L1s, old L1s, the same cycle over and over again. Against that backdrop, eCash seems to have quietly stayed on its own path.
The project is still building around what the whole cryptocurrency story started with in the first place: digital money people can actually use.
As part of its long-term partnership with eCash, ChangeNOW spoke with Joey King, Senior eCash Developer, about payments, infrastructure and why spendable crypto still matters after all these years.
The main question came up pretty quickly: why does paying with crypto still sound like a promise, when by now it should already feel like a normal habit?
Most crypto projects grew through funds, grants and venture money. eCash chose a different route.
The eCash team speaks directly about one of the hardest parts of open-source development: money. Strong ideas matter, but development, infrastructure, research and real people cannot run on enthusiasm forever. VC money brings resources, but it often brings someone else’s priorities with it.
"Rather than relying on venture capital, pre-mines, or recurring fundraising campaigns, a portion of the block reward is allocated to infrastructure and protocol development." - Joey King, Senior eCash Developer
As Joey King explains:
"Building and maintaining complex systems requires more than good ideas; it requires sustainable funding to attract talent, support infrastructure, and continuously improve the technology."
To support that model, eCash uses its Infrastructure Funding Plan. Instead of relying on pre-mines, endless fundraising rounds or hoping donations will be enough, the network builds funding for its own growth directly into the protocol.
"This [model] creates a sustainable funding mechanism that is aligned with the network itself and allows the ecosystem to continue investing in research, engineering, developer tools, and long-term innovation."
Crypto has more technology around it than ever. Paying with crypto still feels harder than it should.
In a regular payment, a person does not check finality, network load or fees. Instead, they tap a button and look for a clear status: sent, paid, received.
The same complexity exists in traditional payments too – it just stays behind the screen.
eCash sees crypto payments breaking at the UX level. Every extra check before payment creates friction, and friction hurts conversion in any commerce flow.
As Joey King, Senior eCash Developer, explains:
"We believe adoption is primarily a user experience problem. Most digital cash cryptocurrencies still don't feel like cash."
"Users are asked to think about confirmations, settlement risk, network congestion, fee management, and other complexities that don't exist when paying with traditional payment apps." – Joey King, Senior eCash Developer.
eCash combines Bitcoin's security model with Avalanche consensus. According to the team, this delivers finality in about two seconds and fees below a fraction of a cent. For most people, the architecture matters only when the payment feels fast and low-stress.
Buying XEC itself is already solved. Within the NOW ecosystem, the coin already works on both the exchange side and the payments side. ChangeNOW helps users get the asset they need, while NOWPayments opens scenarios where that asset can already be used.
Which is exactly why the CoinsBee integration matters to the eCash team. The number of brands matters less than giving people a familiar way to spend XEC.
As Joey King, Senior eCash Developer, put it:
"The CoinsBee integration is part of a broader effort to bridge the gap between owning crypto and actually using it."
Spending matters more when it fits into familiar routines.
"Real adoption happens when users can spend digital currency as easily as they spend traditional money." - Joey King, Senior eCash Developer
ChangeNOW covers part of that path. Users can swap the asset they already have for the asset they need right now.
The calculator shows the expected payout, so there is less manual checking and less room for mistakes before payment.
Stablecoins moved beyond exchange screens a long time ago. People use them to send money, hold dollar balances, settle payments and move value across borders. So we asked eCash how stablecoins fit into the idea of spendable digital cash.
Joey King told ChangeNOW:
"Stablecoins are one of the most successful examples of tokenization in the cryptocurrency industry."
The eCash team explains this through payments, remittances, settlement and global commerce. The point is not stablecoin hype. The task is much more basic: money needs to move fast, clearly and between different markets.
As Joey King notes:
"They demonstrate how blockchain networks can represent real-world assets on-chain, enabling more efficient payments, settlement, remittances, and global commerce."
FIRMA comes in as a practical extension of that logic. According to eCash, the product is built for people and businesses that need regulated digital CHF, EUR and USD for cross-border payments and settlement.
FIRMA has a clear technical argument. Its tokens are issued on eCash's UTXO architecture, inherited from Bitcoin.
The choice matters at the interface level. Extra signing steps and unclear prompts can turn a simple payment into a place for user mistakes.
"Unlike many stablecoins that rely on complex smart contracts, FIRMA's tokens are issued on eCash's proven UTXO architecture, inherited from Bitcoin." - Joey King, Senior eCash Developer
The eCash team links this approach to security and simpler UX.
"This eliminates many of the risks associated with programmable smart contracts, such as contract exploits, hidden approvals and other attack vectors."
The goal is straightforward: remove friction from the experience.
"Transactions are gasless and settle instantly. The usual crypto headaches like blind signing, approval transactions and contract addresses do not exist on FIRMA." – Joey King, Senior eCash Developer.
For many people, XEC is still just one ticker in a list of assets. Somewhere next to other coins they can buy, sell or swap. The eCash team thinks this view misses the main idea behind the project.
As Joey King, Senior eCash Developer highlights:
"What many people miss is that eCash is not chasing the latest crypto narrative."
For the team, the goal has stayed simple – make payments easy enough to fit into everyday life.
He continues:
"It's pursuing a mission that has remained remarkably consistent since Bitcoin's earliest days: building peer-to-peer electronic cash for the internet."
At the same time, eCash is no longer just a Bitcoin-era idea. The network now includes Avalanche consensus, staking, tokenization and other upgrades aimed at everyday use.
"Every major upgrade, from Avalanche consensus and staking to tokenization and scalable infrastructure, has been designed to support that long-term goal of making digital cash practical for everyday use." - Joey King, Senior eCash Developer
The fewer steps there are between acquiring crypto and spending it, the closer digital cash gets to everyday use.
For eCash, that remains the goal. For ChangeNOW, part of that work happens through infrastructure that helps users and services move between assets, networks and payment flows with less friction.
Originally Published:https://changenow.io/blog/ecash-interview-digital-cash
