"Value is paramount for small businesses, and StrongholdNET delivers this in spades. As part of our network, you gain more than a service provider – you gain a trusted partner in your entrepreneurial journey. We’re here to connect you with financing, rewards, and the latest from the payments space."
TL:DR; Stronghold is a company that builds its business around providing payment solutions to other companies. And this is mainly done with fiat with for example ACH and card payments. They also see the potential in blockchain technology, but are aware that most businesses will not just stop using fiat and jump over to only using crypto. But one way they are showing merchants that are part of their program how it can be used as well, is with the token SHx that they have created. SHx as a token therefore got a clear utility and got a trusted fintech company behind it, a reason why there is real use value that I would say is the main reason behind this price change. Join Discord to learn more!
What is Stronghold and SHx?
A lot of people might have seen how SHx, a token created by Stronghold, have increased a lot in value lately. You might ask yourself why this is happening and where this token came from suddenly. SHx that is a token on Stellar, is part of the fintech company Stronghold's payment ecosystem named StrongholdNET. Stronghold is a company that was on Forbes fintech 50 2022 and is working together with trusted players like IBM. They are a company that can see the future in blockchain being used within our day to day life when it comes to payments. Combining this with other largely used payment methods, their aim is to create solutions that can work well even in heavily regulated areas. With StrongholdNET they offer businesses DeFi-Funded Advances, Rewards Program for Merchants and Customized Solutions. 
"StrongholdNET, our innovative payment ecosystem, offers more than just card processing or invoicing – it's a future-proof, forward-looking solution explicitly designed to bolster your business's financial capabilities. We’re dedicated to helping merchants like you support and expand their businesses, even when times are tough."
In their growing payment platform, StrongholdNET, the SHx token is utilized to incentivize merchants. Through their Merchant Reward program, they concentrate on providing benefits to their customers. Merchants receive SHx tokens for every dollar transacted through StrongholdNET services. These rewards can be exchanged for discounts on processing fees or used to enhance their partnership fees received from Stronghold. They aim to expand its Merchant Financing program by enlisting approved contributors for its DeFi pools to comply with regulations. These pools, supported by verified contributors, provide funding to merchants in need, especially those encountering difficulties in obtaining traditional financing due to their specific industries. 
In the whitepaper we can read about how the choice of Stellar as ledger, makes the token climate-friendly compared to a lot of other crypto. This is something you can learn more about in Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) report on blockchain impact on our environment. Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP) is making sure that SHx will be saving energy even when the use of the token continue to grow.
On Discord we are thousands of members in the community with an interest in Stronghold and their token SHx. Here you can learn more about Stronghold, SHx and blockchain in general. Being a contributing member will not be going under the radar of the team, so if you know a lot about SHx share your knowledge and gain contributor role with rewards attached!
