SHx turns 5 years old and celebrates with it's first governance vote! The vote is regarding:
1.) Should a portion of the MCA origination fee paid to capital providers be burned?
2.) What proportion of the MCA origination fee should be burned?
So what are these fees about? Read this article! 



Stronghold, a Forbes fintech 50 company, aims at providing payments solution for businesses to make payments easier for everyone. In their expanding payment system StrongholdNET the token SHx is used to reward merchants. With their Merchant Rearward program, their focus is on giving back to their customers. Merchants are awarded SHx tokens for each dollar transacted through StrongholdNET services. They can then exchange their SHx  rewards for reductions in processing fees or utilize them to elevate their partnership fees receivable from Stronghold. Built on the Stellar network, SHx is also fast, cheap and environment friendly! Stronghold has allocated a portion of SHx tokens to a capital pool to finance cash advance payments, which has proven to be a lucrative venture for the company. There are plans to expand this initiative. The governance vote will determine the fate of the fees generated from these cash advances.



Stronghold intends to broaden its Merchant Financing program, with approved contributors listed for its DeFi Pools to adhere to regulations. These pools, backed by guaranteed contributors, offer capital to merchants in need, particularly those facing challenges in accessing traditional financing due to their specific industries. Initially skeptical of DeFi, co-founder Sean now views it as a means to provide value to conventional businesses. Stronghold leverages Merchant Financing to integrate DeFi tech in a manner that is not intimidating to business clients. Sean also highlighted the growing demand to expand the DeFi program in order to scale merchant financing overall. Additionally, an innovative element of the program involves administrative fees, encouraging merchants to directly repay a certain amount in SHx to pool contributors, fostering community growth. In a recent AMA live on YouTube, Sean talked about how this program have been showing very good results so far. 

Gaining access to traditional financing options can be challenging, because many finance providers avoid small businesses or those in highly regulated industries, therefore preventing business expansion. StrongholdNET overcomes this barrier by offering a range of tailored financing solutions to meet your specific requirements. Stronghold can therefore help you expand your business both by providing payment solutions but also by giving you access to funds to grow. 

Snapshot of the ledger have already happened and the vote period opens 24th of December. Do check out the whitepaper and discover all the partners Stronghold already have and how they are growing.