SXP is the utility token of the Solar Network, a high-speed, low-cost layer 1, or base layer, blockchain network optimized for payments.

The token powers the Swipe Network, a white label crypto wallet and Visa debit card provider that was acquired by crypto exchange Binance in 2020 and briefly pivoted to decentralized finance (DeFi). While Swipe still offers crypto-to-fiat debit cards, SXP rebranded to Solar in December 2021.

SXP launched at $0.23 in 2019. The coin rose to $4.30 in 2020 when Binance announced its acquisition but had fallen just below a dollar by the start of 2021. When the crypto market boomed, SXP hit highs of $5.44 in May 2021. After the wider market crashed, so did SXP, which by June 2022 had fallen to $0.53.

SXP powers a layer 1 blockchain called Solar. The blockchain, which launched in 2022, uses delegated proof-of-stake (DPoS), the same consensus mechanism used by the EOS blockchain platform. DPoS networks allow holders to elect leaders who decide the future of the blockchain.

SXP started life as an ERC-20 Ethereum token or a BEP-20 solar token. The coins can be switched on a 1-to-1 basis.

SXP launched with a supply of about 285 million, according to data from Messari. The token is deflationary, and SXP tokens will continue to be burned until there is a total supply of 100 million.

Solar was originally called Swipe and was a crypto payments company started in 2018 by Joselito Lizarondo, an entrepreneur from the Philippines. The project’s native token was still SXP; it raised $12 million in a week-long initial coin offering (ICO) in August 2019.

Swipe once provided a proprietary crypto debit card. To further this, in March 2020 Swipe acquired Spend.com, a crypto payments company that lets people use crypto to buy things.

Binance acquired Swipe for an undisclosed sum in July 2020, but Swipe company “preserved its operational independence,” according to a profile from CoinMarketCap.

Swipe next ventured into DeFi. In 2020, it built Swipe Swap, a cross-chain decentralized exchange on BNB Smart Chain and Ethereum, and SwipeFi, a lending protocol on BNB Smart Chain. (As of June 2022, none of the sites for these services are available, and Redditors complain that its debit card app no longer works in many countries.)

SXP rebranded to Solar at the end of 2021 and separated from Swipe. Lizarondo, Swipe’s founder, quit Swipe and became a core contributor to the Solar Network. He then founded Solar Ventures, a crypto investment firm. Swipe became a white label offering to companies that want to create a crypto-to-fiat debit card.

Although Solar is separate from Swipe, SXP continues to be the currency used for issuing Swipe cards. In February 2021, Binance launched Binance Pay, a crypto payments system that at the time accepted five cryptocurrencies – BTC, ETH, BNB, BUSD and SXP. Binance Pay now accepts more than 40 cryptocurrencies, but the initial inclusion of SXP in their launch is worth noting.

Lizarondo also founded Venus, a decentralized exchange on the BNB Chain. In May 2021, Venus faced liquidations of over $200 million after its native token, XVS, briefly spiked and then crashed. The protocol had taken on close to $100 million of bad debt in the previous month.