What is Stronghold Token (SHX)?

Stronghold Token (styled “SHx”) is a fixed-supply digital asset issued by Stronghold for use across its payments stack. SHX exists on Stellar as a native asset and on Ethereum as an ERC-20 token to enable cross-ledger transfers and developer access on both networks.

The project states a hard cap of 100,000,000,000 SHX with no plans to increase supply, and that approximately 5% was airdropped to early users in late 2018 rather than sold via an ICO, TGE or IEO. On Stellar the asset code is SHX issued by account GDSTRSHXHGJ7ZIVRBXEYE5Q74XUVCUSEKEBR7UCHEUUEK72N7I7KJ6JH and on Ethereum the contract address is 0xee7527841a932d2912224e20a405e1a1ff747084. SHX is divisible to 7 decimal places on both ledgers.

In June 2025 Stronghold introduced a long-term supply control programme on Stellar using Soroban smart contracts: 60 billion SHX locked across 60 escrow accounts that each roll off on the 15th of the month over five years. Any unused balance after an expiry rolls back into escrow and is re-locked five years out, creating a rolling ladder. A public StellarExpert view tracks the escrow state.

Key token details

• Ticker: SHX (brand style “SHx”)
• Networks: Stellar and Ethereum
• Decimals: 7
• Max supply: 100,000,000,000 SHX (fixed)
• Distribution: ~5% airdrop to early users in 2018, no ICO/TGE/IEO
• Initial issuance year: 2018

What is Stronghold Token (SHX) used for?

• Network rewards and loyalty: SHX is the currency of Stronghold’s merchant rewards programme. Businesses earn points based on transaction volume and can redeem them for SHX or to reduce processing fees.
• Payments and settlement: SHX underpins Stronghold’s real-time settlement on Stellar, chosen for low fees and fast finality. The token exists on both Stellar and Ethereum to facilitate cross-ledger value transfer.
• Liquidity for financing: SHX liquidity pools support Stronghold’s Merchant Financing (merchant cash advances) offered to businesses using the payments network.
• Fee discounts: SHX can be used within Stronghold’s ecosystem to reduce processing costs for integrated merchants and partners.
• Governance: SHX holders participate in governance on Stellar (on-chain votes recorded via Manage Data operations) and on Ethereum via Snapshot. Proposals include process rules, product priorities and token-economic parameters.
• Protocol burns tied to financing: In a completed vote, holders approved burning 70% of Merchant Cash Advance origination fees (paid in SHX) with the remaining 30% allocated to pool contributors; implementation completed in Q1 2024.

Who created Stronghold Token (SHX)?

SHX is issued by Stronghold, a payments infrastructure company co-founded by Tammy Camp and Sean Bennett. The company’s public materials note their collaboration dating back to 2014 work around Stellar, with SHX first issued in 2018 as part of Stronghold’s push to build virtual payment networks and settlement rails.