Persistence One Guide: XPRT and Bitcoin Interoperability in 2026

Updated: 13 August 2026. Persistence One remains active, but the original institutional lending and real-world-asset thesis below no longer describes the project’s main product direction.

What is Persistence One in 2026?

Persistence One now describes itself as an intent-based Bitcoin interoperability project. Its current goal is to make cross-chain swaps simpler across Bitcoin layer 2s, sidechains and BTC-aligned networks. The project’s December 2025 roadmap said its cross-chain swap product was live on mainnet, with beta support on BNB Chain and Base, and put user growth, more network integrations and a partner widget at the centre of its 2026 work.

The Cosmos SDK-based Persistence Core-1 chain also remains part of the system. Official materials reported that it had passed six million transactions in 2025, while current documentation still covers validators, CosmWasm, staking and Persistence DEX. This is a very different proposition from the old article’s focus on invoice NFTs, commodity financing, pLend and institutional real-world assets.

What changed from the original Persistence guide?

Topic	Legacy article	August 2026 position
Main mission	Institutional real-world-asset lending and debt products	Intent-based swaps and liquidity across fragmented Bitcoin ecosystems
Core products	Comdex, pLend, AUDIT.one and pStake	Persistence interoperability product, Persistence DEX and Core-1 chain
XPRT format	Described as an ERC-20 token “for now”	Native asset of Persistence Core-1, with documented IBC and Axelar representations on other chains
Consensus	Generic proof-of-stake description	Delegated proof-of-stake using a Tendermint PBFT consensus engine
Leadership	Tushar Aggarwal listed as CEO	The 2026 roadmap announced that Tushar stepped down and Jeroen took over
Front-end availability	Not discussed	Persistence-hosted applications have been geofenced in several jurisdictions, including the US and UK, since March 2024

Comdex and pSTAKE have their own histories and products; their appearance in the archived article should not be read as proof that current XPRT value or Persistence revenue flows from them. Likewise, the historical claims about transaction volume, assets validated, institutional compliance and “huge returns” are not current performance data.

What does XPRT do now?

XPRT is used for transaction fees, delegated staking and governance on Persistence Core-1. Persistence DEX documentation also lists XPRT as the fee asset for transactions on the chain. Because XPRT has representations on IBC-connected and EVM networks, users must verify both the destination chain and current denomination or contract before transferring it.

Staking carries validator-performance, slashing, liquidity and unbonding risks. The project’s 2026 incentive model was designed to connect interoperability-product activity with XPRT staking, but incentives and yields can change and should never be treated as guaranteed income.

Original Persistence article (historical archive)

The following sections preserve the article’s earlier real-world-asset and institutional-DeFi thesis. Product relationships, executives, statistics and promised returns may be obsolete.

Persistence ($XPRT) is an asset-based lending/borrowing and debt issuance/management hybrid protocol, bringing the power of real-world assets to DeFi. It does so by facilitating crypto-assets borrowing, using real-world assets as invoiced NFTs, and then using them as wrapped financial products.

Persistence One is designed to enhance the transfer of value between the two worlds of finance by enabling value transfer through seamless interoperability via on-off ramps. It was developed to promote open and inclusive finance in addition to solving inefficiencies in payments and financing.

Check out our interview with CEO and Co-founder Tushar Aggarwal

https://youtu.be/rGNtrNUyTEY

Bridging DeFi and traditional finance- Persistence w/ Tushar Aggarwal

What is Persistence?

Persistence is an asset-based lending/borrowing and debt issuance/management hybrid protocol, bringing the power of real-world assets to DeFi. It does so by facilitating crypto-assets borrowing, using real-world assets as invoiced NFTs, and then using them as wrapped financial products.

Background And History

The project was launched in January 2020. The Persistence team is multicultural and consists of experienced members with sound technical backgrounds. They come from various traditional finance and blockchain companies. As such, they are familiar with the limitations of the current DeFi and centralised finance (CeFi) systems and are aware of what needs to be improved.

Persistence protocol is led by CEO Tushar Aggarwal and CTO Deepanshu Tripathi, both with legacy finance applications development experience. The team believes that three core elements namely Capital, Technology, and Media are crucial for the success of a project and work to establish a balance between them.

How does Persistence work?

Their mode of operation lies in four steps of (1) tokenization; (2) trading; (3) the origination of debt and (4) its securitization. The process begins with tokenizing real-world assets’ invoices as NFTs. This is done so that the assets can be represented adequately on the blockchain.

Next, comes the trading of such NFTs against stablecoins.

Stablecoins are then borrowed by putting real-world assets representing NFTs as collateral, the birth of loans. The fourth and last step is the packaging of the loans into different pools to create fixed income investable products – a process known as securitization of debt.

Why use blockchain?

A key question at this point relates to the reason and advantages of using blockchain for such activities. The mission of Persistence is to increase the speed and efficiency of value transfer, as well as make it more secure. As it happens, blockchains specialize in such matters.

Some advantages for Persistence to use blockchain for their operations includes:

It allows for capital movement in a trustless, borderless, and “free from time constraints” manner.
Blockchains permit invoices, letters of credit and bills of lading, etc. to be tokenized and turned into divisible assets as NFTs.
Introduces the decentralized exchange for uncensorable and secure trading of real-world assets against stablecoins.
Results in the creation of debt marketplaces for lending/borrowing.

Persistence’s approach

Persistence has applied a dual-focus approach for the successful execution of the project. The institutional focus utilizes the asset-based lending use case for physical commodity traders and financiers. Secondly, is the crypto focus, which allows blockchain-based assets to integrate with real-world yield-bearing assets.

Persistence blockchain system

As a Proof of Stake (PoS) blockchain system, the protocol has three layers of Persistence chains (app-chains deriving security from the main-chain and its validators), Persistence SDK (a plug and play module system powering functionality on the network), and Persistence dApps (finance-based applications).

Its design principles are chain sovereignty (independent secure blockchain operation), liquidity, and usability for business purposes. The Persistence protocol blockchain system is privacy-preserving by default yet legal and regulatory-compliant, is integrated with FIAT on and off-ramps, and allows for simplification of processes.

Persistence SDK is by far the platform’s most important implementation of the blockchain. The Software Development Kit is a system of highly effective modules that enable the creation of marketplaces, yielding to a fast and comprehensive exchange of value.

Overall, the SDK protocol is characterized by four key features, being accessibility, liquidity, innovation, and sustainability. These factors power the protocol and allow the Persistence One platform to elevate physical commodities on-chain as NFTs.

Additionally, through the SDK factors, the platform can efficiently implement crypto with real-world use cases ensuring a continuous stream of sustainable income. By doing so, it unlocks a huge potential for MSME businesses in the DeFi sphere through untapped liquidity; thereby providing tremendous opportunities within the crypto space.

Persistence’s asset-based lending platform Comdex

The protocol has developed the Comdex decentralized commodities trading and financing platform that connects commodities traders, while also providing financing facility to sellers. It is commodity agnostic and can allow for trading diverse groups of commodities, ranging from metal to food products.

Comdex, for regulatory compliance, would require Anti Money Laundering (AML) / Know Your Customer (KYC) checks before on-boarding. It would also feature a trader’s right access system to determine access to particular commodities, opening trade, executable trade size, etc. On top of everything, all activities will be recorded on the open blockchain.

Comdex is the result of a partnership between the Persistence One dynamic team and trading entrepreneurs in Singapore that rely on the platform’s ecosystem to bring forward blockchain integration. As per recent developments, the Comdex protocol has been gaining traction within the blockchain.

Comdex has already managed more than $55 million in transaction volume, far ahead of its competitors in terms of assets on-chain.

What is pLend, Persistence’s lending platform?

Backed by real-world assets, Persistence Lend or pLend is a stable coin lending platform that facilitates the supply of liquidity to pools for all Comdex transactions and dealings. pLend empowers stablecoin holders and enables them to supply liquidity, generating huge returns from real-world income and assets.

So far, pLend’s unique implementation has bridged the gap between traditional finance (TradFi) and DeFi. The lending platform will allow users to engage in the $65B global trade within the financing sector.

Overall, pLend guarantees participants huge returns on their assets without the need of often unsure mainstream DeFi solutions.

AUDIT.one

Described as a subsidiary to Persistence One, AUDIT ensures top-tier validation services for leading PoS networks through secured Tier 3 and 4 data centers across the globe equipped with a multi-cloud architecture.

Presently, a total of nine networks has entrusted AUDIT.one with approximately $120M worth of assets, including Cosmos, Terra, Matic Network, and NEAR. Additionally, well-known networks like Polkadot and Ethereum 2.0 have shown interest in the Persistence-based protocol.

Persistence token ($XPRT)

Persistence has a native token known as $XPRT built as an ERC-20 based token (for now) and has a 100M supply). Its main uses are staking (for participation in network security), community governance (allowing holders to vote on important matters), rewards (for contributing to the network), and work token (deriving value from the activities on the network).

XPRT StakeDrop

The StakeDrop campaign is made possible through the pStake protocol that guarantees the issuance of representative tokens (stk Tokens) on Ethereum which are backed by the staked assets.

In the case of ATOM; illiquid staked ATOM tokens can be converted to liquid representative ER-20 tokens that can be utilized within the immense and growing DeFi space, backed by the Ethereum blockchain. This means that newly staked ATOMS will now be able for use as collateral when borrowing different stablecoins.

Through this system, participants are provided with the opportunity to implement differential strategies in accordance with their needs within the blockchain.

pStake offers a unique way to stake PoS tokens and in the near future, a percentage of all tokens staked via pStake will also be staked through the AUDIT.one validator, thus ensuring the growth of both protocols within the blockchain.

Can Persistence successfully appeal to institutional clients and companies?

The current DeFi infrastructure isn’t conducive to institutional clients and companies. This is mostly because current DeFi projects have institutional red-flags such as pseudo-anonymity, open transaction and activity details, having no legal compliance, having only crypto-based settlements, and having complexities transferred to the users (gas payments, security, key management, risk management, etc.)

However, the Persistence protocol offers verifiable anonymity, hidden transaction details and records, is legally compliant, has FIAT-based settlement guarantees and simplified process – gas payments, security and key management run by the platform. It also provides an institutional-grade infrastructure that these clients are used to.

Conclusion

Persistence is a strong contender for overcoming the obstacle to DeFi being widely used by institutional clients, companies and enterprises. It does this by offering anonymity, hidden transaction records and most importantly, be legally compliant. In these respects, Persistence can help blockchain move from a speculative phase to being used in the real world, including traditional finance.

Persistence One FAQ

What is Persistence One?

Persistence One is a Cosmos-based project now focused on intent-driven Bitcoin interoperability and cross-chain swaps across Bitcoin layer 2s, sidechains and related networks.

Is Persistence One still active in 2026?

Yes. Its official roadmap and updates describe a live interoperability product, active Core-1 chain, Persistence DEX products and ongoing integrations, while also acknowledging that organic usage still needs to grow.

Does Persistence One still focus on real-world-asset lending?

Not as its main public direction. The current mission is Bitcoin interoperability. The invoice financing, pLend, Comdex and institutional RWA descriptions below belong to the project's earlier strategy.

What is XPRT used for?

XPRT pays transaction fees on Persistence Core-1, secures the chain through delegated staking and gives holders a role in governance. It is also used in parts of the Persistence DEX ecosystem.

Is XPRT an ERC-20 token?

XPRT is native to Persistence Core-1. Official documentation also lists IBC denominations and Axelar-managed token contracts for several EVM chains, so the exact representation depends on the network.

Can XPRT holders stake their tokens?

Yes. Holders can delegate XPRT to Core-1 validators and may receive rewards for helping secure the network. Rewards are variable, and staking exposes users to validator, slashing and unbonding risks.

What is Persistence DEX?

Persistence DEX is part of the current ecosystem. Its newer direction uses intent-based routing to simplify swaps across fragmented Bitcoin-related networks, while a Core-1 DEX surface also remains documented.

Is Persistence available in the United States and United Kingdom?

Persistence-hosted web applications have been geofenced in the US, UK and other listed jurisdictions since March 2024. The project says this affects its front ends rather than the underlying chain, tokens or third-party wallets.

Are the returns described in the old pLend section guaranteed?

No. The archived language reflects an early product thesis and should not be treated as a current offer, verified yield or guarantee. DeFi lending and liquidity products can lose money.

What are the main risks of Persistence One and XPRT?

Risks include limited product adoption, cross-chain and intent-solver failures, smart-contract exploits, validator slashing, changing incentives, token volatility, thin liquidity and confusion between XPRT representations.

Persistence One update sources

Persistence One 2026 roadmap — strategic shift, product status and leadership update
Persistence documentation — current chain and product overview
Official XPRT network and contract list — native, IBC and EVM representations
XPRT staking documentation — consensus and delegation
Persistence geofencing notice — front-end jurisdiction restrictions

Decentralised Finance (DeFi) series: tutorials, guides and more

With content for both beginners and more advanced users, check out our YouTube DeFi series containing tutorials on the ESSENTIAL TOOLS you need for trading in the DeFi space e.g. MetaMask and Uniswap. As well as a deep dive into popular DeFi topics such as decentralized exchanges, borrowing-lending platforms and NFT marketplaces

The DeFi series on this website also covers topics not explored on YouTube. For an introduction on what is DeFi, check out Decentralized Finance (DeFi) Overview: A guide to the HOTTEST trend in cryptocurrency

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