Havven

Havven was a blockchain project initiated on the Ethereum network in the late 2010s that proposed a decentralised two-token system to support a stable, low-volatility payment currency and a stable value unit for on‑chain transactions. The project was led by a team including Kain Warwick and early contributors, and it aimed to enable fast, permissionless payments without relying on traditional fiat rails.

The Havven design centered on two tokens: a collateral token and a stable-value payment token. The collateral token was intended to back value in the system, while the stable-value token would be used for payments and day-to-day trading within the Havven ecosystem. The idea was to create a decentralised, market-driven mechanism that could maintain a relatively stable unit of account for routine transactions on Ethereum, reducing price volatility relative to other cryptocurrencies.

Economics and governance in Havven revolved around the interaction of these two tokens, with mechanisms designed to incentivise liquidity and stability and to empower holders to participate in protocol governance. The model anticipated market dynamics where supply and demand would help maintain the peg for the stable-value token, enabling more predictable microtransactions and commerce on-chain.

In 2018, Havven evolved into Synthetix, broadening its scope beyond the original dual-token concept. Synthetix shifted to a single collateral token, SNX, used to mint a suite of on-chain synthetic assets, including a USD-pegged stablecoin known as sUSD. This pivot contributed to the rise of on-chain synthetic assets and expanded the ecosystem beyond Havven’s initial payments-focused vision, while maintaining an emphasis on decentralised collateralized minting.