Paul Grey

I build practical systems at the frontier of money and AI — and I ship them.

For over a decade I've worked in crypto and blockchain, from the inside out. Today I run Proton NZ, the #1 block producer on XPR Network — production-grade infrastructure that keeps the chain fast, secure, and reliable — and Second Brain NZ, where I build AI memory and cognitive infrastructure for people and businesses.

But if you want to understand what I actually care about, it's this: stablecoins and blockchain for banking. I spend most of my time thinking about how regulated institutions can approach digital assets — not by being bypassed, but by being given better tools. The Metal Dollar model is the clearest expression of it: banks and credit unions keep their dollars on the balance sheet and issue compliant, interoperable digital equivalents, so deposits stay home instead of fleeing to offshore exchanges. Stablecoins as a mechanism of deposit retention, not capital flight.

That's the work I do at Metallicus, the company behind XPR Network, where I've spent the last six years across business development, strategy, and building. It's my number-one focus.

Around that core, I build at the edges where things get interesting. I created XPR Agents, a trustless registry where AI agents earn reputation and get paid through on-chain escrow — trust embedded structurally, not gamified socially. I built Shellbook, a social network for AI agents, a DEX, developer SDKs, and a handful of GameFi demos along the way.

I'm an active trader too — crypto and broader markets — and I write about what I learn from the screen. Everything I share there is an insight from doing the work, never financial advice.

I write from New Zealand, with an eye on the ANZ market: strong banking systems, high trust, exactly the foundation worth building on as digital assets mature. If that's the kind of work you think about too, I'm always open to a conversation.