Inside the $30M Launch of a Bitcoin Startup

<p>#Bitcoin #Crypto #Investing #ad</p><p>🧠 Don’t miss future episodes — subscribe to Proof of Thought for more deep Bitcoin, crypto, and investing insights and conversations!</p><p>⭐️ Follow Kevin</p><p>X: https://x.com/kevinlhr88</p><p>Saturn X: https://x.com/saturn_credit</p><p>Saturn: https://saturn.credit/</p><p><br></p><p>Today’s conversation is with Kevin Li, CEO and co-founder of Saturn, a digital credit protocol built on top of Strategy&#39;s Bitcoin-backed preferred equity.</p><p>In this episode, Kevin shares how his time leading research and product development at Artemis — a leading blockchain data firm — exposed him to the growing demand for off-chain yields within DeFi, and how a chance moment at a Bitcoin conference crystallized his vision for Saturn.</p><p>We discuss Kevin&#39;s belief that digital credit represents the next major wave of Bitcoin adoption, not just for institutions, but for the hundreds of millions of global users who have access to stablecoins but not US brokerage accounts. </p><p>The conversation covers how Saturn is building an on-chain money layer on top of instruments like STRC, why DeFi currently lacks yield at institutional scale, and how Saturn&#39;s dynamic reserve system is designed to manage the unique risks of unsecured preferred equity. Kevin also breaks down his three-stage vision for Saturn and why he believes that, much like Bitcoin itself, digital credit will eventually reach a trillion-dollar scale.</p><p><br></p><p>Timestamps:</p><p>0:00 Kevin&#39;s Background</p><p>2:32 How Has Bitcoin/Digital Credit Evolved Since 2024?</p><p>5:06 A Unique Story From Kevin&#39;s Crypto Experience</p><p>6:06 OPNEXT ad (#ad)</p><p>6:53 What is Kevin&#39;s Company, Saturn?</p><p>9:50 Why Buy Saturn Over Microstrategy&#39;s STRC?</p><p>12:54 When Will Saturn Serve U.S. Retail?</p><p>13:44 Will Saturn Add More Than STRC?</p><p>15:43 Will Saturn Add Separate Products?</p><p>17:52 The Risks of Saturn</p><p>19:44 How Does Saturn Make Money?</p><p>20:09 How Much Is Saturn Worth?</p><p>22:39 Is Digital Credit + Crypto Really the Future?</p><p><br></p><p>About Kevin: </p><p>Kevin Li is the CEO and co-founder of Saturn Labs, a stablecoin protocol building the first on-chain application layer for Bitcoin-backed digital credit. Originally from Shanghai and raised in Boston, Kevin studied data science at the University of Pennsylvania, where he began investing in equity markets at just 18 years old.</p><p>Saturn has since raised $800K