An insider look at Staynex’s product, utility and growth strategy: AMA recap

A blockchain-based shift is happening in the travel industry, and Staynex, a key player in that transformation, was the guest of the latest Cointelegraph AMA. Over the course of the session, Staynex CEO Yuen Wong and Europe CEO Michael Ros walked through what the company is building: a travel platform that combines hotel bookings with AI-powered planning tools, membership mechanics, and tokenized travel products — all tied together through the STAY token.

“We want the community to use the services and also grow with us,” Wong said, explaining the long-term idea behind the launch.

Why the launch matters

The conversation started with the momentum around the token launch.

Wong tied it to the company’s recent acquisition of Sleap.io, saying the deal helps expand reach and strengthen distribution ahead of the next growth phase. “One plus one should be bigger than three,” he emphasized, describing what they expect from combining the two businesses.

Ros, who founded Sleap.io and now leads Staynex in Europe, noted the acquisition is mainly about speed. In his view, scaling across regions today is hard to do alone. “If you really want to become a very strong global player today, you should combine forces,” he added.

The product behind the token

Both speakers kept returning to the same point: the token is meant to have real utility inside an actual travel product. Wong described Staynex as a booking platform built to make hotel search and checkout smoother, improve pricing, and keep users engaged with features that go beyond a single transaction.

At its core, it’s still hotel booking — but Staynex is adding layers like travel passes, membership benefits, and community experiences. “We want to make users stay on the platform with more elements,” Wong said.

Ros linked that strategy to shifting travel habits, especially among remote workers and digital nomads who take shorter, more frequent trips. In Europe, he said, that flexibility is already common: “People are used to going out and travelling just for a few days. Remote working is there, flexibility is there, and people are combining it.”

He also noted the booking process itself needs to feel less like work. Instead of endless scrolling and filtering, Staynex wants to guide users toward better choices. “Not only travel should be fun, but also booking travel should be fun,” Ros stated.

Wong added that Staynex is building AI tools that learn user preferences and reduce repetitive decisions — shifting booking away from a static search-and-filter flow and toward something more guided and personal.

Fair launch and token utility

As for the token utility, it has two main roles inside the ecosystem. The first is access and participation: users can qualify for different tiers, staking incentives and travel-related benefits. The second is the revenue-linked mechanism tied to how the company performs.

According to Wong, Staynex plans to use 10% of the platform’s net revenue to buy back and burn tokens, and another 10% to buy back tokens that end up permanently locked in liquidity pools. “It’s really tied to our company performance,” he added.

Ros compared the token to a more flexible version of travel points. Instead of being stuck in a single brand’s loyalty program, the token is meant to travel with the user across a wider booking experience.

Travel products, tokenization and the next phase

The AMA also got into how Staynex thinks tokenization could show up in real travel products. Wong pointed to things like timeshare-style inventory and travel passes — areas where ownership and transfers can get messy, and said blockchain could make those assets easier to see, move, and manage.

As the launch approaches, the company is presenting STAY as the token layer of a broader travel system. The session kept the focus on that connection: product first, launch as the next step.