Author: haotian
I believe many people feel regret for missing out on @PlasmaFDN, and have expectations for Tether's other stablecoin chain @Stable. Of course, there is also confusion about why @Tether_to is pursuing a dual strategy of Plasma + Stable. Will Stable issue a token? What exactly does the king of stablecoins, Tether, intend to do? Let me share my understanding:
In simple terms: Tether's "dual sword strategy" of Plasma and Stable is actually aimed at reclaiming the "market dividends" that have benefited Ethereum and Tron for many years, achieving a significant leap in its business model from a stablecoin issuer to a global payment infrastructure.
1) First, let's talk about the issue of reclaiming the cake. Currently, USDT has a market cap of $170 billion, with an annual trading volume that even exceeds the total of PayPal and Visa. However, Tether can only earn 3-4% in government bond interest. Although the annual profit is around $13 billion, it pales in comparison to the actual value it creates. How can we understand this?
For example, USDT is a key component of DeFi liquidity, and the transaction fees it generates each year are actually paid to the Ethereum network (which has fluctuating gas fees). This portion of the fee cost is borne by users and captured by the Ethereum network, while Tether does not profit from it. If Tether's own stablecoin chain is launched, theoretically, this portion of transaction fees could be included in its revenue.
Additionally, it is well-known that Tron has profited immensely from the payment demand for USDT, with Tron’s revenue reaching nearly $2 billion in 2024 alone. Tether cannot directly benefit from this income.
Therefore, the direct motivation for Tether to pursue the dual strategy of Plasma and Stable is to reclaim the USDT transaction fees, payment service fees, and other DeFi ecosystem revenue rights that have been controlled by Ethereum and Tron for many years.
This severely limits Tether's control over its vast USDT stablecoin economy. As the infrastructure of Plasma and Stable matures, it is time to reclaim these long-given dividends.
2) So, how should we understand the positioning of Plasma and Stable?
Plasma $XPL is a stablecoin chain supported by Tether's sister company @bitfinex and backed by an investment from @peterthiel. It is positioned for the consumer end (To C), providing security and censorship resistance through Bitcoin. Its unique selling point is to challenge PayPal's payment position in the TradFi space while integrating over 100 DeFi protocols to siphon off native crypto yields.
For instance, the Plasma One neo bank product matrix offers a 10% passive savings benefit and a 4% cashback debit card. If there are no regulatory obstacles, it will undoubtedly create a significant stir in the traditional payment sector, capturing market share from old payment systems like PayPal.
Moreover, Plasma has integrated the entire crypto infrastructure through EVM compatibility, aiming to incorporate profitable protocols like @aave and @ethena_labs into its revenue landscape, thereby consolidating the interest-earning advantage of its debit card. Otherwise, why would Plasma One be able to offer a 10% savings yield in addition to the 4% government bond yield?
Additionally, Plasma has introduced dedicated channels that subsidize users' gas fees through a paymaster, transferring the network congestion costs required to navigate the crypto DeFi ecosystem onto the protocol itself, achieving zero-fee interactions. This is highly attractive to end users.
Stable, on the other hand, is a "pure USDT" stablecoin chain planned for issuance by Tether itself. It is a payment chain aimed at the business end (To B), using USDT as the gas fee and settlement layer, likely focusing on payment settlement scenarios.
Based on this understanding, we can answer two common questions:
Will Stable issue a token? According to Tether CEO @paoloardoino's latest interview, Stable will minimize complexity and will not add an additional token mechanism. In other words, there will not be a new token for now; $USDT is the token it will issue.
What is the significance of Stable's existence? It is likely to replace Tron’s USDT ecosystem position, aiming to integrate B-end payment channels. For example, it recently introduced PayPal's PYUSD, indicating that Stable intends to serve as a settlement layer between stablecoins, further reinforcing USDT's position as the leading stablecoin.
Moreover, if Stable were to issue a new token, it would directly impact XPL's ability to capture ecosystem value. Plasma and Stable can completely interoperate, using XPL tokens to incentivize channel partners on Stable, helping various stablecoin issuers better utilize Stable for settlement while connecting to Plasma to capture the siphoning value of the entire USDT ecosystem.
That’s all.
So, if Plasma's ambition to reconstruct traditional payment infrastructure by targeting PayPal is realized, and if it achieves its goal of reclaiming the vitality and value of the DeFi stablecoin economy, would you still consider the current $12 billion FDV high?
Of course, business ambitions and actual implementation are two different matters. Native crypto ecosystems like Ethereum and Tron will not sit idly by while Plasma captures market share, and user migration will also require time. Traditional payment giants like PayPal and Visa will not easily surrender either. What if Plasma One's 10% savings is deemed non-compliant by regulators?
Clearly, there are still many variables at play. But one thing is certain: Tether has transitioned from being a stablecoin issuer for many years to now aiming for a grander goal of becoming a global payment infrastructure giant.
Whether it can be achieved is not important; what matters most is how many opportunities we can seize during this process!
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