Plasma (XPL): Layer-1 Blockchain for Stablecoin Payments
Plasma is a high-performance Layer-1 blockchain purpose-built for stablecoin payments, designed to enable near-instant, zero-fee, and institutionally secure stablecoin transactions. Founded by Paul Faecks and Christian Angermayer in 2024 and backed by Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Framework Ventures, and Tether with over $400 million raised, Plasma (XPL) will soon be available on Bitget!
What is Plasma (XPL)?
Plasma is a Layer-1 blockchain built for stablecoin payments, anchored to Bitcoin for security while providing zero-fee USDT transfers and sub-second transaction finality. Existing blockchains like Ethereum and Tron face high fees, slow transaction finality during network congestion, and require native tokens for gas payments.
Plasma solves these problems by offering gasless USDT transfers, custom gas models that allow users to pay fees in stablecoins or BTC, and sub-second transaction finality via its PlasmaBFT consensus engine. The platform periodically anchors its transaction history to Bitcoin for enhanced security while maintaining EVM compatibility for seamless developer integration.
Core Innovation: Plasma's BitScaler technology enables zero-fee stablecoin transfers with Bitcoin-level security through periodic anchoring to Bitcoin's blockchain, creating the ultimate settlement layer for global digital dollar payments without sacrificing speed or decentralization.
Who Created Plasma (XPL)?
Plasma was founded in 2024 by Paul Faecks and Christian Angermayer, both bringing extensive experience in digital asset infrastructure and venture capital to create purpose-built stablecoin payment rails.
Paul Faecks (CEO & Co-Founder):
● Previously co-founded Alloy, a platform for institutional digital asset operations
● Former derivatives specialist at Deribit with deep expertise in crypto trading infrastructure
● Educational background includes degrees in Philosophy from LMU Munich and Technology/Management from Technische Universität München
● Vision centers on building permissionless, scalable, zero-fee stablecoin infrastructure aligned with major stablecoin issuers
Christian Angermayer (Co-Founder):
● Venture capitalist with extensive connections in both crypto and traditional finance
● Strategic partner bringing funding network and institutional relationships
● Key contributor to assembling strategic partnerships with Tether/Bitfinex and major crypto VCs
Key Team Members:
● Murat Firat (Head of Product): Founded BiLira, Turkey's largest crypto exchange and Lira-pegged stablecoin issuer
● Adam Jacobs (Head of Global Payments): Former global head of payments at FTX and fintech leader at Canadian company Nuvei
● Usmann Khan (Head of Protocol Security): Top-ranked on ImmuneFi's crypto bug bounty leaderboard, specialized in smart contract security
● Jacob Wittman (General Counsel): Blockchain legal and compliance experience
● river0x (DeFi Lead) and murf (Senior Product Designer): Anonymous contributors with expertise in DeFi and product design
What VCs Back Plasma (XPL)?
Plasma has raised over $400 million across multiple funding rounds from leading crypto venture capital firms and institutional investors.
Funding Rounds:
● Seed/Early Backers (Q4 2024): $4 million led by Bitfinex, Paolo Ardoino (Tether CEO), Peter Thiel, Cobie, and Zaheer Ebtikar
● Series A (February 2025): $20 million led by Framework Ventures and Founders Fund, with participation from Bitfinex, Flow Traders, DRW/Cumberland, Bybit, IMC, Nomura, 6th Man Ventures, and Laser Digital
● Public Token Sale (July 2025): $373 million raised, more than 7x oversubscribed with initial target of $50 million
● Deposit Round: $1 billion raised in 35 minutes during early contributor phase
Major Venture Capital Backers:
● Peter Thiel's Founders Fund: Legendary venture capital firm driving institutional support
● Framework Ventures: Leading specialist VC for DeFi and blockchain infrastructure
● Bitfinex and Tether (Paolo Ardoino): Stablecoin market leaders providing strategic partnership and liquidity
● Flow Traders: Major institutional market maker for crypto assets
● DRW/Cumberland: Top global trading firm and crypto investor
● Bybit: Leading crypto exchange providing operational support
● Nomura, IMC, Laser Digital, 6th Man Ventures: Additional institutional and venture participants
The $373 million public token sale was the second-largest stablecoin infrastructure raise of 2025, demonstrating institutional confidence in Plasma's Bitcoin-anchored approach.
How Plasma (XPL) Works
Plasma operates through key technologies that make global stablecoin payments as fast and seamless as messaging apps while maintaining Bitcoin-level security.
PlasmaBFT Consensus Engine
Plasma uses Byzantine Fault Tolerant consensus (PlasmaBFT) with validator nodes staking XPL tokens to propose and validate blocks. The system delivers instant block finality in under one second, supporting thousands of transactions per second at Visa scale. No stake slashing occurs, only block reward penalties for downtime.
Zero-Fee Stablecoin Architecture
The platform features protocol-level paymaster sponsorship for USDT transfers, enabling completely free transactions without requiring users to hold native tokens. Transaction fees can be paid in whitelisted assets including USDT and BTC, removing adoption barriers.
Bitcoin Security Anchoring
Plasma periodically anchors its ledger and transaction state to the Bitcoin blockchain through a native, trust-minimized bridge using multi-party computation and threshold signature schemes. This provides Bitcoin's censorship-resistance and finality without sacrificing transaction speed or requiring central custody.
EVM Compatibility & DeFi Integration
The platform uses a modified Ethereum Reth engine written in Rust, enabling full compatibility with Ethereum smart contracts and developer tools like Hardhat, Foundry, and Remix. Over 100 DeFi protocols including Aave, Euler, Ethena, and Fluid integrate with Plasma for stablecoin operations.
Cross-Chain Bridge Infrastructure
Plasma supports programmable Bitcoin (pBTC) through decentralized verifiers and Omnichain Fungible Token standards, enabling secure movement and utilization of BTC within the ecosystem alongside stablecoins.
You can access the platform at plasma.to and explore comprehensive documentation at docs.plasma.to.
Plasma Token (XPL) and Economics
The XPL token serves as the native utility and governance token powering the Plasma network's consensus, security, and ecosystem growth.
Token Details
● Token Name: Plasma
● Token Symbol: XPL
● Total Supply: 10,000,000,000 XPL (10 billion)
● Circulating Supply: Approximately 1.8 billion XPL as of September 2025
● Blockchain Deployment: Plasma Layer-1 blockchain
Token Distribution
● Public Sale: 10% (1 billion XPL) - Time-weighted vault sale with regional unlock variations
● Ecosystem/Growth: 40% (4 billion XPL) - 8% unlocked at launch for DeFi incentives, 32% vests monthly over 3 years
● Team: 25% (2.5 billion XPL) - 1-year cliff, 2-year monthly vesting for alignment
● Investors: 25% (2.5 billion XPL) - 1-year cliff, 2-year monthly vesting structure
Inflation Structure: Annual inflation begins at 5% then tapers to 3% over time, with partial offset by transaction fee burns inspired by EIP-1559.
Token Utilities
● Network Security & Staking: XPL staking by validators secures the Plasma chain via Proof-of-Stake, with delegation options for token holders to earn protocol rewards
● Transaction Fees: While USDT transfers are zero-fee, smart contracts and advanced transactions may require network fees payable in XPL, USDT, or other whitelisted tokens
● Ecosystem Incentives: XPL distribution through liquidity mining, DeFi integrations, yield farming, and community growth campaigns
● DeFi Utility: Token can be staked in liquidity pools, used as collateral, or deployed in integrated protocols like Aave, Maple, and EtherFi partnerships
● Governance: XPL holders participate in on-chain governance for protocol parameters, upgrades, and economic decisions
● Cross-Chain Bridge Support: Facilitates programmable Bitcoin bridge operations and liquidity routing between BTC, USDT, and other assets
Why Plasma?
Traditional blockchains face critical limitations in stablecoin payments through high fees, slow settlement, and complex user experience. Plasma addresses these problems with breakthrough innovations:
Proven Leadership: Founded by Paul Faecks (Alloy co-founder, Deribit derivatives expert) and Christian Angermayer, combining deep blockchain infrastructure experience with venture capital expertise and strategic industry connections.
Strong Investor Validation: Over $400 million raised from top-tier investors including Peter Thiel's Founders Fund, Framework Ventures, Tether/Bitfinex, and major trading firms, with the 2024 public sale being one of the largest stablecoin infrastructure raises.
Zero-Fee Innovation: Protocol-level paymaster system enables completely free USDT transfers without hidden costs or native token requirements, removing the biggest barrier to mainstream stablecoin adoption.
Bitcoin-Level Security: Periodic anchoring to Bitcoin blockchain provides ultimate finality and censorship-resistance while maintaining sub-second transaction speeds through PlasmaBFT consensus.
Comprehensive Partnership Network: Strategic integrations with Aave (lending infrastructure), EtherFi ($500 million staking vault liquidity), Maple Finance (syrupUSDT lending), Crypto.com (institutional custody), and 100+ DeFi protocols.
Developer-Friendly Ecosystem: Full EVM compatibility enables seamless migration of Ethereum dApps with superior performance, comprehensive documentation, and robust SDK/API access for rapid integration.
Live Ecosystem: Active mainnet with working Bitcoin bridge, DeFi integrations, payment card solutions through Raincards, and proven scalability for high-frequency transactions and institutional use cases.
The platform successfully bridges institutional payment needs with Web3 innovation, positioning itself as the leading solution for global stablecoin infrastructure.
Plasma (XPL) Goes Live on Bitget
We are thrilled to announce that Plasma (XPL) will be listed in the Innovation Zone. Check out the details below:
Deposit Available: 25 September 2025, 10:00 (UTC)
Trading Available: 25 September 2025, 13:00 (UTC)
Trade XPL/USDT on Bitget!
Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are for informational purposes only. This article does not constitute an endorsement of any of the products and services discussed or investment, financial, or trading advice. Qualified professionals should be consulted prior to making financial decisions.
