Core Insights - Tether has launched the Bitcoin sidechain Plasma to transform from a stablecoin issuer to a global trading infrastructure operator [1][3] - The early participants in the Plasma ecosystem include the decentralized exchange XBIT, which has integrated the network to offer trading pairs of USDT and pBTC [1][3] - The launch comes in the wake of the USDT crisis in early 2025, where the stablecoin's price fell below $0.9, leading to significant losses for investors [1][3] Group 1: Market Dynamics - USDT's circulating market cap has reached $170 billion, with annual transaction volumes surpassing those of PayPal and Visa combined [3] - Tether's profit model relies on a 3%-4% annual yield from reserve assets, primarily U.S. Treasury bonds, generating approximately $13 billion in annual profit [3] - The previous crisis was partly due to network congestion on Ethereum and Tron, which increased transaction costs and triggered forced liquidations [3] Group 2: Technological Innovations - Plasma employs a "robust optimization + precise compensation" strategy in its technical architecture, utilizing the PlasmaBFT consensus algorithm to reduce transaction confirmation times [4] - The application layer integrates account abstraction technology, allowing for zero-fee USDT transfers, addressing the core issues that led to the previous liquidation events [4][5] Group 3: Trust and Security Measures - Plasma introduces a decentralized validator network to enhance reserve transparency and security, ensuring that pBTC and USDT reserves are traceable [7] - The integration of LayerZero's OFT standard aims to mitigate liquidity fragmentation across chains, addressing lessons learned from the 2024 Tether regulatory investigation [7] Group 4: Risk Mitigation Strategies - Plasma One digital bank offers a 10% annual savings yield and 4% cashback to attract conservative investors, reducing the market's reliance on high-leverage contracts [8] - Collaborations with liquidity service providers like Bitfinex and Flow Traders aim to create deep liquidity pools, ensuring sufficient trading depth during extreme market conditions [8] - XBIT has upgraded its risk control system to monitor large USDT and pBTC transactions in real-time, adjusting leverage and liquidation thresholds to minimize the risk of future liquidations [8]

RT ASXN (@asxn_r)1/ @PlasmaFDN is an L1 optimized for stablecoins and payments with free USD₮ transfers, an onchain neobank, Plasma One, and pBTC, an OFT BTC token.Earlier today, Plasma mainnet beta (as well as the XPL token) went live.Below, we take a look into the XPL tokenomics and valuation: ...