Plasma: New Stablecoin L1

https://www.plasma.to/insights/plasma-mainnet-beta-and-xpl

• new L1 specifically for stablecoin usage, backed by Tether & bitfinex mafia. Peter Thiel in it too.
• public sale happened in July at $0.05 per token but massively over-subscribed by 7x magnitude (more tokenomics info https://www.plasma.to/insights/xpl-the-public-sale-and-its-role-in-the-plasma-ecosystem)
• HOWEVER, US-based investors only unlock their tokens in 2026 (1yr from now) due to regulations
• premarket currently trading at $0.8 rn, putting it currently at $1.33b mcap

note: Tether recorded 13 BILLION usd in profits in 2024 :)

my understanding is that USDT will be fully cross-chain, and at its very core, Plasma will allow fully fee-free transfers of it. (ties in with their USDT0 standard)

Valuation cases:

bull case: market values a L1 for stablecoins, priced similarly to Ethena ($4b mcap)

standard case: $2b feels realistic to hit if it captures enough attention

bear case: comparable to L2's like optimism, arbitrum -> should still stay above $1b mcap