The Challenge of Plasma Starting with $0.1 - The Possibilities and Limitations of a Global Payment Revolution

On September 25, 2025, the Plasma mainnet beta version sponsored by Tether was launched, sparking a new wave in the cryptocurrency industry. In particular, the news that even a small investment of $0.1 could airdrop approximately $8,390 worth of XPL tokens received widespread market attention. Plasma is an ambitious project that aims to go beyond simple airdrop events and revolutionize the global financial payment system. However, about four months after its launch, the price of XPL tokens has plummeted from an initial $1.51 to $0.12, and the gap between the project’s actual value and market valuation is becoming increasingly clear.

The Myth of the Airdrop Encountered with a $0.1 Investment

The most notable aspect of Plasma’s mainnet launch was its innovative airdrop mechanism. All investors participating in the pre-ICO received the same reward regardless of their investment size. In other words, even a $0.1 investment could yield approximately $8,390 worth of XPL, equivalent to someone who invested $10,000.

This equitable distribution method provided unprecedented opportunities for small investors. The Plasma team announced that half of all ICO participants received their tokens within just three hours after the mainnet launch, demonstrating the project’s rapid growth. The total of 25 million XPL tokens distributed by Plasma was fairly allocated to all depositors, with about 2.067 billion of the total 10 billion tokens currently in circulation.

At that time, the initial price of XPL remained relatively stable around $1.50, attracting strong interest from whale(large holders). However, the current market price of XPL has fallen to around $0.12, and the circulating market cap has shrunk to approximately $256 million. This indicates that the market is shifting its evaluation criteria from optimistic early prospects to actual adoption rates of the project.

The Competitive Edge Created by a Special Relationship with Tether

The fundamental reason Plasma has attracted market attention is its deep connection with Tether(Tether). Tether’s sister company, Bitfinex, directly participated in the investment, and Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino was personally involved in fundraising. In February 2025, Plasma raised $24 million to achieve new blockchain development goals for Tether’s USDT.

Tether’s continuous growth provides a strong foundation for Plasma. The Tether CEO announced that USDT is expanding rapidly worldwide, with on-chain transactions of USDT increasing by 120% in the first half of 2025 compared to 2024. Notably, 66% of transactions are concentrated in West Asia, the Middle East, and Africa, with demand surging in emerging markets.

In this context, investing in Plasma is essentially betting on Tether’s global expansion strategy. @simononchain, an analyst at Delphi Digital, described Plasma as “a long-tail strategy that expands exposure to one of the world’s most valuable companies, Tether.” As Tether continues to grow and strengthen, market confidence in Plasma is also expected to rise.

Plasma’s Position Amidst a Swirl of Intense Competition

Starting with the ambitious goal of revolutionizing global payments, Plasma faces a much more complex competitive environment than expected. Existing public blockchains like Ethereum, Tron, and Solana still maintain strong dominance in the stablecoin liquidity market.

Even more challenging is the emergence of a new generation of stablecoin chains. In August 2025, Circle(Circle) launched Arc, an open-source Layer 1 blockchain specialized for stablecoin financial scenarios. In the same month, fintech giant Stripe(Stripe) partnered with crypto venture capital Paradigm( to develop Tempo, a high-performance payment-focused Layer 1 blockchain. Cosmos SDK-based Noble continues to grow.

Shockingly, Google has also entered this market. Recently, Google announced Google Cloud Universal Ledger)GCUL(, a Layer 1 blockchain dedicated to digital payments and tokenization for financial institutions. Therefore, Plasma’s competitors include not only existing blockchain projects in the crypto industry but also major corporations from traditional finance and technology sectors.

Differentiated Technology and the Real-World Application Strategy of Plasma One

With the mainnet launch, Plasma implemented free USDT transfers through a custom consensus algorithm called PlasmaBFT, and integrated over 100 DeFi protocols)Aave, Ethena, Fluid, Euler, etc.(. Within 24 hours of launch, Plasma recorded over $4 billion in total deposits, ranking 8th among DeFi blockchains. This was made possible by users depositing assets into Plasma lending vaults and partner DeFi protocols, earning XPL tokens as incentives.

Even more impressive was the announcement that within two days of launch, the supply of stablecoins on the Plasma chain surpassed $7 billion. The technological advantages of speed and zero fees enable exchanges, financial institutions, and banks to utilize it as a settlement layer for large-scale transfers.

The true innovation of Plasma is reflected in a new banking product called Plasma One. Launched on September 22, 2025, Plasma One is the first new bank powered by stablecoins, targeting users in emerging markets with high demand for US dollars. The platform offers:

Spend and earn profit: Users can make payments directly from stablecoin balances while earning over 10% returns.

Real rewards card: Physical or virtual cards from Plasma One offer up to 4% cashback.

Borderless global coverage: Cards can be used at over 150 countries and 150 million merchants.

Free USDT transfers: Instantly send digital dollars to individuals and businesses via the app at no cost.

Fast onboarding: Virtual cards can be issued within minutes after registration, revolutionizing the traditional bank process that takes days.

Plasma One consolidates the DeFi ecosystem, exchange integrations, and payment partners into a single application, providing a consistent user experience while ensuring pricing and liquidity stability.

The Gap Between High Expectations and Reality

The Plasma project has attracted high market interest since early 2025. The public token sale on June 9 exceeded the $500 million subscription limit within minutes, with over 1,100 wallets participating initially, and an average deposit of about $35,000. On June 12, Plasma announced an additional $500 million fundraising, raising the total cap to $1 billion.

CEO Paul Peck clarified the project’s vision: “The US dollar is a product desired by most people worldwide. Stablecoins provide a fundamental, permissionless way to store and transfer US dollars anywhere.”

However, the success story that started with a $0.1 investment faced other realities over time. The sharp decline in token price reflects the gap between initial excessive expectations and actual adoption speed. How quickly the project’s technological innovations and decentralization vision can transform traditional financial systems remains an unknown territory.

Whether Plasma, backed strongly by Tether and equipped with differentiated technology, can become a key player in reshaping the global payment system or will be overshadowed by numerous competitors depends on future adoption rates and ecosystem maturity. From small investors with $0.1 to institutional investors, everyone’s eyes are on the next chapter of this project.