The competitive landscape in the cryptocurrency space is shifting. The focus is no longer on the war among L2s; a new battlefield has emerged: stablecoin chains. Companies like Tether, Circle, and Stripe are rolling out their dedicated blockchains, aiming to serve global stablecoin payments.

Why Do We Need New Dedicated Chains?

Some may ask: Since public chains like Ethereum, Solana, and Tron already exist and function well, why build new blockchains? The answer lies in the fact that these existing public chains were not designed for the following specific needs:

1. Massive Transactions & Low Latency: Support millions of daily transactions with millisecond-level latency.

2. Predictable Low-Cost Fees: Transaction fees are priced in stablecoins and are predictable.

3. Embedded Fiat On/Off Ramps: Natively integrate fiat-crypto conversion functions.

4. Compliance-Friendly Privacy: Provide privacy features that meet regulatory requirements.

5. Custom Control Over Infrastructure & Economic Models: Allow projects to customize underlying architectures and economic incentives.

What we’re witnessing is a shift from general-purpose blockchains to vertical-specific chains. These new "vertical chains" are end-to-end optimized for payments, settlements, and scalable applications.

Below is a detailed introduction to 7 major native stablecoin chains, including their builders, working principles, and development directions.

Plasma

Plasma is a Bitcoin-secured, EVM-compatible sidechain optimized for USDT transfers.

• Core Tech: Uses the PlasmaBFT consensus mechanism, a pipelined and parallelized variant of the Fast HotStuff protocol, designed for faster transaction finality and high throughput.

• Fee Model: Offers zero-fee USD₮ transfers, supports custom gas tokens, and provides optional confidential payments. Additionally, Plasma is fully EVM-compatible.

• Integrated Infrastructure: Built-in stablecoin infrastructure, including card issuance, fiat-crypto conversion channels, risk management tools, and privacy payment features.

• Native Bridge: Features a native, minimally trusted BTC bridge enabling direct interaction between BTC and EVM chain assets.

• Current Partnerships: Yellow Card (USDT remittances in Africa via Plasma), BiLira Kripto (compliant Turkish lira-USDT exchange in Turkey), Uranium Digital (24/7 on-chain uranium settlements), Axis (interest-bearing stablecoin xyUSD backed by hedge fund strategies), Curve Finance (planning to support deep and efficient stablecoin swaps). Other well-known multi-chain DeFi protocols like Aave, Pendle, and Ethena are also planning to join.

• Funding: Plasma has secured backing from Founders Fund, Framework Ventures, and Bitfinex, raising $24M in its latest round. Its public token sale attracted $373M in subscriptions and sold out in 30 minutes. Its testnet is live, with the mainnet launching soon.

Stable

Stable is a new EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain co-developed by Bitfinex and Tether, designed to eliminate nearly all friction in large-scale USDT transfers.

• Core Tech: Runs on StableBFT consensus, a CometBFT PoS mechanism tailored for high-load stablecoin operations, featuring low latency and high throughput. It uses optimistic parallel execution, targeting speeds of up to 10,000 TPS.

• Fee Model: Its native gas token is gasUSDT, but thanks to account abstraction, users can pay fees directly in USDT0. Peer-to-peer USDT0 transfers are gas-free, and holders can leverage LayerZero relays for gasless transactions.

• Ecosystem Integration: Its roadmap includes built-in fiat on/off ramps, debit card integration, and enterprise-grade "fast lanes" to combine on-chain speed with Web2-like user experience.

• Funding: The project raised $28M in a seed round led by Bitfinex and Hack VC, with participation from Franklin Templeton, Castle Island, and USDT0. Stable is currently in private testnet, with a public testnet expected later this year.

Converge

Converge is an Ethereum Layer 2 network built on Arbitrum tech, jointly developed by Ethena Labs and Securitize.

• Core Tech: Execution layer uses Arbitrum, with data availability provided by Celestia. It employs a Conduit-powered custom G2 sequencer, targeting 100ms block times and plans for GigaGas+ throughput.

• Fee Model: Gas fees are paid in $USDe and $USDtb.

• Security & Validation: Nodes validate transactions by staking $ENA in the Converge validator network. Custodial security is provided by Anchorage, Fireblocks, Zodia, and Copper, enhancing operational comfort for institutional users.

• Current Partnerships: Hamilton Lane (bringing tokenized private credit and equity funds), Morpho Labs, Pendle, Maple Finance, Horizon (institutional-focused permissioned apps), and native apps centered around sUSDe and real yield (e.g., Strata, Terminal, Ethereal, Aave).