XPL is the native token of the Plasma blockchain, a chain that claims to be purpose-built for stablecoin payments, taking the "high-performance L1" route. Its biggest selling point is straightforward——achieving zero-fee USDT transfers at the protocol level, aiming to become the infrastructure for global stablecoin payments.

The project has a solid background, with heavyweight figures like Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino publicly endorsing it, plus its listing on top exchanges like Binance around September 2025, naturally attracting considerable attention.

Why is it so popular? Several reasons stand out. First, the user experience is genuinely differentiated——free deposits and withdrawals, free P2P transfers, directly addressing the current gas fee pain points of exchanges and DeFi. Second, it has backing from Bitfinex and Tether behind it, which gives the market peace of mind. Third, over 1 billion dollars in USDT were locked in before launch to participate, making the demand clearly real.

Its early performance has also been eye-catching——approximately 2 billion dollars in stablecoin liquidity locked on launch day, a record for new projects. Pre-trading prices even surged to 0.89 USDT, far exceeding the community's previous estimates of 0.25-0.35 range. Looking at the broader context, the total stablecoin market cap has already broken through 307 billion dollars, with USDT circulation approaching 182 billion, meaning the market pool itself is large enough to provide imagination space for an L1 focused on stablecoins.

However, risks must be clearly understood. Despite the fierce momentum, XPL faces equally formidable challenges.