Looking at the evolution of crypto over the past few years, one phenomenon is particularly interesting—the most successful products are not the top-tier public chains or popular DeFi protocols, but stablecoins. They have completely changed the liquidity characteristics of the US dollar, circulating on-chain 24/7 nonstop. You can transfer funds at any time, settle cross-border transactions, participate in on-chain finance, and even use them as a hedge during asset volatility.

But now, stablecoins face a watershed moment—they are evolving from simple transaction valuation tools into actual payment currencies in real financial scenarios. This sounds great, but the problem is: once they enter the payment track, the game rules change entirely.

Imagine this: in speculative trading, users might tolerate higher fees and slower confirmations; but payment scenarios are entirely different. A merchant would not accept experiences where fee rates spike during peak times or where transaction confirmation times are inconsistent, and ordinary users wouldn’t want to buy gas tokens just to transfer funds—that’s too absurd. The bottom line for payments is very rigid: costs must be low, speed must be fast, and processes simple, with no room for negotiation.

This is precisely why solutions like Plasma are gaining attention. Their approach is very practical: prioritize stablecoins (especially USD₮), then connect transaction costs, settlement speed, user experience, and compliance frameworks into a cohesive solution. In other words, they’re not just building "another blockchain," but constructing something closer to financial infrastructure—integrating the entire payment and settlement chain to make stablecoins truly usable money.