Do I need to buy $XPL to use Plasma?
This is the most common question for beginners: I want to use Plasma to convert to stablecoins and make payments; do I have to buy $XPL first? My understanding is that buying the native coin should not be seen as a threshold for use. Plasma focuses on the stablecoin payment experience, and if every user has to first buy a native coin for Gas, then the experience returns to the old ways of traditional public chains—many steps, prone to errors, and discouraging for first-time users. Payments need to be scalable and should ideally allow users to use stablecoins directly, even making them unaware of the underlying complexity.
However, two layers need to be clarified here: the first layer is the "user experience layer"; ideally, you shouldn't need to hoard a lot of XPL to complete transfers, receive payments, or engage in daily interactions. The second layer is the "network operation layer"; the chain always needs someone to maintain security and block production, and XPL here acts more like a stake and incentive vehicle for the network, used for staking and validator systems to ensure stable operation of the chain. This means users may not necessarily need to hold a lot of XPL to use it, but XPL still has its role in network security and ecological incentives.
A more pragmatic suggestion is: if you are just experiencing and using small amounts, focus first on whether the "process is smooth, whether additional preparation is needed, and whether failure prompts are clear"; if you are a long-term participant, then study the mechanisms of XPL, supply, and ecological incentives, distinguishing between "usage thresholds" and "participation thresholds". In the next article, I will continue to answer a common confusion: whether Plasma and the early Ethereum concept of the same name are the same thing.