Stargate is just an appetizer, Tether hasn't played its trump card yet.
Recently, when chatting about @Plasma , I found that many people have the same question: 'Wasn't this supposed to be Bitcoin's second layer or sidechain? Why is it that when we look at cross-chain now, we can only go through Stargate? I haven't seen anywhere to directly use BTC, let alone stake it.'
Honestly, I also frowned at this question at first. It wasn't until I read that thick white paper that could double as a brick from start to finish, focusing particularly on page 5 and page 17, and cross-referencing it with the real data on the chain, that I suddenly realized—this wasn't not done, it was deliberately not done.
What the project team is doing now is not simply about 'features not keeping up,' but rather laying the groundwork step by step according to financial logic.
At this stage, Plasma indeed mainly relies on Stargate for support. What is Stargate? To put it simply, it is currently the deepest and most mature channel in the cross-chain field for stablecoin liquidity, specifically moving USDT, USDC, and other 'real money in use.' So why does the official step have to start with Stargate? Because in finance, it’s never about discussing assets first, but rather where the money comes from.
Just think about it, if in the future Bitcoin holders are to cross in BTC worth tens of thousands of dollars as collateral, what needs to be on-chain first? It’s not about sentiment; it’s about having a massive amount of USDT that can be borrowed and used immediately. If the pool has no water, even the best assets coming in will be useless. So right now, this stage is essentially a 'water storage period': bringing in stablecoins, streamlining the payment mechanism, and solidifying the foundational DeFi base. You only see Stargate now not because the project team hasn't thought of the next step, but because the resources aren't prepared; the main forces can't possibly get on the field.
The real main event is actually written in the white paper; it's just that the market hasn't taken it seriously yet. On page 17, the project team clearly stated one thing: the native Bitcoin bridge. Note that it is 'native.' This is completely different from the familiar WBTC setup. WBTC, to put it bluntly, is about handing over coins to a certain company, and they give you a chain-based IOU; what Plasma wants to do is to achieve a 'minimal trust' Bitcoin cross-chain method at the protocol level, relying as little as possible on people and more on rules and code.
Once this step is truly realized, the picture will be completely different: on one side, there’s the nearly infinitely deep USDT liquidity provided by Tether, and on the other side, there are BTC assets coming in through the native bridge. What does it mean when these two things connect? It’s not just some small DeFi application; it’s a trillion-level pawn system on-chain. Bitcoin holders won’t need to sell their coins; they can cross in BTC natively as collateral and directly take USDT for spending, investing, or doing business. This is what Tether and that whole set of capital are really focused on — it’s not about trading coins, it’s about absorbing Bitcoin liquidity.
It is precisely because of this that I say that the current $XPL has a very obvious 'expectation gap.' The current price only reflects the imagined space of 'an ordinary public chain that has connected to Stargate'; the market hasn't factored in the line of 'Bitcoin native sidechain + stablecoin settlement layer' at all. But what does true investment earn? Isn’t it just about making money before the good news is fully understood?
Waiting for the day when the BTC native bridge really takes off, the on-chain TVL is already in the tens of billions of US dollars. When you look at the price then, it won't be at this level anymore — by that point, it will feel like it's time for us to consider offloading.
So don’t rush to give Plasma a 'mediocre' conclusion just because you can only use Stargate right now. This little bit at most counts as an appetizer. When will the main course be served? It depends on whether the water is stored deeply enough.
What I am doing now is also very simple: while everyone still thinks the food isn't spicy enough, I’m securing my position and waiting for the real meal to be served.
