I started getting involved in the crypto world in March of last year, gradually going from a complete novice who knew nothing to someone who understands a bit now. I've also witnessed the birth of many prominent projects. Although the market conditions at that time were far from the flourishing era of 2022 and 2023, for a newcomer to the crypto space, it was still quite dazzling. Now I sit at the table reminiscing about the grandeur of that time and recording my feelings, because back then$XPL it was truly eye-catching. Whether in the primary or secondary market, it really felt like money was being thrown around. At that time, things were indeed boiling over, as if a very powerful project suddenly emerged. I also didn't expect that half a year later, I would continue to create content for it. Perhaps this is also a fate that was meant to be.
If we talk about the boldest projects in the blockchain space in 2025, Plasma definitely ranks high. Upon its mainnet launch, it boldly declared its intention to take over the USDT dominance from Tron, relying on zero-fee USDT transfers, which truly addresses the pain points of retail and small business users. Can you believe it? Transferring USDT on other chains either incurs fees or requires swapping to native coins for Gas, which can be a hassle and still results in losses. Plasma has introduced a protocol layer paymaster where all USDT transfers incur no costs, with sub-second confirmations; this experience is top-notch.
It's not just a joke; behind it is real institutional endorsement with substantial investments from big players like Founders Fund and Bitfinex totaling over 70 million USD, and Tether's CEO also supporting it. At the beginning of the mainnet launch, the TVL surged to 14 billion USD; anyone who saw that would shout 'impressive.' Moreover, it's an EVM-compatible L1 chain, allowing smart contracts and development tools from Ethereum to be directly used without requiring developers to relearn, thus significantly lowering the barriers for building the ecosystem.
Of course, its ambitions go beyond this, specifically targeting emerging markets in Africa and Latin America where there is a high demand for stablecoins. In these areas, cross-border remittance fees are high and transfers are slow, making Plasma's zero-fee and high-speed transfers a perfect remedy. Furthermore, the PlasmaBFT consensus mechanism claims to achieve final confirmation within one second, with TPS exceeding a thousand, making it much faster than Ethereum, and it works seamlessly for daily payments and merchant settlements.
However, there are some skeptics now, claiming its TVL has dropped by 63% to just 2.1 billion, and the token price has fallen by over 90%. To be honest, there aren't many projects willing to spend money on user experience during a bear market. Plasma is betting on network effects, first attracting users and then discussing profitability later. Whether this strategy will succeed still depends on the subsequent ecosystem implementation.