Most people only notice friction in payments when something fails, and in crypto that friction often shows up as gas.
The core problem Plasma addresses is that sending stablecoins still requires holding a separate, volatile token to pay fees. This double-balance requirement adds confusion for users and complexity for merchants, limiting stablecoin payments from feeling like normal digital money.
Plasma approaches this by designing a Layer 1 where stablecoins are treated as the native unit. Transactions can be paid directly in USDT, and the network supports fee sponsorship at the protocol level, reducing the need for users to interact with blockchain mechanics at all.
A clear positive is the improved user experience: removing gas tokens lowers barriers for payments. A clear risk is centralization, as the validator set is currently permissioned and closely tied to institutional partners.
Whether this model proves durable depends on regulatory tolerance, sustained transaction volume, and real-world adoption over time. If those conditions align, Plasma could become a meaningful payments layer, but that outcome is not guaranteed.@Plasma
