A look at the seven major stablecoin chains: Forget the L2 debate; Tether, Circle, and Stripe have opened up a new payment battlefield.

The cryptocurrency landscape is evolving, with stablecoin chains emerging as a new battleground, led by companies like Tether, Circle, and Stripe. These specialized blockchains address key limitations of general-purpose chains like Ethereum and Solana, focusing on:

Massive transactions and low latency: Handling millions of daily transactions with millisecond speeds.
Predictable, low-cost fees: Fees denominated in stablecoins, often with subsidized or zero-cost transfers.
Fiat integration: Built-in channels for deposits/withdrawals between crypto and traditional finance.
Compliance-friendly privacy: Regulatory-compliant privacy features.
Custom infrastructure: Tailored economic models and architecture for payments and settlements.

Key Stablecoin Chains Overview:

Plasma: A Bitcoin-secured, EVM-compatible sidechain optimized for USDT transfers, featuring zero-fee transactions, built-in fiat gateways, and partnerships with Yellow Card and Curve Finance. Backed by $24M funding.
Stable: Developed by Bitfinex/Tether, this EVM-compatible L1 uses StableBFT consensus for high throughput (10,000 TPS) and gas-free USDT transfers via LayerZero. Raised $28M.
Converge: An Ethereum L2 (Arbitrum-based) for institutional stablecoin use, with $USDe/$USDtb gas fees and validator staking via $ENA. Partners include Hamilton Lane and Aave.
Codex: An OP Stack-based Ethereum L2 for compliant, privacy-focused stablecoin payments and forex, with $15.8M funding from Dragonfly and Circle Ventures.
Noble: Originally a Cosmos chain, now launching an EVM rollup (Noble AppLayer) for composable yields and cross-chain liquidity. Backed by Paradigm’s $15M Series A.
Arc: Circle’s chain for TradFi integration, offering 3,000 TPS, USDC gas fees, and built-in forex. Targets enterprise payments with MEV mitigation.
Tempo: Stripe and Paradigm’s Ethereum-compatible chain for merchant payments, leveraging Stripe’s infrastructure and stablecoin-only fees.

Common Traits:

Stablecoin-denominated gas fees.
High performance (sub-second finality, thousands of TPS).
Low/zero transfer costs.
Native fiat gateways.
Real-world financial use cases (payments, payroll, remittances).

The future will likely see multiple chains coexisting, each tied to specific issuers and use cases, but all aiming to streamline global money movement. Success will hinge on seamless integration into everyday financial transactions.

Original article: Pink Brains , DeFi analysis platform

Compiled by Yuliya, PaNews

The current competitive landscape in the cryptocurrency space is shifting. The focus is no longer on the battle between Layer 2 (L2) blockchains; a new battlefield has emerged: stablecoin chains. Companies like Tether, Circle, and Stripe are launching dedicated blockchains designed to support global stablecoin payments.

Why do we need a new dedicated chain?

Some may ask, since public chains such as Ethereum, Solana, and Tron already exist and operate well, why is it necessary to build a new blockchain? The answer is that these existing public chains are not designed for the following specific needs:

Massive transactions and low latency : Supports millions of transactions per day with millisecond latency.
Predictable and low-cost fees : Transaction fees are denominated in the stablecoin itself and the costs are predictable.
Built-in fiat currency deposit and withdrawal channels : natively integrate the exchange function of fiat currency and cryptocurrency.
Compliance-friendly privacy : Provides privacy protection features that meet regulatory requirements.
Custom control over infrastructure and economic models : Allows projects to customize the underlying architecture and economic incentives.

We are witnessing a shift from general-purpose blockchains to specialized vertical chains. These new “vertical chains” are end-to-end optimized for payments, settlements, and scalable applications.

The following is a detailed introduction to seven major stablecoin native chains, including their builders, working principles, and development directions.

Plasma

Plasma is a Bitcoin-secured, EVM-compatible sidechain focused on optimizing USDT transfers.

Core Technology : Adopts the PlasmaBFT consensus mechanism, a pipelined, parallelized variant of the Fast HotStuff protocol designed to achieve faster transaction finality and high throughput.
Fee Model : Offers zero-fee USD₮ transfers, supports custom gas tokens, and offers optional confidential payments. Furthermore, Plasma is fully EVM-compatible.
Integrated facilities : A complete stablecoin infrastructure is built in, including card issuance, fiat-to-cryptocurrency conversion channels, risk management tools, and private payment capabilities.
Native Bridge : A native and trust-minimized BTC bridge that supports direct interaction between BTC and EVM chain assets.
Current collaborations include : Yellow Card (using Plasma for USDT remittances in Africa), BiLira Kripto (providing a compliant Turkish Lira-USDT exchange in Turkey), Uranium Digital (enabling 24/7 on-chain uranium settlement), Axis (launching xyUSD, an interest-bearing stablecoin backed by hedge fund strategies), and Curve Finance (planning to support deep and efficient stablecoin swaps). Other well-known multi-chain DeFi protocols such as Aave, Pendle, and Ethena also plan to join.

Plasma, backed by Founders Fund, Framework Ventures, and Bitfinex, raised $24 million in its latest funding round. Its public token sale attracted $373 million in interest and sold out within 30 minutes. Its testnet is now live, with the mainnet launch imminent.

Stable

Stable is a new, EVM-compatible Layer 1 blockchain developed by Bitfinex and Tether. Stable aims to eliminate nearly all friction in transferring USDT at scale.

Core Technology : Running on the StableBFT consensus, a CometBFT PoS mechanism designed for high-load stablecoin workloads, it offers low latency and high throughput. Through optimistic parallel execution, it aims to achieve speeds of up to 10,000 transactions per second (TPS).
Fee Model : Its native gas token is gasUSDT, but thanks to account abstraction technology, users can pay transaction fees directly with USDT0. Peer-to-peer USDT0 transfers are gas-free, and holders can achieve gas-free transactions through LayerZero relays.
Ecosystem Integration : Its roadmap includes built-in fiat currency deposits and withdrawals, debit card integration, and enterprise-level "fast lanes," aiming to combine the speed of on-chain funds with a smooth Web2-like user experience.

In terms of funding, the project raised $28 million in a seed round led by Bitfinex and Hack VC, with participation from Franklin Templeton, Castle Island, and USDT0. Currently, Stable is in the private testnet phase and expects to launch a public testnet later this year.

Converge

Converge is an Ethereum Layer 2 network built on Arbitrum technology, jointly developed by Ethena Labs and Securitize.

Core Technology : The execution layer uses Arbitrum, with data availability provided by Celestia. A custom G2 sequencer driven by Conduit is used, with a block time target of 100 milliseconds and plans to achieve GigaGas+ throughput.
Fee model: Gas fees are paid in $USDe and $USDtb.
Security and Verification : Nodes validate transactions by staking $ENA in the Converge validator network. Custodial security is provided by institutions such as Anchorage, Fireblocks, Zodia, and Copper, increasing operational comfort for institutional users.
Current collaborations : Hamilton Lane (for tokenized private credit and equity funds), Morpho Labs, Pendle, Maple Finance, Horizon, and other permissioned institutional applications, as well as native applications centered around sUSDe and real yield (e.g., Strata, Terminal, Ethereal, Aave, etc.).

Codex

Codex is a secure, high-throughput Ethereum L2. Codex is designed for businesses that need to use stablecoins in real financial processes (payroll, finance, trade) and value compliance, predictability, and privacy. It is designed for stablecoin native payments, foreign exchange, and settlements.

Core technology : Built on OP Stack and hosted by Conduit.
Fee model : The transaction fee and gas abstraction mechanism are optimized for stablecoin flows, and deterministic execution ensures institutional-grade reliability.

Built-in functionality : Foreign exchange and custody capabilities are built-in to support multi-currency settlement. Furthermore, the solution relies on the Ethereum mainnet for final settlement, ensuring security and finality.

In terms of financing, Codex raised $15.8 million in a seed round led by Dragonfly, with support from Circle Ventures, Coinbase, Cumberland, and Wintermute. Its mainnet is scheduled to launch in mid-2024.

Noble

Noble was initially launched as a native asset issuance chain for the Cosmos ecosystem, aiming to bring USDC and other stablecoins to application chains connected to IBC (Inter-Blockchain Communication). To date, Noble has processed over $8 billion in trading volume, powering stablecoin flows for dYdX and other Cosmos application chains.

To address these programmability limitations, Noble is launching an EVM-compatible rollup, called Noble AppLayer. Secured by Celestia, it supports 100-millisecond block times and composable stablecoin yields on USDN (Noble's own stablecoin). It also supports providing liquidity to EVM chains via Hyperlane/IBC and provides a gateway to Noble's issuance services for EVM chains. Furthermore, it is fully compatible with the Cosmos ecosystem, making it easier for developers to create stablecoin-based applications and scale to other blockchain networks.

In terms of financing, Noble completed a $15 million Series A financing round last year, led by Paradigm, and Noble AppLayer is expected to be launched this summer.

Arc

Circle announced the launch of Arc, a blockchain specifically designed for stablecoin finance. The chain aims to bridge traditional finance with stablecoin native chains, supporting internet-scale applications. Arc boasts a processing capacity of approximately 3,000 transactions per second (TPS), with transaction finality times of less than 350 milliseconds, and is supported by 20 validators.

Fee model : USDC is used as the native gas token, and the interest-bearing stablecoin USYC is supported.
Built-in functions : Arc has a built-in foreign exchange engine that enables foreign exchange exchanges between institutions on the chain through a request for quotation (RFQ) mechanism, and provides selective privacy functions , which can realize confidential transfers by viewing the key.

To address the Maximum Extractable Value (MEV) issue, Arc has outlined a mitigation roadmap, including crypto trading pools, transaction batching, and a multi-proposer mechanism. Arc aims to connect traditional finance (TradFi) and stablecoin native chains at internet scale. It is also tightly integrated with Circle's infrastructure, natively supporting CCTP and Gateway cross-chain transactions, providing chain-abstracted balance management, and offering businesses tools such as on-chain invoicing, refunds, and AI-powered financial management.

While not pursuing maximum decentralization, Arc aims to embed the tokenized dollar into enterprise payments, foreign exchange, and financial processes. Arc will launch a private testnet in the coming weeks, with a public testnet expected this fall. The testnet will support USDC as its core, but will also be open to other digital dollars and tokenized assets.

Tempo

Tempo is a stablecoin blockchain jointly developed by payments giant Stripe and renowned crypto VC Paradigm. Focused on payments, Tempo is compatible with Ethereum and is led by Paradigm co-founder Matt Huang as CEO. Tempo does not utilize a native volatile token, and transaction fees are paid exclusively in stablecoins, aiming to deeply integrate with Stripe's existing merchant ecosystem.

The project also leverages Stripe's previously acquired Bridge (stablecoin infrastructure) and Privy (wallet infrastructure that supports login via social accounts) technologies to further optimize user experience and compliance. Tempo's goal is to embed stablecoin payment channels into Stripe's global infrastructure while ensuring that user experience and compliance processes are not affected.

Common Characteristics and Future Outlook

All of the above stablecoin protogenesis links exhibit some common characteristics:

Stablecoins for Gas Payment : Transaction fees are paid directly in stablecoins.
High performance : sub-second finality and throughput of thousands or even tens of thousands of TPS.
Low transfer costs : Fee-free or subsidized transfers become standard.
Fiat currency channel : provides a direct connection to the fiat currency banking system.
Application scenarios : Designed around real-world financial use cases, not just crypto-native activities.

In the future, we will likely see the coexistence of multiple stablecoin chains. Each chain may be deeply tied to a single issuer and a set of products, but they all serve the same global need: a better way to move money.

However, the ultimate winners will be those platforms that can invisibly provide on-chain support for every checkout, every payroll payment, and every cross-border remittance.