Stablecoin Chains Fuel Low-Cost, High-Speed Global Payments
Five dedicated stablecoin chains are racing to deliver low-cost, high-speed and compliant global payments. Plasma, backed by Bitfinex and Tether, launched its beta mainnet in September 2025, attracting $1 billion in USDT deposits and offering gasless, zero-fee transfers with 1,000+ TPS and sub-second finality. Stablechain, incubated by Tether/Bitfinex with $28 million in seed funding, will enable USDT gas payments and open its public testnet in late 2025. Codex, an Optimism-based Ethereum Layer 2, integrates native USDC settlement via CCTP v2 and Fireblocks custody, processes around $1.7 million in daily flows and charges under $0.001 per gas transaction. Noble, built on Cosmos, issues native USDC via IBC and introduced USDN, a yield-bearing stablecoin backed by U.S. Treasuries. 1Money, founded by Binance.US’s ex-CEO, runs on a Layer 1 chain with direct stablecoin gas payments and reached 250,000 TPS in recent testnet trials. As these stablecoin chains mature, traders should monitor TVL growth, partner integrations, transaction fees and finality speeds—key factors that could reshape stablecoin rails and trading strategies.
Bullish
The emergence of dedicated stablecoin chains with gasless or ultra-low-cost transactions, high throughput and fast finality is likely to boost stablecoin adoption and trading activity. In the short term, traders can benefit from reduced fees and faster settlement on Plasma and Codex, while early integrations on Stablechain and Noble may spur institutional flows. Long term, as 1Money’s 250,000 TPS performance and the launch of USDN demonstrate technical maturity, these chains could become the backbone of global stablecoin rails, driving sustained demand for USDT, USDC and associated market volumes.