Exporters in Istanbul source USDT weekly to protect their earnings from lira depreciation. Merchants in Buenos Aires pay staff in stablecoins because the rails move faster than Argentine banks. Commodity traders in Dubai settle cross-border deals in digital dollars. All of them share the same problem: the apps available for managing those dollars are fragmented, poorly localized, and clunky.
Plasma built Plasma One specifically to solve this distribution gap, combining stablecoin payments, savings, and transfers into a single application designed for people who already use digital dollars out of necessity.
What Is Plasma One?
Plasma One is a stablecoin-native neobank launched alongside Plasma's mainnet beta in September 2025. The app consolidates saving, spending, earning, and sending digital dollars into one interface, targeting users in regions where dollar access is limited but demand is high.
The core features include:
- Visa-powered card payments at 150+ million merchants across 150 countries, available in both physical and virtual formats
- 10%+ yield on stablecoin balances with no lockup period required
- Up to 4% cash back on purchases, paid in XPL tokens based on user tier
- Zero-fee USDT transfers between Plasma One users
- Fast onboarding that delivers a virtual spending card within minutes
The card is issued by Signify Holdings (doing business as Rain) under a Visa license, making it accepted everywhere Visa works. Plasma itself operates as a fintech company, not a bank, and crucially does not custody user assets. Your stablecoins remain self-custodied throughout.
How the Yield Works
The headline 10%+ yield naturally draws scrutiny, especially given crypto's history of unsustainable yield promises. Plasma's approach differs from collapsed models like Anchor Protocol because the yield derives from productive DeFi activity rather than inflationary token emissions.
Plasma's on-chain ecosystem launched with $2 billion in stablecoin liquidity deployed across more than 100 DeFi partners, including Aave, Ethena, Fluid, and Euler. Yield is generated through these ecosystem opportunities. Compared to networks like TRON, Plasma's zero-fee model means more value stays with users rather than leaking to transaction costs, creating uniquely favorable conditions for DeFi yields.
The key mechanism: Plasma's ecosystem centers on non-volatile stablecoin assets with a structurally cheap USDT borrow rate. When borrowing costs are low and lending demand is high, DeFi strategies become more profitable without substantially increasing risk. Standard lending, liquidity provision, and strategies across major stablecoins like USDC and USDT generate the underlying returns that fund Plasma One's yield.
For context, Plasma offered 2% yield on USDT through a pre-launch locked product that attracted $1 billion in deposits. The jump to 10%+ on mainnet reflects the expanded DeFi ecosystem now available on the live network.
Important caveats from Plasma's own disclosures: stablecoin balances are not bank deposits, rewards and rates are subject to change, and the value of any cryptocurrency (including stablecoins) can theoretically go to zero.
Security Architecture
Plasma One takes a different approach to wallet security than most crypto applications. Instead of requiring users to manage seed phrases, the app uses hardware-backed keys tied to the user's device. Only the user can access their funds through biometric sign-in and advanced encryption.
| Security Feature | Implementation |
|---|---|
| Authentication | Biometric sign-in (fingerprint/face) |
| Key Management | Hardware-backed keys, no seed phrases |
| Custody | Non-custodial, user retains ownership |
| Card Controls | Instant freeze, custom spending limits |
| Monitoring | Real-time transaction alerts |
| Auditing | Independent external auditors, continuous monitoring |
This security model addresses a genuine adoption barrier. Seed phrases remain one of the biggest friction points in crypto usability, particularly for users in emerging markets who may be accessing digital wallets for the first time. Removing that requirement while maintaining self-custody represents a meaningful UX improvement.
Target Markets and Real-World Use Cases
Plasma One's initial rollout focuses on emerging markets where dollar demand is highest and existing financial infrastructure is weakest. The Middle East, Latin America, and Southeast Asia represent priority regions.
Remittances and Cross-Border Payments
Workers sending money across borders face fees averaging 6-7% through traditional services. Plasma One's zero-fee USDT transfers eliminate these costs entirely for app-to-app transactions. For families receiving regular remittances, the savings compound significantly over time.
Dollar Savings in Inflationary Economies
Citizens in countries experiencing double-digit inflation, like Argentina, Turkey, or Nigeria, use stablecoins to preserve purchasing power. Plasma One adds yield on top of that preservation, effectively paying users to hold the dollars they already want to own.
Merchant Payments
Business owners can accept and hold stablecoin payments without converting to volatile local currencies. The Visa card integration means they can also spend those holdings directly at any merchant, closing the loop between receiving and using digital dollars.
Peer-to-Peer Cash Networks
Plasma deploys localized teams and integrates with existing P2P cash networks in target markets. This infrastructure bridges the gap between digital dollars and physical cash, addressing the "last mile" problem that limits stablecoin adoption in regions with limited banking access.
How Plasma One Connects to XPL
The neobank creates direct utility for the XPL token beyond speculative trading. Cash back rewards are paid in XPL, meaning every card transaction generates organic token demand. As more users adopt Plasma One across its target markets, XPL buying pressure from rewards distribution could grow alongside the user base.
This relationship has implications for XPL's price trajectory, since the token's long-term value becomes partially tied to real-world transaction volume rather than purely speculative interest. The more merchants and remittance users Plasma One onboards, the more XPL gets distributed and utilized.
Tiered reward structures also incentivize holding XPL. Higher tiers unlock better cash back percentages up to the 4% maximum, creating an incentive loop where active users hold tokens for better rewards, further supporting demand.
Challenges and Risks
Phased Rollout Limitations
Plasma One launched with staged access rather than immediate global availability. Initial access was limited to verified depositors and members of the Stablecoin Collective. Expanding to all 150 target countries requires navigating local regulations, building on-ramp partnerships, and establishing P2P cash networks in each region, a process that takes considerable time and capital.
Yield Sustainability
While Plasma's DeFi-derived yield model is structurally different from algorithmic stablecoin collapses, 10%+ returns on stablecoins are historically difficult to maintain through market cycles. Bear markets compress DeFi yields across the board, and Plasma's rates will likely fluctuate with broader conditions.
Competitive Landscape
Neobanks and fintech apps targeting stablecoin users are multiplying rapidly. Rain, Plasma One's own card issuer, recently raised $250 million and services hundreds of fintech partners across multiple blockchains. The infrastructure Plasma One relies on is available to competitors building similar products.
Regulatory Uncertainty
Crypto-native neobanks operate in regulatory gray zones across many jurisdictions. While frameworks like the U.S. GENIUS Act and EU's MiCA are establishing clearer rules for stablecoins, individual countries may impose restrictions that limit Plasma One's operations in key target markets.
Stablecoin Neobanking and What Comes Next
Plasma One represents Plasma's attempt to solve stablecoin infrastructure's biggest unsolved problem: distribution. Building the fastest, cheapest blockchain for USDT transfers matters far less if end users never interact with the technology directly. As Plasma's official announcement puts it, the neobank puts their rails into a consumer product that abstracts away blockchain complexity entirely.
The success or failure of this strategy will likely determine whether Plasma achieves its ambition of becoming the default global stablecoin platform. Strong neobank adoption would validate the entire vertical stack, from L1 blockchain to consumer app, while slow uptake would leave Plasma competing purely on infrastructure merits against established networks with deeper liquidity.
For traders looking to gain exposure to Plasma's ecosystem, XPL is available for spot trading and futures trading on LeveX. Explore more blockchain and token guides through our Crypto in a Minute series.