Stablecoins, L1, L2: Who Is Defining the Next Generation of Global Payments?

Amid the wave of the crypto industry shifting from "speculation-driven" to "application-driven," stablecoins are rapidly evolving from an intra-industry trading medium to a global universal payment tool.

Written by: Foresight Ventures

Amid the wave of the crypto industry shifting from "speculation-driven" to "application-driven," stablecoins are rapidly evolving from an intra-industry trading medium to a global universal payment tool. This transformation is driven both by the urgent need for efficient cross-border settlement in traditional finance and as an inevitable result of the Web3 ecosystem moving towards inclusivity.

Traditional public chains (such as ETH, Tron), due to their general-purpose underlying design, have exposed pain points in stablecoin payment scenarios such as fee volatility, slow transaction speeds, and difficulty in compliance audits. In contrast, stablecoin-dedicated chains, with "optimizing stablecoin circulation" as their core, can promote stablecoins' true entry into mainstream payments with lower costs, higher efficiency, and stronger compliance.

The future competition in payments and settlement will focus on key capabilities such as low-cost zero-fee transfers, instant settlement, compliance and auditability, and plug-and-play for merchants and institutions.

This report selects five representative stablecoin-dedicated chains—Plasma, Stable, Codex, Noble, and 1Money—and conducts in-depth analysis from five dimensions: positioning, market strategy, community popularity, development progress, and core data, revealing their differentiated advantages and potential challenges through horizontal comparison.

TLDR

Plasma

Basic Introduction

Plasma is a high-performance Layer1 blockchain designed specifically for stablecoins, supported by well-known institutions such as Bitfinex, Founders Fund, and Framework.

GTM Strategy

In mid-2025, Plasma opened a pre-TGE subscription window for XPL, attracting about 1 billion USD equivalent in stablecoins within 30 minutes under a "deposit first, apply later" process, with proportional refunds for oversubscription. The project is working with Tether to introduce native USDT and collaborating with liquidity partners such as Bitfinex, Flow Traders, and DRW.

Plasma's roadmap will start with a permissioned (trusted validators) launch, transition to horizontal scaling, and eventually move to an open validator set;

The mainnet Beta is scheduled to go live on September 25, 2025.

Subsequently, Binance Earn launched the on-chain Plasma USDT Locked Product: the first batch of 250 million USDT was fully subscribed within an hour, then expanded in batches to a cap of 1 billion USDT, with daily USDT earnings and XPL rewards distributed after TGE.

In September 2025, the team also launched Plasma One—a native neobank for stablecoins, with cards issued by Signify Holdings under a Visa license, supporting zero-fee USDT transfers, "spend and earn" account models, and up to 4% cashback.

Community and Market Popularity

Benefiting from strong investor backgrounds, Plasma has attracted significant market attention since its establishment in 2024. Its X platform followers have exceeded 130,000. Since the public offering news of Plasma was released, it has sparked widespread discussion in the community, making it a hot topic in the stablecoin chain sector.

Development and Testing Progress

The Plasma mainnet is currently in the Beta launch phase, technically achieving integration with the Bitcoin sidechain and Ethereum EVM compatibility, and connecting with node service tools such as QuickNode and Tenderly; its core consensus mechanism is PlasmaBFT (based on the Fast HotStuff algorithm), and the mainnet will advance in three phases: "trusted validator launch → scale expansion → full openness." The zero-fee USDT transfer function is still under development and debugging on the testnet. By mid-2025, the Plasma testnet had carried about 1 billion USD in stablecoins (including USDC, USDT, etc.) cross-chained in, with these funds mapped onto the Plasma chain.

During testing, Plasma also integrated with multiple wallets and exchanges, verifying its zero gas stablecoin transfer capability and network stability. In terms of development activity, Plasma's official documentation and codebase are continuously updated to ensure developers can successfully deploy contracts on its EVM chain.

In terms of performance, Plasma's disclosed core metrics claim to support 1000+ TPS throughput, per-second block production, and second-level transaction finality, with most standard transaction fees below $0.01; especially for USDT, a protocol-level paymaster mechanism is designed to directly sponsor gas fees for simple transfers, enabling zero-cost transactions (subject to frequency and eligibility restrictions), which will significantly optimize the user experience of stablecoin payments. According to official documentation and testnet data, its transaction speed features (ordinary transfers included in a block within 1 second, final confirmation within a few seconds, zero-fee USDT transfers slightly slower but still at the second level) mainly cover most mainstream scenario needs—whether for retail daily transfers and payments, mainstream DeFi lending and trading operations, or compliant settlement for small and medium-sized merchants, meeting the core demands of low cost and stability. However, in high-frequency quantitative trading, institutional-level sub-second real-time settlement, or extreme peak scenarios with millions of concurrent transactions, the current second-level confirmation speed and channel design may be insufficient, but overall, its performance precisely matches the mass and institutional foundational scenario needs of stablecoin payment chains, supporting the vast majority of daily and mainstream business scenarios.

Support for USDC: Plasma supports bridged and contract-level USDC, not Circle native; the zero-fee policy clearly covers USDT but not USDC. This means USDC settlement on Plasma is feasible, but the cost experience differs from USDT.

Key Data Metrics

The chart below shows the main composition of stablecoin deposits on the Plasma network: almost entirely composed of AETHUSDC and AETHUSDT assets, accounting for about 60% and 39% respectively.

Composition of stablecoin deposits on Plasma chain (Data source: Arkham Intelligence)

Plasma officials have stated that more than 15 types of stablecoins will be aggregated at mainnet launch, with over 50 project partnerships established. These partners include wallets, payment companies, and DeFi protocols, bringing application scenarios into the Plasma ecosystem. For example, it is expected that Tether's direct participation will make USDT a native asset on Plasma, while exchanges such as Bitfinex may provide deposit and withdrawal interfaces, and market makers like Flow Traders and DRW will help provide liquidity.

Stable

Basic Introduction

Stable is a dedicated stablecoin public chain incubated by the Tether/Bitfinex team, known as the first "Stablechain." Stable features a unique "USDT native Gas" model, where transaction fees are paid directly in USDT rather than holding a separate native token. This significantly lowers the user threshold, making the payment experience closer to fiat transfers.

GTM Strategy

In terms of market promotion, Stable fully leverages the influence of Tether/Bitfinex: in July 2025, it officially announced the completion of a $28 million seed round, with investors including Bitfinex, Hack VC, Franklin Templeton (a well-known traditional asset manager), Bybit, KuCoin, and many others. Upon the release of the funding news, Stable launched a global publicity campaign, including official blogs, industry media, and X platform reports, greatly increasing its exposure.

In addition, Stable's roadmap is implemented in three phases: Phase 1 (current) focuses on building network infrastructure and implementing the USDT Gas model; Phase 2 will introduce a stablecoin trading aggregator and enterprise-level reserved block space services to attract institutional users with high payment volumes; Phase 3 plans to further optimize speed and provide developer tools to enrich the application ecosystem.

Community and Market Popularity

Since its exposure in mid-2025, Stable's popularity has soared. Its official X platform account attracted over 160,000 followers in a short time (even slightly surpassing Plasma). Mainstream opinion is optimistic about Stable, believing it aligns with compliance trends and is likely to be favored by institutions. However, there are also discussions in the community reminding that Stable needs to prove its performance advantages and security when competing with rivals like Plasma for liquidity, and users are looking forward to seeing actual data from Stable's testnet.

Development and Testing Progress

The Stable project only officially exited stealth mode in late July 2025 and is still in the early stages of development. As mentioned earlier, Phase 1 has already begun, including achieving sub-second block production and finality, as well as the USDT native Gas mechanism. It is expected that Stable will open a public testnet and gradually launch its mainnet by the end of 2025 (reports suggest the mainnet may launch at the end of 2025 or early 2026). As of now, Stable's internal testnet is running, with selected partners invited to try it out.

Key Data Metrics

Since Stable's mainnet has not yet launched, there is no available on-chain TVL or other data.

Codex

Basic Introduction

Codex is a blockchain company dedicated to a "universal electronic cash system," with its core product being a stablecoin-dedicated Layer2 network built on Ethereum.

GTM Strategy

Codex's market strategy focuses on B2B scenarios and enterprise-level stablecoin settlement. Its chain is built on the Optimism technology stack, aiming to provide a platform with predictable low fees and stable performance for high-frequency stablecoin transactions.

In terms of market expansion, Codex places great emphasis on cooperation with stablecoin issuers and financial institutions: the project has received strategic investment from Coinbase, Circle, Foresight, Cumberland (DRW), and others. In addition to investing, Circle actively supports the native integration of USDC into the Codex chain. In July 2025, Circle deployed the USDC contract on Codex, making Codex one of the youngest networks ever to natively support USDC, and opened the CCTP v2 direct cross-chain channel; Circle's Circle Mint/API has been integrated, allowing enterprises to directly mint/redeem USDC on Codex, conduct cross-chain settlements, and on-chain FX/local fiat on/off ramps, significantly reducing enterprise-side integration friction. This move gives Codex authoritative recognition in the stablecoin issuance ecosystem and paves the way for attracting other fiat stablecoins (for example, the Turkish lira stablecoin BiLira has also been integrated into the Codex platform). In addition, Codex is working with major exchanges and OTC brokers to build stablecoin off-ramps, enabling users to directly exchange on-chain stablecoins for fiat.

The GTM strategy mainly includes: ① Anchoring the custody layer, building compliant asset custody infrastructure through cooperation with leading custodians such as Fireblocks, ensuring the safe custody of institutional funds on-chain; ② Connecting the tool layer, integrating Dfns and other "wallet-as-a-service" (WaaS) solutions to provide institutional users with convenient on-chain asset management entry points; ③ Opening up the application layer, focusing on connecting payment service providers (PSPs) and cross-border payment institutions, first targeting high-frequency, rigid-demand scenarios such as enterprise settlement and cross-border B2B transactions, to achieve institutional-level payment settlement landing verification.

In summary, Codex's GTM strategy focuses on compliance, institutions, and multi-assets: by cooperating with authoritative institutions such as Circle to gain credibility, focusing on enterprise-level application scenarios such as cross-border payments and FX settlement, and hoping to gain a foothold in this vertical sector.

Community and Market Popularity

Compared to the more mass-market marketing of Plasma and Stable, Codex's community popularity is relatively moderate. Its X platform followers number about 7,000. Codex's official voice on social media is more cautious, focusing on product progress and industry views. After announcing its funding in April this year, mainstream media such as Cointelegraph and Fortune reported on it, sparking industry discussions on the "stablecoin-dedicated chain" model.

Development and Testing Progress

The Codex project started in 2024, and after announcing its funding in April this year, accelerated network development. The Codex network adopts the Optimism Rollup architecture, has basically completed mainnet construction, and achieved integration with Ethereum mainnet and Circle backend. From a technical progress perspective, the Codex mainnet went live in mid-year: Circle's official page also shows that the USDC contract address on Codex has been deployed, and platforms such as Fireblocks and Dfns have begun supporting Codex. This means the Codex network has achieved native anchoring and circulation of USDC on the mainnet, as well as integration with leading institutional systems.

Currently, Codex's public testnet is also open, allowing developers to try cross-chaining assets to Codex and call its API for high-speed stablecoin transfers. Codex also focuses on compliance feature development, such as on-chain atomic swaps and compliance checks: through atomic withdrawal channels, on-chain FX trading, and other mechanisms, KYC/AML review is completed during the transaction process, reducing the risk of fund bottlenecks and violations. In addition, Codex is developing a cross-border FX instant settlement platform (Codex Avenue) to achieve second-level clearing of multi-currency stablecoins.

Codex mainnet gas fees are usually as low as $0.001, paid in ETH; the first batch supports native USDC minting, transfers without cross-chain bridges, focusing on payment chain features, and emphasizing asset flow rather than DeFi lock-up. Currently, the main focus is on applications such as instant USDC transfers, maintaining high throughput. In an interview, Codex's co-founder mentioned plans to support USDT, EURC, and other major stablecoins, but no specific timetable for USDT integration has been announced yet.

In terms of development activity, the Codex team comes from OP Labs and the Ethereum community, with strong technical strength, and the network code and TokenFactory module are continuously updated on Github to meet the needs of various issuers.

Key Data Metrics

As an emerging network, Codex's on-chain scale is still small. Currently, we can only see through Circle's multi-chain query interface that Codex's native USDC is online and supported by CCTP v2, with a current circulation of about $1.7 million. However, data aggregation sites such as DefiLlama have not yet listed Codex as an independent chain, so there are no comparable "DeFi TVL" statistics, which is consistent with Codex's focus on B2B settlement and compliance channels rather than general DeFi liquidity. Below is the data on USDC issuance on Codex chain:

USDC issuance on Codex chain (Data source: Circle)

Noble

Basic Introduction

Noble is the first application chain in the Cosmos ecosystem focused on on-chain asset issuance (especially stablecoins).

GTM Strategy

Noble's market strategy is based on the Cosmos multi-chain ecosystem, aiming to become the "stablecoin issuance hub" and deeply bind to the application needs of various public chains. Its entry point was cooperation with Circle, natively issuing USDC on Noble in April 2023, solving the previous lack of mainstream stablecoins in Cosmos.

Noble positions itself as the "native issuance chain for stablecoins and RWA": any stablecoin wishing to serve Cosmos users can choose to issue on Noble, then seamlessly circulate to nearly 50 chains in the ecosystem via the IBC protocol. This "issue once, circulate everywhere" model greatly facilitates applications in obtaining trusted stablecoin liquidity.

In addition, Noble has partnered with decentralized stablecoin infrastructure provider M^0 to launch its own yield-bearing stablecoin USDN (Noble Dollar) in January 2025, innovatively introducing US Treasury yields. Through USDN, Noble hopes to enhance the attractiveness of Cosmos stablecoins and differentiate from traditional USDT/USDC.

Its GTM roadmap is also clear: ① Directly connect upstream to Circle Mint/API, allowing institutional/fiat funds to be minted directly as USDC@Noble, eliminating multi-version conflicts and reducing reconciliation friction with the "official version"; ② Distribute USDC with low latency to application chains in the Cosmos ecosystem, prioritizing essential scenarios such as trading and settlement; ③ Extend the asset layer by launching the yield-bearing stablecoin USDN, forming a "non-interest USDC to interest-bearing USDN" pathway, landing it in application chain margin accounts, trading settlements, and DeFi scenarios.

This series of measures shows that Noble's GTM strategy is "two-pronged": on one hand, providing a bridge for existing mainstream stablecoins to enter Cosmos to meet DeFi and other needs; on the other, launching innovative local stablecoin products to enhance user retention and value capture. At the same time, Noble pays great attention to user experience and compliance: working with Circle to use its cross-chain transfer protocol (CCTP) to ensure smooth and secure USDC exchange from Ethereum to Cosmos; supporting blacklist and address freezing functions in design to meet issuer compliance requirements.

For Noble's use cases, users can swap between USDC and USDN. There are two vaults to choose from to maximize USDN yield:

Points Vault: Forgo yield to earn points. Lock USDN here, the longer the lock-up, the faster points accumulate, with a multiplier bonus after 30 days.

Boosted Yield Vault: Earns the base yield of US Treasuries (currently 4.07%) and the extra yield forfeited by Points Vault users.

Mechanism formula: Boosted APR ≈ r_tbill × (1 + Points pool balance / Boosted pool balance). When the two pools are similar in size, the annualized rate is roughly twice the base rate (~8%+). In the early stage, a ~16% APR level was observed (including the base yield).

Since August 6, the Boosted Yield Vault has been discontinued, with only the Points Vault remaining. As of August 2025, USDN's Treasury yield is about 4.08% annualized.

The underlying interest comes from short-duration US Treasuries, distributed to participants. The average on-chain transfer fee is about $0.01, paid in USDC, and swapping USDC to USDN (or vice versa) incurs a 0.1% transaction fee.

Community and Market Popularity

As an important infrastructure in the Cosmos ecosystem, Noble enjoys a certain reputation in the industry. On the X platform, Noble's official account has about 30,000 followers. Compared to Tether-based projects, Noble's community size is moderate but user stickiness is high—most fans are Cosmos ecosystem participants and cross-chain developers.

Overall, market opinion on Noble is positive: first, Noble's successful introduction of USDC is seen as a sign of Cosmos maturity, and the community generally recognizes this; second, there is also positive feedback on Noble's USDN model, believing that bringing US Treasury yields on-chain in a compliant manner is a beneficial exploration of stablecoin innovation. Of course, there are some concerns, such as USDN using centralized custody assets for yield, which may pose risks of being too closely tied to traditional financial institutions. However, the Noble team (composed of former Polychain executives such as Jelena) actively participates in community dialogue, explaining their security measures and decentralization roadmap, maintaining community confidence. Overall, Noble has established an OG image in the Cosmos and cross-chain fields, known as the "OG chain for interchain stablecoin issuance," with steadily rising market recognition and reputation.

Development and Testing Progress

Noble launched its mainnet in Q2 2023, becoming a dedicated asset issuance chain built with Cosmos SDK. Technically, Noble fully supports the IBC protocol, enabling assets issued on Noble to be instantly cross-chained to major chains such as Osmosis, Cosmos Hub, and Kujira. In April 2023, after completing the first cross-chain issuance of USDC with Circle, Noble carried out multiple network upgrades to support new asset types: in 2024, supporting Ondo's OUSD (USDY) and Monerium's euro (EURe) issuance; in January 2025, successfully issuing the USDN stablecoin.

The Noble network adopts a modular Cosmos SDK architecture, introducing the TokenFactory module to empower issuers to mint/burn tokens and execute blacklist operations. In the past two years, Noble has also significantly enhanced interoperability with Ethereum: at the end of 2023, it integrated Circle's cross-chain transfer protocol (CCTP), enabling fast USDC exchange from Ethereum directly to the Noble chain, then distributed via IBC, greatly improving user experience.

For developers, Noble provides Range API and other data services to help the ecosystem query USDC flows across chains. Noble is currently testing support for Frax decentralized stablecoin and the issuance of Japan's Progmat stablecoin. It can be seen that Noble's development progress is steady and goal-oriented: continuously introducing new assets and maintaining chain stability. With more RWA such as Treasury yield bonds being integrated, Noble is expected to continue leading Cosmos stablecoin innovation.

Key Data Metrics

The issuance of stablecoins on the Noble chain has grown rapidly over the past year, with USDC being the most prominent: as the main USD stablecoin in the Cosmos ecosystem, USDC's circulation on Noble once exceeded $500 million. So far, according to DeFiLlama data, the total market value of stablecoins on the Noble chain is about $408 million, with USDC accounting for 82% and USDN for 16%. The chart below shows the specific supply of stablecoins on Noble:

Stablecoin composition on Noble chain (Data source: DeFiLlama)

It is worth noting that USDN's circulation reached about 64 million within just half a year, growing extremely rapidly. In terms of ecosystem cooperation, Noble has established IBC connections with over 50 Cosmos chains, allowing its stablecoins to be freely used and traded on these chains. Multiple leading Cosmos DeFi protocols (such as Osmosis DEX, Kujira lending market, etc.) have included Noble-issued USDC in main trading pairs and stablecoin pools, greatly increasing the liquidity depth of the Cosmos system.

Transaction volume: Noble mainnet processed over $5 billion in USDC transactions in its first year, indicating high throughput capability. Fees are paid in USDC: officially stated that Noble's transaction fees are paid in USDC, with internal transfers averaging about $0.01. If USDT is needed, it must first be swapped to USDC at the source, then distributed to Cosmos via Noble/IBC.

Noble's daily USDN circulation is about $50 million to $100 million (Data source: Dune)

In summary, Noble has greatly enhanced USD liquidity in the Cosmos ecosystem, with its growth curve closely tied to Cosmos DeFi development, showing strong momentum in both strategy and data.

1Money

Basic Introduction

1Money is a new blockchain project founded by former Binance.US CEO Brian Shroder, aiming to build the world's first Layer1 network optimized for stablecoin payments.

GTM Strategy

1Money's market strategy focuses on mainstream users in the payments sector, highlighting "simple, compliant, fast" as its selling points. Unlike traditional public chains, 1Money clearly states "no need for complex tokenomics"—no native gas token, no staking, no governance voting, making users feel like they're not using blockchain at all. This design caters to the simplicity needs of enterprises and ordinary users. For example, when users transfer USDC on the 1Money network, fees are paid directly in USDC at a fixed low amount, with no need to hold any extra tokens.

Its main approach is: ① Make gas-free stable payments the default experience, planning to provide gas-free paths through ecosystem partners; transaction fees are paid directly in the transferred stablecoin, with no need for a second gas token. ② The external narrative is "a dedicated payment network for stablecoins," suitable for entry from e-commerce acquiring/small cross-border/P2P; its website and media repeatedly emphasize "no smart contracts, no congestion, no fee spikes," making it easy to provide predictable service standards for merchants. ③ The team also operates the 1Money Global brand, providing stablecoin-driven debit cards and USD account infrastructure, potentially channeling card organization/bank-side traffic into on-chain settlement.

In terms of market promotion, 1Money emphasizes its compliance advantage: its board recently added former US FinCEN Director Ken Blanco, former Treasury OFAC Acting Director Michael Mosier, and other political/regulatory veterans to endorse the network's compliance framework.

On the funding side, 1Money announced in January 2025 that it had raised over $20 million in seed investment, with investors including F-Prime (under Fidelity), Galaxy, Kraken, KuCoin, BitGo, and other well-known institutions. These investors span both traditional finance and crypto, bringing not only capital but also paving the way for future connections with banks, exchanges, and other resources. 1Money also emphasizes its vision to become a bridge between traditional finance and Web3, proposing that "stablecoins will build the foundation of the modern financial system."

Overall, in terms of GTM strategy, 1Money seeks to attract ordinary users to use stablecoins for payments through technological innovation (ultra-high TPS, minimalist UX), while also leveraging compliance and industry relationships to get banks and payment companies to adopt its network as infrastructure. This dual-track strategy aims to push stablecoins from the crypto circle into mainstream payments.

Community and Market Popularity

As a newly launched project this year, 1Money's community size is currently relatively limited. Its official X platform account has about 7,000 followers, mainly crypto insiders and investors optimistic about the payments track. 1Money did not conduct large-scale airdrops or marketing to retail users at launch, so it is less of a hot topic among crypto retail circles compared to projects like Plasma.

Development and Testing Progress

The technical keywords for 1Money are "ultra-fast + secure + simple." Since its inception, the project has secretly developed an innovative BCB (Byzantine Consensus Broadcast) protocol. On August 6, 2025, 1Money officially opened its public testnet and launched its developer portal. According to the official blog, the testnet demonstrated the network's "unprecedented speed" and verified the feasibility of running the network without a native token.

In terms of development progress, 1Money is currently optimizing the stability of the BCB protocol based on testnet feedback to ensure consistency and efficiency under various network conditions. The official plan is to launch the mainnet as early as Q4 2025 (originally scheduled for Q2, slightly delayed), with at least one round of security audit and stress testing before mainnet launch.

1Money is also actively expanding its developer ecosystem. Although the network does not support smart contracts, it will provide easy-to-use APIs for wallet and payment application integration. Developer documentation and SDKs are already available on the portal website, and some wallet service providers have begun integration testing.

Key Data Metrics

Since 1Money has not yet launched its mainnet, its on-chain metrics are mainly based on performance test data.

In closed testing, the 1Money network reached a processing capacity limit of 250,000 TPS, far exceeding Ethereum mainnet and most existing public chains. The official states that this number can be linearly scaled, meaning it will be able to handle global payment-level transaction volumes in the future. Transaction confirmation times in testing remained under 1 second, achieving user experience similar to traditional electronic payments. In terms of fees, 1Money plans to set a very low fixed base fee and, through cooperation with partners (such as merchant acquirers), achieve zero fees for end users.

Compliance metrics are also a major feature of 1Money: it has a built-in network sanctions address interception mechanism to ensure that non-compliant wallets cannot complete transactions. Validator nodes are all KYC'd, meaning block production is performed by audited institutions, with credibility close to that of consortium chains.

In terms of ecosystem data, 1Money has already assembled over 20 investment/partner institutions, covering exchanges (Kraken, KuCoin), payment companies (MoonPay, CoinFlip), custody security (BitGo), traditional VC (F-Prime), etc. This will support stablecoins after its launch—mainstream stablecoins such as USDC and USDT are expected to be integrated into the 1Money network at the first opportunity, and integration with new stablecoins (multi-national fiat) issued by partner institutions is not ruled out.

In summary, 1Money's hard metrics now focus on performance and compliance, and its success will depend more on whether it can attract enough active users to conduct a sufficient number of transactions in the future.

Summary

In summary, the five projects—Plasma, Stable, Codex, Noble, and 1Money—are all "stablecoin public chains," but each has its own strengths in strategy, progress, and market acceptance:

Market Positioning and Strategy

Both Plasma and Stable have Tether/Bitfinex backgrounds and tend to build payment networks centered on USDT. Comparing the two, Plasma emphasizes technological performance breakthroughs (zero fees, ultra-high speed) and leveraging Bitcoin's security endorsement; Stable focuses on the US regulatory opportunity, highlighting compliance friendliness and the ease of using USDT as gas. In contrast, Codex and 1Money take the enterprise/compliance route: Codex relies on Ethereum L2 to provide institutions with predictable fees and integration with existing infrastructure (Circle, Coinbase, etc.); 1Money designs compliance architecture from scratch, even abandoning smart contracts to eliminate complexity, directly targeting cross-border and retail payment adoption. Noble's strategy is somewhat different, as part of the Cosmos ecosystem, focusing on multi-chain issuance, acting as a partner for stablecoin issuers (helping USDC and others enter Cosmos), and launching its own stablecoin innovation (USDN) to meet internal ecosystem needs.

Therefore, strategically: Plasma/Stable tend to compete for the existing USDT market, Codex/1Money focus on expanding the incremental institutional payment market, while Noble deeply cultivates internal stablecoin supply in the cross-chain ecosystem.

Development Progress and Technical Implementation

In terms of mainnet progress, Noble is the most advanced—having run stably for over a year, issuing multiple stablecoins and achieving hundreds of millions of dollars in cross-chain circulation. Plasma completed record-breaking test deposits in mid-2025 and is preparing for mainnet launch, with technical details basically in place. Stable is still in internal development and testing, with the mainnet expected at year-end or later, and many design concepts (such as USDT aggregator, enterprise-exclusive block space) yet to be verified. Codex, though only funded in early 2025, has quickly launched native USDC with a mature OP Stack solution, suggesting core functionality is complete and in the optimization phase. 1Money, starting from scratch to develop an innovative consensus, is slightly slower but also launched a public testnet in Q3 2025.

Application Scenarios

The five major projects also reflect the diversification of the stablecoin public chain track: some choose to embrace the largest existing stablecoin USDT to quickly scale up; some focus on improving technology and compliance to win traditional financial recognition; others focus on solving internal stablecoin liquidity issues within public chain ecosystems. In the future, these projects may serve different market segments or even become complementary. For example, Plasma and Stable may dominate C-end small payment scenarios, Codex and 1Money may support B-end large settlements and cross-border remittances, while Noble continues to focus on cross-chain asset issuance and interest rate products.

It is foreseeable that as the regulatory environment becomes clearer and market education deepens, stablecoin chains will usher in a period of rapid development. At that time, the competition will not only be about technical performance but also about ecosystem building and compliance trust. Among the above projects, whoever can first achieve key application adoption and win user trust will win this "on-chain stablecoin infrastructure" race, truly driving stablecoins into mainstream payments.