Bitcoin-Based Stablecoin Network Plasma Raises Deposit Cap to $1B, Gets Filled in 30 Minutes
Stablecoin-focused blockchain Plasma raised its deposit cap to $1 billion early Thursday — and hit that limit within 30 minutes.
The new cap marks a doubling from the prior $500 million ceiling, which had itself been raised just days earlier following a community-driven outcry over bot activity and rapid sellout times.
Plasma said the short-notice announcement was designed to give real users, such as those active in its Discord, a fairer shot at joining. But it's not a token sale just yet.
'Deposits are not the sale itself,' Plasma clarified in a post. 'All funds remain fully owned by depositors and will be bridged to Plasma mainnet beta.'
Participants earn the right to buy into the eventual $50 million XPL public sale based on how many units they've locked up by the cutoff. The sale is valued at $500 million on a fully diluted basis.
Earlier this week, the project — which aims to bring native stablecoin functionality to Bitcoin through an EVM-compatible sidechain — saw its initial $500 million cap fill in just five minutes, according to Arkham data.
That figure was ten times what Plasma initially planned, indicative of massive investor appetite for stablecoin infrastructure.
The team behind Plasma has positioned its chain as a way to sidestep Ethereum's high fees and congestion by building a zero-gas environment for stablecoin transactions while being anchored to Bitcoin's security model.
USDT will be the first supported asset, with more expected to follow.Sign in to access your portfolio
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Yahoo
6 hours ago
- Yahoo
What Are Savvy Bitcoin and Ether Traders Preparing For as Summer Approaches?
Savvy bitcoin BTC and ether ETH traders are shoring up their defenses as the broader market continues to foresee bullish price action over the summer. That's the message from an options-based strategy called 25-delta risk reversal, which involves the simultaneous purchase of a put option and sale of a call, or vice versa. At the time of writing, risk reversals based on Deribit-listed bitcoin and ether options indicated that investors were positioning for downside volatility over the summer. BTC's 25-delta risk reversals for June, July, and August tenors were negative, indicating a preference for put options, which offer downside protection, over calls or bullish bets, according to data source Amberdata. In ETH's case, puts were pricier out to the July end expiry. Traders typically buy put options to hedge their long positions in the spot and futures markets, protecting themselves from potential price declines. "Risk reversals in both BTC and ETH continue to show a preference for downside protection across June and September tenors. This suggests that long holders are actively hedging spot exposure and preparing for potential drawdowns," Singapore-based QCP Capital said in a market note. The nervousness is evident from the over-the-counter liquidity platform Paradigm, where the top five BTC trades for the week include a put spread and a bearish risk reversal. Meanwhile, in ETH's case, a long position in the $2,450 put crossed the tape alongside a short strangle (volatility) trade. Bitcoin, the leading cryptocurrency by market value, has spent over 40 days trading back and forth above $100,000, according to CoinDesk data. According to analysts, profit-taking by long-term holders and miner selling have counteracted the strong uptake for spot ETFs, leaving prices directionless. "Bitcoin has recently tracked sideways, suggesting its current price may be too high for many retail investors. Open interest in BTC options has risen, with a positive and rising 25 delta put-call skew on 30-day contracts, which may imply that market participants are seeking short-term protection through put options," Coinbase Institutional's weekly report noted. On Friday, BTC closed (UTC) below the 50-day simple moving average (SMA) to trade below the key support for the first time since mid-April. The breakdown may lead to more chart-driven selling, potentially resulting in a drop below $100,000. Some observers, however, expect a rally to new record highs. According to market observer Cas Abbé, BTC's on-balance volume continues to indicate strong buying pressure, suggesting that prices could rise to $130,000-$135,000 by the end of the third quarter. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
Bloomberg
8 hours ago
- Bloomberg
Ether Leads Crypto Selloff as US Attacks Nuclear Sites in Iran
Ether fell sharply while Bitcoin held steady after President Donald Trump said American bombers and missiles had struck Iran's three main nuclear sites. The second-ranked token fell as much as 7.7% on Sunday morning in Asia to about $2,200, its lowest intra-day level since May 9. Bitcoin briefly dipped below $101,000 but pared losses to trade relatively evenly in the aftermath of the attacks.
Yahoo
10 hours ago
- Yahoo
Bitcoin Quickly Plunges Below $103K, With Volatility Burst Spurring $450M in Crypto Liquidations
What started as a positive day for crypto markets quickly reversed during the U.S. session with bitcoin BTC sliding below $103,000 from the $106,500 level just hours earlier. At press time, bitcoin had pared some of the losses, returning to $103,200, down 1.2% over the past 24 hours. Other large cryptocurrencies endured steeper declines. Ethereum's ether ETH saw a sharp 4.5% drop in just 90 minutes to as low as $2,372, with trading volume spiking to nearly 800,000 ETH, nearly eight times the average hourly volume, per CoinDesk data. Solana's SOL SOL, dogecoin DOGE and Cardano's ADA ADA were 3%-5% lower over the same period. The volatility burst caught many traders off-guard, liquidating about $450 million in derivatives trading positions on centralized exchanges across all digital assets, CoinGlass data shows. Some $387 million of liquidations were tied to long positions that bet on profiting from rising prices. While macro risks abound — among them the ongoing conflict between Israel and Iran — there was no immediate external reason for the sudden price swing. The S&P 500 and the Nasdaq 100 indexes only inched lower during the day. Zooming out, BTC continues to trade within a sideways range between $100,000 and $110,000, consolidating just below its all-time record level. "The mixed view of whether BTC will go above $110,000 again or drop into the $90,000 area doesn't surprise me at all and underscores the overall indecision people and markets feel," said James Toledano, chief operating officer at Unity Wallet. "The present BTC stalemate reflects a market caught between bullish long-term sentiment and short-term macroeconomic and geopolitical uncertainty," he added. Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
