What Is Plasma?
Plasma is an EVM-compatible blockchain.
Plasma is a standalone Layer-1 blockchain meticulously engineered to optimize global stablecoin payments, distinguishing it from the earlier Ethereum scaling solution of the same name. Its primary mission is to provide a high-throughput, low-cost, and user-friendly infrastructure for stablecoins like USDT. To achieve this, Plasma introduces several key innovations, most notably the ability to conduct zero-fee USDT transfers. This is made possible through a “paymaster” system that subsidizes the gas costs for simple transactions, removing a significant barrier to entry for mainstream users who may not want to hold a separate native token (XPL) just to pay for transaction fees.
At its technical core, Plasma operates on a consensus mechanism called PlasmaBFT, which is a variation of the HotStuff protocol, enabling fast transaction finality in under a second. The network is also fully EVM-compatible, meaning developers can easily migrate decentralized applications from Ethereum or build new ones using the familiar Solidity programming language and developer tools. This focus on both performance and ease of development positions Plasma to support a wide range of applications beyond simple payments, including remittances, payroll, and various decentralised finance (DeFi) protocols that rely on the stability and efficiency of stablecoin transactions.
See also