Bitfinex-backed Layer 1 Plasma raises $373 million in 10-day token sale

The Block

Jul 29, 2025 01:05:55

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Plasma, the stablecoin-focused Layer 1 blockchain backed by Tether sister company Bitfinex, has secured $373 million in commitments from an oversubscribed 10-day public token sale that concluded on Monday. This is more than seven times the $50 million the project sought to raise.

The raise values Plasma at $500 million with 10% of its 1 billion XPL token supply sold to early participants, the firm noted in a statement. About 3,000 unique wallets participated, contributing an average commitment of $83,629 per address.

"The success of the XPL public sale proves that people want what Plasma is building: a low-cost, fast, programmable blockchain that helps people send and receive stablecoins globally," Paul Faecks, founder of Plasma, said in a statement. "At a time when global regulators are focused on digital assets, and specifically stablecoins, Plasma is delivering critical infrastructure that will spur institutional adoption, potentially bringing trillions of dollars onchain."

Indeed, the move comes amid a regulatory reckoning for the crypto industry under the Trump administration, particularly for stablecoins. On July 18, President Donald Trump made history by signing the stablecoin-focused GENIUS Act into law, marking the first time Congress has been able to pass crypto-specific legislation.

Plasma is a bespoke Layer 1 network designed to provide fee-free USDT stablecoin transfers. It marries Bitcoin’s UTXO model and the Ethereum Virtual Machine in an attempt to provide greater functionality and flexibility to Bitcoin.

There are nearly $1 billion worth of stablecoins in Arkham’s USD vault, primarily composed of AETHUSDC and AETHUSDT, according to Arkham.

Bitfinex led a $3.5 million funding round for the project in October 2024, with support from venture firms Split Capital, Anthos Capital, Karatage, and Manifold Trading, as well as Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino. It also raised a $20 million Series A in a round led by Framework Ventures with support from Peter Thiel's Founders Fund in February.

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