Plasma to Launch Stablecoin-Native Neobank After This Month’s ‘Mainnet Beta’

In brief

Plasma One will allow users to load the card with stablecoins and pay from their balance with a physical or virtual card.
The new neobank is set to roll out after Plasma’s stablecoin-optimized layer-1 blockchain hits “mainnet beta” on September 25.
Its card promises to offer 4% cashback on spending, over 10% yield on stablecoin balances, and coverage in more than 150 countries.

Plasma is preparing to launch its own neobank, Plasma One, sometime after its stablecoin blockchain hits mainnet later this month. Its card claims it will offer 4% cash back on spending, an over 10% yield on balances, and international coverage.

Users of Plasma One will be able to load their card with the stablecoins of their choice—starting with USDT and slowly expanding—and then pay directly from this balance via the physical or virtual card. The prepaid credit card is set to use the Plasma blockchain as its payment rails and will be issued by Rain—the company behind the Avalanche Card and others.

Plasma One card design (to be finalized). Image: Plasma.

“Stablecoins provide a fundamental, permissionless way to hold and move dollars anywhere,” Paul Faecks, CEO of Plasma, said in a release shared with Decrypt. “Plasma One is our answer to the distribution problem, as it puts us directly in the hands of people who face financial exclusion, delivering permissionless access to saving, spending, earning, and sending digital dollars.”

Last week, it was announced that the stablecoin-centric blockchain will hit “mainnet beta” on September 25. Afterwards, Plasma will prepare to roll out its neobank in multiple stages. Users can now sign up for the waitlist on the Plasma website.

What is Plasma?

Plasma is a stablecoin project primarily known for building a layer-1 blockchain with optimizations tailor-made for stablecoin users. It caused a stir earlier this year by attracting $1 billion in pre-deposits ahead of its XPL initial coin offering—which will not be a stablecoin.

The company has also raised $24 million across its seed and Series A funding rounds in February, with support from Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino, PayPal co-founder Peter Thiel, and more. Ardoino and Thiel also serve as advisors to the project.

Plasma One promises to offer zero fees on USDT transfers—an offering the Plasma blockchain is also seeking to deliver. It also claims that users will be able to claim over 10% yield on their stablecoin balances with no lockup period required. A Plasma representative told Decrypt that the yield will be generated from Plasma’s DeFi ecosystem.

For context, Plasma is currently offering a 2% yield on USDT holdings on Binance. It was in high demand on its August launch, quickly attracting $1 billion worth of lock-ups. It’s worth noting, of course, that a 10% yield is a significant step up from this offering.

The Plasma team is eyeing September 25 for its mainnet beta release, and then it’ll be full steam ahead with the launch of its very own neobank.