The native XPL token of the Plasma blockchain, focused on stablecoins, commenced trading on major cryptocurrency exchanges including Binance and OKX on Thursday.
Early trading saw XPL reach a price of $1.54, establishing an initial market capitalization exceeding $2.8 billion. The token launched with a genesis supply of 10 billion XPL, of which 18% (1.8 billion tokens) is currently in circulation.
The Plasma network launched simultaneously with over $2 billion in Total Value Locked (TVL) in stablecoins and features an EVM-compatible design for developer accessibility.
Primary Use Cases
The XPL token serves three core functions within the Plasma ecosystem: it is the gas token for transactions and smart contract execution, the staking asset that secures the network via Proof-of-Stake, and the reward token distributed to validators.
A key innovation is enabling gasless transfers of stablecoins like USDT for end-users, meaning simple send and receive transactions incur zero fees. However, more complex operations, such as deploying smart contracts or dApps, require XPL for gas fees or involve converting a portion of stablecoins to XPL, as detailed in an analysis by Delphi Digital.
Complementing the launch, Plasma introduced Plasma One, a stablecoin-native neobank designed to offer users permissionless access to spending, earning, and saving digital dollars.
Tokenomics and Distribution
XPL is the fundamental native asset of the Plasma blockchain, similar to ETH on Ethereum. Its total supply is fixed at 10 billion tokens.
The allocation is as follows: 40% (4 billion XPL) is dedicated to ecosystem and growth initiatives, with 8% (800 million) unlocked at launch for liquidity and partnerships. The remaining ecosystem tokens vest monthly over three years. Another 25% (2.5 billion) is allocated to founders, developers, and employees, subject to a one-year cliff and two-year linear vesting. An equal 25% (2.5 billion) is reserved for early backers and strategic partners with identical vesting schedules.
The network employs an inflationary model for validator rewards, starting at a 5% annual inflation rate, which will gradually decrease until stabilizing at 3%.