At the beginning of 2026, stablecoins went completely 'crazy'!
The global market capitalization of stablecoins has already surpassed $310 billion, with a trading volume of $33 trillion last year. This year, a16z directly stated: at least $500 billion by 2026, aiming for $2 trillion in the long term! Bitwise is even more aggressive, claiming that some emerging market currencies will be toppled by stablecoins. Regulation is also getting involved— the US GENIUS Act, the EU MiCA, and Hong Kong's stablecoin licenses are all being rolled out, with giants like Stripe, PayPal, and Western Union all embracing blockchain payments; ConfirmoPay is integrating enterprise payments with Plasma, CoW Swap DEX is innovating with stablecoins, and the zerohash report shows a YoY trading frequency increase of 208% and an average scale increase of 158%... This is not speculation; this is real institutional adoption accelerating!
But right at this trillion-level trend, @plasma $XPL has dropped so much that even its mother wouldn't recognize it: from an opening price of $1.68 in September 2025, to now $0.12-$0.13, with a market cap of only $220 million, a drop of over 92%, and the K-line looks like a free fall. Brothers who are stuck are probably cursing in their hearts: has this project really cooled off? Don't worry, let's dig into the truth.
Three axes of a plunge:
Supply flooding like a deluge: 10 billion total supply, only 180 million circulating at launch, now already over 1.8 billion, and on January 25 another 8.89 million tokens (worth over 11 million dollars) will be unlocked, with a further 25% major unlock in July, the market simply can't handle it.
The farm party ran off after harvesting: initially relied on airdrops + HODLer incentives to pull TVL to a peak of 8.4 billion dollars, but as the price fell APY collapsed, users ran away, and stablecoin deposits dropped to around 2 billion, with TPS activity also declining.
Cycle + delay double kill: by the end of 2025, the market will correct, and new coins' high beta attributes will be amplified; staking function was delayed until Q1, causing short-term sentiment to explode.
But brother, look at the fundamentals: Plasma hasn't collapsed, instead it's growing bigger in the hot spots!
USDT zero-fee transfers (Paymaster sponsors Gas), sub-second confirmation, thousand-level TPS, experience close to Visa, ConfirmoPay has already integrated enterprise payments.
Reth execution layer + EVM compatibility + Bitcoin-backed security, institutional-level moat fully drawn.
Stablecoin deposits have long remained at the forefront, supporting 25+ types, perfectly benefiting from RWA + cross-border payment dividends.
Plasma One (stablecoin digital bank + physical card) is expected to land in 2026, this is the real killer app.
Referencing the logic of the traffic king post: a16z says 'better onramps for stablecoins', Bitwise shouts '20 trillion path', zerohash data shows 'institutional reuse skyrocketing' - Plasma is perfectly positioned at the intersection of all trends. MEXC/Bitget analysts are optimistic: once the market warms up + real scenarios land, $XPL will rebound from $0.08 to $0.34+, with a rise of over 176% not being a dream.
This low point is simply a 'textbook case of misfortune'. In the short term, relying on the Binance CreatorPad's airdrop task of 7 million tokens to recover, and in the long term waiting for staking + Plasma One to explode is the real comeback battle.
Don't cut losses if you're stuck, patiently wait for the next trend.