Plasma, a crypto startup developing a blockchain optimized for stablecoins, attracted $500 million in deposits for its token sale on Monday — 10 times more than originally planned.
The fundraising cap was filled in five minutes as investors scrambled to earn an allocation for the token distribution, according to blockchain data from Arkham Intelligence. The ceiling was lifted from $250 million, which had already been increased from a $50 million original target announced just two weeks ago.
Over 1,100 wallets participated in the sale of Plasma’s XPL token, with a median allocation of roughly $35,000, the company said in an X post. The offering was conducted on Sonar, a public token sale platform built by Echo, a crypto-focused private fundraising startup led by prominent investor Cobie.
The outsized demand underscores surging investor interest in stablecoins — cryptocurrencies pegged to traditional currencies like the U.S. dollar — and the infrastructure that supports them. Stablecoins have become a dominant force in crypto, with total supply surpassing $250 billion, and are increasingly used for everyday finances like payments, remittances and savings.
While Bitcoin BTC remains the oldest and most secure blockchain, most stablecoin activity today occurs on newer networks such as Ethereum, Tron, and Solana. Plasma aims to bring native stablecoin utility to Bitcoin by building a sidechain fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), the software standard that underpins much of decentralized finance.
The team says the Plasma chain will address key challenges faced by stablecoins on existing blockchains — including high fees and scalability limits — by leveraging Bitcoin’s security and enabling zero-fee transactions for Tether’s USDT USDT.
Plasma’s fundraising follows a string of market signals pointing to rising appetite for stablecoin exposure. Just last week, Circle (CRCL), issuer of the $60 billion USDC stablecoin, completed a blockbuster public market debut, with shares surging over $110 from a $31 IPO price.
“Circle up another 20% at the open and Plasma’s $500M public token sale sold out in the first block. The people want exposure to stablecoins,” crypto analyst Will Clemente posted.