What is StableChain?

StableChain is a specialized Layer 1 blockchain designed to eliminate transaction volatility by utilizing USDT as its native gas token. This EVM-compatible network ensures predictable costs for users, offering sub-second finality and high throughput for reliable, global stable settlements.

The project recently went live with its Mainnet launch on December 8, 2025. This debut followed a highly successful pre-deposit campaign that attracted over $2 billion in deposits from more than 24,000 wallets, demonstrating immense initial demand for the Stable protocol.

After going live with its mainnet and USDT-based gas model, the network is transitioning from launch phase into early adoption. As Stable establishes a governance foundation, recruits validators, and onboards initial payment partners focused on retail commerce, remittances, and on-chain fintech experiments.

Recent announcements highlight pilots with fintech and payment firms, including efforts to extend dollar remittances and merchant payouts in emerging markets, while Stable invests in tooling, SDKs, and grants to grow an EVM app ecosystem amid undergoing global stablecoin regulation.

How Does StableChain Work?

StableChain's operation is defined by its core structural components: a custom Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) consensus, a unique gas mechanism, and an optimized execution environment.

Here is a breakdown of the key technical elements:

• Consensus Engine: The network utilizes StableBFT, a customized delegated Proof-of-Stake protocol ensuring sub-second block times and single-slot finality.
• Native Gas Token: Users pay transaction fees exclusively in USDT, eliminating volatility and removing the need to hold speculative tokens.
• EVM Compatibility: Developers can deploy existing Ethereum smart contracts instantly using the Stable EVM environment without requiring code modifications.
• Optimized Storage: StableDB combines MemDB and VersionDB to manage frequently accessed data in memory for ultra-low latency retrieval.
• Data Propagation: The Autobahn model separates transaction data dissemination from consensus ordering to maximize network throughput and reduce bottlenecks.
• Enterprise Lanes: Businesses can reserve Guaranteed Blockspace to ensure their mission-critical transactions execute immediately regardless of network traffic.
• Native Asset: The USDT0 standard functions as the system's native unit of account, enabling gas-free peer-to-peer transfer capabilities.
• Account Abstraction: The protocol supports EIP-7702, allowing Externally Owned Accounts (EOAs) to temporarily gain smart contract-like logic for enhanced payment flows and security.

How to Use StableChain

Stable is designed for direct usability, requiring only USDT for all transactions, simplifying access for users globally. Follow these primary steps to begin using the stable payments network:

1. Wallet Setup: Add the StableChain network to an EVM-compatible wallet like MetaMask, using Chain ID 988 and setting the currency symbol to gUSDT.
2. Acquire USDT: Obtain Tether (USDT) through a centralized exchange or a fiat on-ramp partner, as this asset serves as the network's universal gas token.
3. Bridge Funds: Use a supported cross-chain bridge, such as Stargate or Jumper, to transfer your USDT onto the StableChain network as USDT0.
4. Get Gas (gUSDT): Convert a minimal amount of your bridged USDT0 to gUSDT (gas USDT) via the Stable Hub to cover transaction fees.
5. Transact: With gUSDT available, you can now send gas-free peer-to-peer USDT0, interact with dApps, and leverage the network's sub-second finality.
6. Participate: Holders of the native STABLE token can delegate to validators and vote on protocol governance through the Stable Foundation.

USDT Use Cases on StableChain

StableChain redefines stablecoin utility by embedding USDT directly into the network’s consensus and economic layer. This architecture supports diverse financial applications, ranging from friction-free retail payments to high-volume institutional settlements, all powered by a unified dollar-pegged infrastructure.

1. USDT as Gas for Everyday Transactions

On Stable, gUSDT is the native gas asset, but most wallets pay fees using USDT0, which the account abstraction layer automatically converts, letting new users bridge USDT0 from other networks and start transacting without separately acquiring gas tokens.

For a remittance app, this design means users funding wallets with USDT0 from Tron or Ethereum can send micro-payments without juggling volatile gas coins, while the protocol quietly handles gUSDT conversions and enforces transfer restrictions to prevent mis-sends.

2. USDT0 for Cross-Chain Treasury and Liquidity

USDT0 is an omnichain USDT variant using LayerZero’s OFT standard, locking or burning tokens on the source chain and minting on the destination, so treasuries treat all networks as a single liquidity pool instead of fragmented silos.

A fintech treasury can park stable reserves on Ethereum, then move USDT0 to StableChain during peak payment windows, avoiding bridges, wrapped assets, and swap hops, while maintaining a provable one-to-one peg with mainline USDT across every supported network.

3. Enterprise Throughput and Priority

For institutional participants, Stable offers Guaranteed Blockspace to ensure mission-critical transactions execute immediately. This feature allows businesses to reserve dedicated validator capacity and utilize isolated mempools, guaranteeing settlement priority for time-sensitive operations like payroll or treasury management regardless of network congestion.

To further improve scalability, the USDT Transfer Aggregator bundles thousands of individual transfers into single on-chain transactions. This optimization significantly increases throughput for exchanges and payment processors, allowing them to settle mass payouts efficiently while minimizing the data footprint on the ledger.

4. Confidential Transfer Infrastructure

Recognizing the need for privacy in commercial operations, the network integrates Confidential Transfer capabilities using zero-knowledge cryptography. This feature cryptographically conceals the specific transaction amount on the public ledger, protecting sensitive financial data such as supplier rates or employee salaries.

Despite this privacy, the architecture maintains full regulatory compliance by keeping sender and receiver addresses visible. This "audit-ready" design balances the confidentiality required for business logic with the transparency necessary to satisfy global financial regulations and Anti-Money Laundering (AML) standards.

STABLE Tokenomics

The STABLE governance token anchors the network with a fixed total supply of 100 billion, aligning incentives across the ecosystem.

The following breakdown details the supply distribution and vesting schedules:

• Genesis Distribution: This 10% allocation unlocks fully at Mainnet launch to provide market liquidity and reward early campaign participants.
• Ecosystem & Community: This 40% fund supports growth, with 8% unlocked initially and the remainder vesting linearly over three years.
• Team Allocation: Founders and engineers receive 25% of supply, subject to a one-year cliff and four-year linear vesting schedule.
• Investors & Advisors: Early backers hold 25% of tokens, which remain locked for twelve months before vesting over four years.
• Governance Utility: Holders utilize STABLE to elect validators and vote on essential protocol upgrades or key network governance proposals.
• Fee Distribution: Stakers can delegate to validators to potentially receive a share of the network's collected USDT gas fees.

This economic design aligns long-term interests by enforcing extended vesting for insiders while providing immediate incentives for active, sustainable network participation.

StableChain Funding

StableChain secured financial backing essential for building institutional infrastructure. This foundation was established through a $28 million seed round, demonstrating substantial early confidence in the network’s specialized approach to stablecoin settlement and payments.

The capital raise was successfully completed on July 31, 2025, co-led by Bitfinex and Hack VC. This collaboration signaled infrastructure support from both a long-standing exchange and a leading Web3 infrastructure fund specializing in scalable Layer 1 protocols.

Beyond the lead investors, the round attracted a diverse coalition of crypto VCs, including Franklin Templeton, PayPal Ventures, and Castle Island Ventures. These funds are specifically allocated to deepen liquidity for the USDT0 standard and finalize the regulatory-aligned infrastructure for bank-level treasury operations.

Risks of Using StableChain

Despite its innovative design for reliable settlements, the Stable network introduces unique risks inherent to its reliance on USDT and its specialized Layer 1 architecture.

Potential risks and challenges include:

• USDT Reserve Risk: The network's core dependency on USDT means any governance, regulatory, or reserve failure of the stablecoin issuer could compromise the entire chain.
• Centralization Concerns: The required compliance features, like the USDT blocklisting function, introduce a central point of control that could freeze or censor funds under specific conditions.
• Cross-Chain Bridge Exploits: Utilizing bridges like Stargate to transfer USDT onto the chain exposes users to the historically frequent smart contract vulnerabilities common in these protocols.
• Validator Security: Although DPoS decentralized, a coordinated failure or collusion among the elected set of network validators could lead to censorship or liveness failures.
• Liquidity Fragmentation: Spreading USDT across multiple chains as USDT0 can fragment liquidity, potentially leading to increased slippage or slower large-volume settlements.
• Regulatory Uncertainty: As a new, specialized stablecoin chain, its unique architecture may attract heightened, and potentially restrictive, regulatory scrutiny from global bodies.

StableChain Founders

The Stable team is led by CEO Brian Mehler and Founder Joshua Harding, who established the network. Mehler brings significant venture capital experience, having co-managed a $1 billion blockchain fund at Block.one, while Harding previously held the dual role of Founder and CEO.

The technical foundation is anchored by CTO Sam Kazemian, known as the founder of the Frax stablecoin protocol. His involvement ensures that the core architecture benefits from deep expertise in stablecoin mechanics and decentralized economic design principles.

The project maintains strategic advisory support from high-profile figures, including Paolo Ardoino, the CEO of Tether. This close relationship ensures that the StableChain architecture remains fully aligned and optimized for the current and future utility of the USDT asset.

Final Thoughts

StableChain has engineered a Layer 1 blockchain to solve stablecoin volatility and settlement inefficiencies. Its future success hinges on the execution of its ambitious three-phase roadmap, targeting institutional scale and a $10,000+ TPS objective.

Phase 3 is the most ambitious, including a planned upgrade to a DAG-based consensus, which aims for faster finality than the current StableBFT. This performance focus is critical for challenging established high-throughput networks like Solana and Tron.

Despite its potential, Stable faces competition from other dedicated stablecoin chains, notably Plasma, which is also backed by Bitfinex/Tether ecosystem players. Ultimately, success hinges on institutional adoption and consistent execution of the ambitious technical roadmap.