Last night, I talked with a friend about non-farm payrolls, and he said something that left me speechless: 'If the data in 2021 is good, it benefits all assets; if the data in 2026 is good, it benefits - don't think about it, it's not good.'

I stared at that gold price drop of $40 on the K-line for a long time and suddenly understood what 'the script has changed' means. Previously, good news meant a strong economy, robust consumption, and everyone had money to risk on assets. Now, good news means Powell has another reason to put interest rate cuts in his pocket. The dollar index is 108, and U.S. Treasury yields have pierced a key level; smart money is moving towards safe-haven assets.

Is the altcoin in your hand sinking?

What should we look at now? It's not about which new public chain got funding or which DeFi protocol released a token. It's about the simplest question: assuming the market stays cold for another three months or half a year, if you want to move your money, which 'transport team' is cheap and reliable?

Chains like Plasma are actually quite interesting at this node.

Look at its recent actions: on January 23, it just integrated NEAR Intents. This isn't some sexy concept; it's a solid landing—now XPL and USDT0 can be directly swapped with 25 chains and 125 types of assets without needing to jump around and pay a bunch of tolls.

Looking back to February 6, OSL Global launched the USD trading pair for XPL. If you check the list of exchanges, there aren't many mainstream platforms still adding new coins in 2026.

The more practical thing is that payment card. Plasma has partnered with Rain Cards, and Plasma USD₮ can be used directly at 150 million Visa merchants. Don't underestimate this—stablecoins have been calling for 'landing' for five years, but how many can actually be spent like money without going through a lot of hoops?

So the fire of non-farm payrolls has burned away the illusion of 'interest rate cuts and monetary easing.' But what it hasn't burned away are the projects that are truly working.

In the past six months, I've learned one thing: everyone is a genius in a bull market, but even geniuses can lose money in a bear market. What ultimately pulls you back up is often not some precise bottom-fishing operation, but rather that you didn't waste money on transactions or lose value due to middlemen when swapping chains.

@Plasma $XPL 's technical documentation states that the goal is to become a 'stablecoin settlement layer.' Hearing this in 2025 sounds quite grand. But hearing it on a night in February 2026, where interest rate cuts are far off, feels less vague—everyone needs a place to move money quietly and without spending.

In July, there will be 2.5 billion XPL to unlock, which is real pressure. No one can predict the price. But one thing is certain: the colder the market, the harder it is to replace tools that can solve specific problems.#非农意外强劲 #Plasma