There's one thing in crypto that I once thought was normal, until I looked back: why do I have to buy an additional token to use USDT?
Most stablecoin chains still hold an old assumption: to trade, you must have a separate gas token. You don't have enough USDT. You also need to deposit additional base coins. Technically, it makes sense. But from a product perspective, it's a layer of friction that's very uncomfortable.
Not just a cost. It's a psychological burden.
A person can understand that they have USDT. But telling them that 'to use USDT you need another token' instantly shifts the experience from money to… crypto.
I see @Plasma handling this as a product design issue, not a 'user education' problem. Plasma $XPL allows supported streams to pay fees using USDT itself, even pBTC, instead of forcing users to hold XPL from the start.
It sounds like a small detail. But the more I think about it, the more it opens up quite a bit.
My argument is very simple: mainstream stablecoins should only need one psychological unit, not two.
If stablecoins want to resemble the dollar, then the entire experience should revolve around a unit resembling the dollar. The moment users have to think about gas fees, that experience is no longer about money.
Custom gas tokens are not just technical. It's a mindset change.
In a typical chain, gas is calculated in native coins. Without that coin, nothing can be done. And onboarding stumbles right from the start: you come to buy stablecoins, but have to buy something else.
Plasma handles differently. The chain allows gas payments with accepted tokens, and the conversion and calculation take place under the platform. Developers do not have to build makeshift 'gas abstractions'. It becomes first-class network behavior, not application hacks.
For businesses, this is the important point.
Businesses are not just concerned about transactions working. They care about budgeting. If revenue is in USDT, they want expenses to also be in USDT. They want to say: 'Each transaction costs 0.01 USDT', not 'costs a fraction of a token whose price just changed yesterday.'
Finance does not operate on averages. It operates on worst-case risks and predictive capabilities.
When fees can be paid with the same type of currency the business is earning, accounting is much cleaner. No need to hold gas token reserves. No need to top up small amounts. No need to balance the price volatility of a secondary asset.
It may seem small, but at scale, these 'small cuts' accumulate into real friction.
From a product perspective, the fact that gas is no longer a separate asset opens up a very lacking crypto feature: the ability to fund fees cleanly.
The app can say: 'Give it a try. No need to buy additional tokens.' Like freemium software. The first experience is not disrupted by a blockchain tutorial.
Crypto often talks about UX, but forces users to step through a technical layer right from the start. Plasma is trying to make stablecoins look and feel more like software products than raw infrastructure.
For average users, the biggest benefit is emotional simplicity.
They have USDT, they use USDT. No confusion. No wrong token purchases. No running out of gas mid-transaction. No panic over a step they do not understand.
Confusion is the source of many errors and fraud. Reducing the number of units users have to think about also reduces that risk.
Of course, simplifying gas is not free. If anyone can transact easily, spam becomes easier too. Therefore, design must come with limits, supported token lists, flow control, and anomaly monitoring. A serious payment network cannot rely on the thinking of 'just make it easy first'.
If Plasma can achieve this balance, the story is not just about 'low fees'. It's about stablecoins starting to behave like real products.
A set wallet, with USDT, click send. Done.
A developer launching an app can fund initial fees like any SaaS product.
A business records expenses in its own revenue unit.
Accounting does not have to deal with pesky gas tokens, but with actual business cash flow.
Stablecoins only truly become infrastructure when they do not require users to understand that it is crypto.
This story might not be loud. But if crypto wants to enter everyday life, the fact that gas stops being 'second money' might be one of the most important changes.
