Plasma's XPL Token Surges to Over $2.8 Billion Market Cap on Launch Day
The native token of the stablecoin-focused Plasma blockchain, XPL, made its debut on major exchanges like Binance and OKX on Thursday, quickly amassing a market capitalization exceeding $2.8 billion. The token reached an early trading price of $1.54, with a genesis supply of 10 billion tokens, 1.8 billion of which are currently in circulation. The Plasma network also launched with over $2 billion in total stablecoin value locked and an EVM-compatible design.
Key Takeaways
- XPL token launched with a market cap surpassing $2.8 billion.
- The Plasma network supports gasless stablecoin transfers for end-users.
- XPL serves multiple functions including gas, staking, and validator rewards.
Plasma Network and XPL Token Utility
The Plasma network is designed to facilitate stablecoin transactions, offering gasless transfers for simple USDT operations. For more complex activities like deploying smart contracts or decentralized applications (dApps), XPL is required as the gas token, or a portion of stablecoins must be converted to XPL to cover fees. The XPL token is integral to the network's operation, functioning as the gas token for transactions and smart contract execution, the asset used for staking to secure the network, and the reward token distributed to validators.
Tokenomics and Distribution
XPL has a fixed total supply of 10 billion tokens. Of this total, 40% (4 billion tokens) is earmarked for ecosystem and growth initiatives. At launch, 8% of the total supply (800 million tokens) from this allocation was unlocked to support initial activities such as liquidity provision and partnerships. The remaining 3.2 billion ecosystem tokens will be released monthly over three years to ensure sustained liquidity and ongoing development.
Furthermore, 25% of the supply (2.5 billion tokens) is allocated to founders, developers, and employees, subject to a one-year cliff before vesting begins, followed by linear vesting over the subsequent two years. Another 25% (2.5 billion tokens) has been allocated to early backers and strategic partners, with identical vesting terms: a one-year cliff followed by two years of linear vesting.
The tokenomics model is inflationary, with validator rewards initially set at a 5% inflation rate, which is scheduled to decrease annually until it stabilizes at 3%.