Stable: The USDT-Native Layer 1 Targeting Payments

Stable is a newly launched Layer 1 blockchain designed specifically for stablecoin payments.

Since the start of the year, its native token, $STABLE, has materially outperformed much of the broader market, drawing attention from both traders and infrastructure-focused investors.

So what exactly is Stable, why is it different from other chains and does the token have real utility beyond short-term momentum?

What is Stable?

Stable is a purpose-built blockchain optimized for stablecoin settlement, particularly $USDT.

Rather than positioning itself as a general-purpose smart contract platform competing in DeFi, NFTs or memecoins, it focuses on one core function: making stablecoin transfers fast, predictable and cheap.

The key structural difference is its gas model. On most blockchains, users must hold a volatile native token to pay transaction fees, for example, ETH on Ethereum, SOL on Solana, and so on.

Stable removes that friction. Transaction fees are paid in $USDT itself. Users send $USDT and pay fees in $USDT. No second token is required for execution.

This seemingly small design choice has meaningful implications. It removes gas volatility, simplifies onboarding and makes fee costs predictable in dollar terms. For payment flows, remittances, merchant settlement and treasury operations, this predictability matters.

Stable launched its mainnet in December 2025 and has positioned itself as infrastructure for stablecoin-native activity. It is backed by industry players with deep stablecoin exposure, including entities linked to the broader $USDT ecosystem.

The target audience is not yield farmers but payment providers, exchanges, fintech platforms, and enterprises seeking blockchain settlement without volatile token exposure.

Unlike Ethereum or Solana, Stable focuses on a specific use case: dollar-denominated transactions at scale.

(Source: Trading View)

What is the utility of $STABLE?

It is important to draw a clear distinction between the two assets in the ecosystem:

1. $USDT – used for gas and settlement.
2. $STABLE – the native governance and staking token.

$USDT is the transactional asset. It is what moves across the network and pays fees.

$STABLE, by contrast, secures the network. Validators stake $STABLE to participate in consensus. Governance decisions and protocol upgrades are coordinated through it. In that sense, $STABLE plays a role similar to other Layer 1 tokens; it underpins economic security rather than transactional usage.

This separation is intentional. Stable’s model isolates payment functionality from token volatility. Users transacting in $USDT are not exposed to $STABLE price swings. Meanwhile, $STABLE can accrue value through staking demand, governance relevance and ecosystem growth rather than direct fee payments in the token itself.

Whether this structure ultimately supports durable token value depends on sustained network usage. If transaction volume and fee flow expand, staking incentives and governance weight become more meaningful. If usage stagnates, the token’s role remains largely structural.

Market structure since launch

The Stable Mainnet Upgrade v1.2.0 blog was published on 23 Jan, with deployment scheduled for 4 Feb at 08:00 UTC.

The upgrade made USDT0 the native gas token, streamlined staking observability, improved Solidity compatibility and introduced controlled zero-gas support. Of these changes, the shift to USDT0 as the native gas asset is the most economically meaningful, as it alters fee mechanics and reduces transaction friction.

In theory, this should improve onchain efficiency and support long-term ecosystem growth.

(Source: Coinmetrics)

Market positioning was clearly ramping up into the catalyst. Open interest averaged $18.3mn in early January, rose to $23.7mn on announcement day, and reached $29.4mn at deployment, before extending to $33.0mn two weeks later.

Market cap expanded nearly 60% versus early January averages into the February window, and leverage participation rose meaningfully ahead of the upgrade.

However, funding dynamics tell a much more aggressive story. While funding was mildly positive around the announcement, it flipped sharply negative into deployment and reached extremes of approximately −250% annualized.

That magnitude is not routine hedging. It reflects a severe short imbalance or aggressive positioning against the move. Importantly, this occurred while open interest was expanding, indicating that traders were actively adding leverage rather than closing risk.

Separately, the 29 Jan futures volume spike above $500mn coincided with Tether’s USA₮announcement and appears to represent a broader liquidity shock rather than a direct repricing of the Stable upgrade itself. That spike exceeded the circulating market cap and was event-driven, but it did not mark the structural funding extreme. The most aggressive funding imbalance emerged in the period leading up to and after the 4 Feb deployment.

The combination of rising open interest and deeply negative funding suggests the upgrade became a positioning battleground rather than a one-sided bullish catalyst. Traders leaned aggressively short into a fundamentally constructive upgrade, creating the conditions for volatility and potential squeeze dynamics.

So far, the data indicate the event functioned primarily as a leverage catalyst, with structural adoption still needing confirmation through sustained spot activity and onchain usage growth.

Where $STABLE stands

Structurally, Stable presents a clear thesis: stablecoins are already the dominant settlement asset in crypto, so build infrastructure around them rather than speculative tokens.

The network design reflects that focus. Fees in $USDT, sub-second finality, predictable cost structure and enterprise-oriented positioning distinguish it from broader Layer 1 platforms.

Whether Stable becomes core infrastructure or remains a niche chain ultimately depends on adoption. It is not trying to replace Ethereum. It is trying to make $USDT transfers feel like a native financial rail rather than a crypto workaround.

There is, however, a small irony. While the protocol is engineered to eliminate fee volatility by anchoring gas in $USDT, the $STABLE token itself has been anything but stable, with intraday swings exceeding 30% during peak periods.

The payment layer may be dollar-denominated, but the equity layer is still very much crypto.

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