Stable, described on the official Stable site as a high throughput, EVM compatible Layer 1, is preparing to activate its mainnet and launch the STABLE token in a coordinated event on December 8. The network is incubated by backers including Tether and Bitfinex, with additional strategic support from partners such as PayPal Ventures.

The core idea is straightforward but unusual: on Stablechain, users pay gas directly in USDT rather than in a separate native coin. Instead of needing both a volatile base asset and a stablecoin in their wallet, users can move value and pay fees in the same currency.

Mainnet activation and the STABLE token generation event (TGE) are set to occur together, with validator onboarding and governance features rolling out alongside the first production blocks.

How USDT as gas works in practice

Under the hood, Stablechain uses a two token representation of Tether’s dollar balance: an account facing token that users see in their wallet, and an internal gas accounting token used by the protocol.

From the user’s perspective:

You hold USDT on Stablechain and initiate transactions as usual.
Gas fees are quoted and deducted in USDT, so you do not need a separate gas coin.
The network’s bundler and paymaster infrastructure handles conversions to the internal gas representation.

From the protocol’s perspective:

All transactions ultimately consume gas in a dedicated USDT based unit that is tracked by validator nodes.
Gas fees are accumulated into a treasury that can later be distributed to validators and, indirectly, to stakers of the STABLE token.

The aim is to create a more intuitive experience for payments and commerce: fees are predictable in dollar terms, and the friction of juggling multiple assets is reduced.

The STABLE token: security and governance

While USDT sits at the center of user facing activity, the STABLE token underpins consensus and governance.

According to published tokenomics, STABLE is designed to:

Secure the network through a delegated proof of stake style mechanism, where holders can stake or delegate to validators.
Provide governance rights over protocol parameters, upgrades and treasury usage.
Act as a credential for sharing in gas fee distributions from the treasury when staked.

STABLE’s supply and distribution are structured around several buckets, including ecosystem incentives, validator and staking rewards, team and investor allocations and community initiatives. Exact allocations and vesting schedules are laid out in Stable’s documentation and are a key part of how the project balances long term security with early funding.

In short, USDT is the transaction currency users see and spend, while STABLE is the coordination and security asset that sits behind the scenes.

Pre deposit campaigns and “pre TVL”

Ahead of mainnet, Stable has run a series of pre deposit campaigns that function as both stress tests and early positioning opportunities.

In these campaigns, users deposited USDT and other supported stablecoins into designated contracts or partner platforms in exchange for points and potential future rewards tied to the STABLE token. Later phases introduced caps and anti whale adjustments after initial rounds attracted very large deposits from a small number of addresses.

Tracking sites and exchange blogs report that the combined campaigns have attracted more than one billion dollars in pre deposits from tens of thousands of wallets. That figure represents committed liquidity that can be directed into Stablechain once mainnet goes live, although the ultimate stickiness of this capital will depend on incentives and user experience.

Why USDT as gas is strategically important

Using USDT as native gas is more than a user experience tweak. It is a strategic move in the emerging race to control stablecoin infrastructure.

For Stable, the design has several implications:

It tightens the link between network activity and demand for USDT.
It positions Stablechain as a dedicated settlement and payments rail for Tether’s flagship stablecoin.
It gives the project a clear narrative in a crowded field of general purpose Layer 1s.

For Tether, which already dominates stablecoin market share, a purpose built chain provides a way to capture more of the value that flows through its token: not only from float and reserves, but also from transaction fees and ecosystem growth.

Stablechain versus other stablecoin rails

Stable’s launch comes at a time when large issuers are building or backing their own infrastructure layers.

Circle is developing the Arc network, a stablecoin native chain where gas fees are paid in USDC and where institutions can settle and move value under a compliance centric framework.
PayPal is expanding the reach of its PYUSD stablecoin across multiple existing chains, focusing on integration with wallets and merchant rails rather than running a standalone execution environment.

Stablechain’s approach differs in that it aims to be a fully fledged public Layer 1 that is tightly coupled to USDT usage, while still allowing other stablecoins and assets to exist on the network.

Key questions in this competitive set include:

Whether merchants and payment providers will prefer a Tether focused chain, a USDC oriented network, or multi chain strategies built on existing L1s and L2s.
How regulators will view issuer controlled or issuer aligned blockchains that concentrate both token issuance and settlement in the same stack.
To what extent users will notice or care which chain their stablecoin transfers use, if front end experiences abstract the underlying rails.

Potential benefits for users and developers

If the model works as intended, Stablechain could offer several benefits.

For users:

Gas paid in USDT keeps transaction costs easy to understand in fiat terms.
Sub second finality and stablecoin focused design could make everyday payments smoother.

For developers and businesses:

Predictable, stablecoin denominated fees may simplify pricing models for applications.
Deep native liquidity in USDT, and potentially in other major stablecoins, can support a wide range of DeFi and payments use cases.

These advantages are particularly relevant for cross border commerce, remittances and high volume microtransactions where volatility in gas tokens has historically been a barrier.

Risks and open questions

Despite the appeal of USDT based gas and strong backers, Stablechain faces several uncertainties.

Concentration risk: Tying network gas, settlement and economic activity heavily to a single stablecoin and its issuer raises questions about single points of failure and governance concentration.
Regulatory scrutiny: As stablecoins draw more attention from regulators, a chain that effectively functions as an extension of a major issuer’s infrastructure could come under closer supervision.
Competition: Other stablecoin centric networks and existing blockchains with large stablecoin user bases will compete for the same payment flows.
Incentive design: The relationship between USDT gas fees, STABLE staking rewards and long term sustainability will depend on how treasury distributions and token emissions are tuned over time.

Scenario based outlook after launch

Given the number of moving parts, it is helpful to think in scenarios rather than a single prediction.

Stablechain becomes a major payment rail

In this scenario, merchants, wallets and DeFi protocols integrate Stablechain at scale. USDT transaction volume migrates from general purpose chains to a dedicated rail, and STABLE staking participation remains high enough to support security and governance.

Stablechain is one rail among many

Here, Stablechain finds a role as part of a multi chain stablecoin landscape. It handles some share of USDT flows, but Ethereum, rollups and competing L1s continue to host significant stablecoin activity. Users interact with whichever rail is embedded in their preferred apps.

Limited adoption despite strong launch metrics

A third outcome is that pre deposit numbers and launch interest do not translate into sustained, organic usage. Liquidity may chase incentives across multiple ecosystems, leaving Stablechain with less activity than headline figures initially suggest.

Conclusion

Stablechain’s mainnet and STABLE token launch mark a notable moment in the evolution of stablecoin infrastructure. By making USDT the native gas asset and positioning STABLE as the backbone of security and governance, the project is testing a tightly integrated model where a major stablecoin and its own Layer 1 move in lockstep.

Whether this approach becomes a template for how stablecoins operate at scale, or remains one option among many in a fragmented landscape, will depend on adoption by users, developers and payment providers, as well as on how regulators respond to issuer aligned blockchains.

For now, Stablechain offers a clear live experiment in what happens when you redesign a blockchain around a single stablecoin and ask users to think in dollars, not in volatile gas tokens.

The post USDT As Gas: Stablechain’s Mainnet And STABLE Token Launch appeared first on Crypto Adventure.

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Filed under: Bitcoin - @ December 5, 2025 9:24 am