British Neobank Plasma Debuts Stablecoin Banking Product

U.K. neobank Plasma has launched what it calls its flagship stablecoin banking product.

Plasma One, announced Wednesday (June 17), is part of what the company says is its bet that the next iteration of consumer banking will be built on stablecoin rails.

“For years, stablecoin adoption has been held back by a fragmented system and poor user experience,” the London-based company said in a news release provided to PYMNTS.

“We have seen wallets in one place, exchanges in another, and costly off-ramps standing between digital dollars and daily life. Plasma One brings that experience together in a single app, giving users a simple way to spend, send and earn with stablecoins from one account with zero fees.”

Plasma One is upheld by the Plasma Network, the company’s blockchain, designed to move stablecoins instantly, cheaply and reliably at global scale. In owning the infrastructure underneath the product, Plasma says it is creating a vertically integrated financial stack for stablecoins, covering blockchain infrastructure, liquidity, payments, licensing and consumer distribution.

“Stablecoins will not become part of everyday banking through another app sitting on top of someone else’s rails,” said Plasma Founder and CEO Paul Faecks. “They need a product that brings the entire experience together. That’s what Plasma One is built to do.”

Zaheer Ebtikar, the company’s chief strategy officer, noted that although global stablecoin supply has roughly doubled over the past two years, that doesn’t necessarily mean more adoption.

“Adoption is when someone can download Plasma One, onboard in minutes, and start using digital dollars without thinking about blockchains, wallets, or banking rails — paying for lunch, sending money globally in seconds, or earning yield on savings,” said Ebtikar. “Plasma One is built to make stablecoins feel better than traditional money — easy to spend, save, and use.”

Meanwhile, PYMNTS wrote last week that while stablecoins have for years been positioned as alternatives to traditional banking systems, industry leaders view them as enhancements to existing financial networks instead of replacements for them.

“We think of stablecoins as rails,” Mastercard Executive Vice President of Blockchain and Digital Assets Raj Dhamodharan said in an interview with PYMNTS.

He likened each stablecoin to a global automated clearing house “where the consumer doesn’t see the complexity.”

“The technology underneath this is quite powerful,” Dhamodharan added. “But that alone is not sufficient. To unlock the full value, really that orchestration needs to be provided.”