By stablecoin-first I do not mean that stablecoins are simply supported. I refer to them as the beginning of the whole design. Adding stablecoins is a late addition to most blockchains as an additional asset of many. Plasma does the opposite. It poses the question: do people primarily desire to place some dollars, why not make the chain focused on that purpose since its initial days?
This is important in that stablecoins act like actual money. They don't swing in price. They are immediately known by people. Plasma does not consider stablecoins as a guest in the country but as a native citizen. That enables the network to trade to payment as opposed to speculation.
Meanwhile, Plasma does not require the developers to study something entirely new. It is entirely EVM-compatible, so developers can use the tools, wallets, and smart contracts that they are already familiar with, directly on Ethereum. This is a strong combination: on the one hand, the familiar experience of the developer, on the other hand, the payments-saving design. Developers do not have to reinvent the wheel, and users do not have to learn about crypto mechanisms to send money.
The Magic Trick Explained: Zero-Fee USDT (With Guardrails).
The idea of zero-fee transfer of USDT is the most surprising fact about Plasma. This initially does not seem believable, since blockchains are never free. Plasma doesn't deny that. Rather, it alters those involved in dealing with the cost.
Plasma has a paymaster system or relayer. Simply put, the network (or applications on its basis) will be able to cover the gas fee of some operations, such as the transfer of USDT. The user does not need to carry a different gas token and does not even think about fees. They simply order dollars and the deal is finalized.
Notably, this is not unrestricted or irresponsible. There are guardrails. The fee sponsorship is limited to particular actions, rate-limited and it is meant to be abused. This makes the system sustainable and yet providing a simple experience.
The experience is Web2: users will not encounter charges, yet it is the honest and secure system with the system under the hood. It is the true trick not to take away costs, but friction.