@Plasma is September 2025 launch pulled in $5.9-6.6 billion to Aave V3 within days. USDT0's cross-chain bridge and zero-fee USDT transfers drove the initial flood. That made Plasma Aave's second-largest market globally, trailing only Ethereum mainnet.
Most chains see deposits spike at launch then bleed out. Plasma didn't. By early 2026, it maintains the highest stablecoin supply-to-borrow ratio across all Aave V3 deployments. Lenders provide deep liquidity. Borrowers access capital efficiently for leverage and yield strategies. The loop works.
What keeps this running? Over 1,000 TPS, sub-second blocks, near-zero fees for stablecoin activity, and full EVM compatibility. DeFi users can port strategies from Ethereum without rewriting code, but execution costs a fraction of what they'd pay on mainnet.
Integrations matter here. Pendle tokenizes yields. CoW Swap handles MEV-protected swaps. Neutrl brings institutional-grade risk management. These aren't placeholder partnerships—they're tools that sophisticated users actually deploy for real positions.
The stablecoin focus pays off. Unlike general-purpose chains juggling NFTs, gaming, and DeFi, Plasma optimized specifically for stable value. That clarity attracts capital looking for predictable, high-volume lending and borrowing without volatility chaos.
Plasma went from billions in hype deposits to billions in working lending infrastructure. Most projects don't make that transition. The fact that it did—while stablecoin markets push toward trillions globally—suggests it found product-market fit where others fumbled.
This isn't the next phase of DeFi. It's what DeFi looks like when you strip away speculation and focus on moving stable value efficiently.
