Stable is a high-throughput Layer 1 blockchain, referred to as a "stablechain," designed to serve as a dedicated issuance and settlement layer for the USDT stablecoin. Described as a "stablecoin-centric chain" and an orchestration layer for the USDT ecosystem, the network aims to provide faster, cheaper, and more efficient stablecoin transactions by optimizing its entire architecture for this purpose. It features USDT as its native unit of account and gas token, with a stated goal of making USDT instant and programmable for global commerce and payments. [7] [4] [11]
Stable was introduced on July 21, 2025, with the mission to create a purpose-built blockchain to address the inefficiencies of existing infrastructure for stablecoin transactions, such as unpredictable fees, slow settlement times, and complex user experiences. The project positioned itself as the first "stablechain" optimized for payments using USDT. [7]
On July 31, 2025, the project announced it had raised a $28 million seed round. The announcement highlighted that the funding and development coincided with the passage of the GENIUS Act in the U.S., which provided increased regulatory clarity for stablecoins and was seen as a catalyst for institutional adoption. Paolo Ardoino, CEO of Tether, commented on the timing, stating, "Now, major financial institutions and banks will be able to fully unleash the power behind assets like USDT, something the Stable team fundamentally understands and is exceptionally poised to capitalize on. They are very advanced in terms of their infrastructure and roadmap, making them well positioned to bring USDT into the mainstream." [8]
On November 4, 2025, the Stable Public Testnet went live, opening the EVM-compatible execution layer to developers. The launch was supported by infrastructure partners, including USDT0 and LayerZero, to enable USDT as the native gas token and provide interoperability. [12]
Later in November, Stable announced partnerships with global payments application Oobit and payment orchestration platform Orbital to integrate StableChain for fast, low-fee USDT settlement. [13] The project also ran a multi-phase pre-deposit campaign that concluded on November 15, 2025, attracting over $1.1 billion in deposits from more than 10,000 wallets. The campaign's first phase drew criticism over allegations of insider front-running, which prompted the team to implement per-wallet deposit limits for the second phase to encourage broader participation. [14]
On December 2, 2025, Stable unveiled the tokenomics for its native governance token, STABLE, and announced that its mainnet would launch on December 8, 2025. [14] [15]
Stable is a high-throughput Layer 1 stablechain developed to support USDT as its primary asset, addressing the growing demand for faster, cheaper, and more efficient stablecoin transactions. It is designed to act as the dedicated issuance and settlement layer for USDT, offering gas-free transfers, sub-second finality, and optimized infrastructure for moving stablecoins at scale. The platform aims to unlock the potential of stablecoins by creating a developer-friendly environment with full EVM compatibility, specialized SDKs, and robust APIs. As of late November 2025, the project's public testnet had processed transactions for over 497,000 accounts and achieved an average block time of 0.73 seconds. [7] [13]
For everyday use, Stable provides a simplified wallet called StablePay that enables quick sending and receiving of funds, integration with debit and credit cards, and low-cost transactions that finalize in under a second. For enterprises, the platform includes advanced features such as guaranteed blockspace allocation, transfer aggregation for large transaction volumes, and enhanced security measures. It also supports confidential transfers that preserve privacy while meeting regulatory compliance requirements. [5] [11]
Stable is a delegated Proof-of-Stake blockchain designed specifically to support large-scale USDT activity, combining sub-second block times with single-slot finality for efficient and reliable settlement. The network is fully EVM compatible, allowing developers to deploy Ethereum smart contracts and use familiar tooling while benefiting from Stable’s optimized infrastructure. A central feature is the integration of USDT as the native unit of account. Users can perform gas-free USDT transfers through account abstraction and the EIP-7702 standard. In contrast, non-USDT transfers use gas fees in USDT that are automatically converted into gasUSDT by a bundler and paymaster system. This approach simplifies the user experience, requiring only USDT0 holdings for seamless participation.
Additional functionality includes a cross-chain bridge, built with support from LayerZero, for transferring USDT0 between Ethereum, Arbitrum, HyperEVM, Tron, and other supported ecosystems, as well as a dedicated Stable Wallet that offers a Web2.5-style interface to simplify sending, receiving, and managing assets. Looking ahead, Stable plans to introduce a USDT Transfer Aggregator to combine multiple transfers into a single bundle, improving throughput, and Guaranteed Blockspace to give enterprises predictable access to resources for high-volume USDT usage. Together, these features position Stable as a purpose-built blockchain environment for stablecoin transactions across retail and institutional contexts. [1] [12]
The network's consensus is managed by StableBFT, a customized delegated Proof-of-Stake (dPoS) protocol based on CometBFT (a fork of Tendermint Core). It is engineered for low latency and high throughput, achieving sub-second block times and single-slot finality. The protocol's design includes optimizations such as separating the process of data dissemination from the consensus mechanism itself and enabling direct transaction broadcasting to block proposers, which helps reduce bottlenecks and improve overall network speed.
A significant future upgrade planned for the consensus layer is the transition to a Directed Acyclic Graph (DAG)-based model named "Autobahn." This model is intended to eliminate the single-leader bottleneck found in many traditional blockchain architectures by allowing for the parallel processing of transaction proposals. By separating data propagation from the final ordering of transactions, the Autobahn model aims to achieve faster finality and provide enhanced Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT), making the network more resilient to certain types of attacks. [2]
Stable features the Stable EVM, an execution environment that is fully compatible with the Ethereum Virtual Machine. This compatibility allows developers to migrate and deploy existing Ethereum-based smart contracts and decentralized applications (dApps) onto the Stable network without significant modifications. It also ensures that developers can use familiar tools, programming languages (like Solidity), and wallets from the Ethereum ecosystem. The Stable EVM includes a set of precompiles that enable smart contracts to interact securely and atomically with the chain's core logic through the StableSDK.
To further enhance performance, the project plans to upgrade the execution layer to "StableVM++." This future iteration will integrate an alternative, high-performance EVM implementation, such as EVMONE, and incorporate an optimistic parallel execution engine based on the Block-STM model. Parallel execution enables the network to process multiple transactions simultaneously, provided they do not conflict with each other, which can significantly increase the chain's transactional throughput and efficiency. [2]
To address storage-related performance issues that can affect blockchain scalability, Stable incorporates a custom data management system called StableDB. This system is designed to accelerate block processing by decoupling the state commitment process from physical disk storage operations. This separation allows blocks to be processed without having to wait for slow disk I/O writes to complete.
StableDB utilizes a combination of MemDB and VersionDB, which is powered by mmap, a system call that maps files or devices into memory. This approach allows recent and frequently accessed data to be managed directly in memory for faster access, while older, less-used data is stored more efficiently on disk. This tiered data management strategy helps mitigate storage bottlenecks and contributes to the network's overall performance and high throughput capabilities. [2]
The Stable blockchain is fundamentally structured around USDT, which serves as the network's primary asset and native unit of account. This integration is designed to create a seamless economic environment centered on stablecoin utility.
On the Stable network, USDT is the exclusive token for paying transaction fees. For any on-chain operation that requires gas, such as smart contract interactions or transfers of non-USDT0 assets, fees are denominated and paid in USDT0. To facilitate this, the network employs a bundler and paymaster system that automatically converts the required fee amount into a dedicated internal gas token, gasUSDT. This design abstracts away the complexity of gas management for the user, who only needs to hold USDT0 to interact with the network. [6]
A key feature of the Stable network is the implementation of gas-free transfers for its native USDT0 token. Standard peer-to-peer transfers of USDT0 do not require the sender to pay a gas fee at the protocol level. This is enabled through the implementation of account abstraction, specifically leveraging standards like EIP-7702. Account abstraction allows for more flexible transaction validation rules, enabling the protocol to sponsor the gas costs for specific types of transactions, thereby improving the user experience for simple payments and remittances. [6]
This gas-free model is designed to eliminate the "two-token friction point," a significant barrier to mainstream adoption where users must hold both a stablecoin and a separate, volatile native token for gas fees. For retail users, this dual-token requirement adds cognitive overhead and complexity. For enterprises, it complicates auditing, reconciliation, and compliance reporting, as traditional frameworks are built for single-currency flows. By using USDT as the native gas token and making peer-to-peer transfers free, Stable aims to create a user experience that mirrors traditional finance, positioning digital assets as a viable alternative to conventional payment rails. [9]
To support institutional and high-volume use cases, Stable is developing a suite of enterprise-grade features:
The central asset of the Stable ecosystem is USDT0, an omnichain version of USDT designed to unify liquidity and streamline cross-chain transfers. USDT0 is built on LayerZero’s Omnichain Fungible Token (OFT) standard and maintains a strict 1:1 peg with traditional USDT. Its primary function is to eliminate the complexities and risks associated with traditional cross-chain bridges, such as fragmented liquidity, wrapped assets, and potential security vulnerabilities.
Instead of creating separate, wrapped versions of USDT on different blockchains, the OFT standard allows USDT0 to exist as a single, interoperable asset across multiple networks. When a user wishes to move USDT0 from one supported chain to another (e.g., from Stable to Ethereum), the tokens are burned or locked on the source chain, and an equivalent amount is minted on the destination chain. This burn-and-mint mechanism is facilitated by LayerZero's secure cross-chain messaging protocol, ensuring that the total supply of USDT0 remains consistent and the peg to USDT is maintained. This process results in faster transfers, minimal slippage, and lower fees compared to conventional bridging methods. The Stable network features a native cross-chain bridge, enabling seamless transfers between ecosystems such as Ethereum, Arbitrum, HyperEVM, and Tron. [3] [12]
While USDT is used for all transactions and gas fees, the Stable network is secured and governed by a separate native utility token, STABLE. Announced on December 2, 2025, the STABLE token is designed as the coordination instrument for the ecosystem, created to align network participants without exposing end-users to a volatile asset for payments. [15] [14]
The STABLE token has three primary functions:
The STABLE token has a fixed total supply of 100 billion, with no planned inflationary emissions. The allocation is as follows:
The Team and Investor & Advisor allocations are subject to a one-year cliff followed by a 48-month linear vesting schedule to ensure long-term alignment. [14] [15]
Stable has outlined a multi-phase roadmap and has achieved several key milestones in its development.
Stable is led by a team with experience in financial infrastructure, blockchain protocols, venture capital, and regulatory navigation. [10]
On July 31, 2025, Stable announced it had closed a $28 million seed funding round to develop its blockchain focused on overhauling traditional payments infrastructure with USDT. The round was led by Bitfinex and Hack VC and included a mix of institutional firms and prominent angel investors. [8] [16]
Additionally, Paolo Ardoino, in his capacities as CEO of Tether and CTO of Bitfinex, has been a close advisor to the project since its beginning. [8]