Key Takeaways:
- $825 million raised in 22 minutes: Stable’s pre-deposit vault hit its cap almost instantly, fueled by massive early deposits.
- One whale dominated participation: On-chain analysis shows a single entity provided over $500 million in USDT even before the official launch.
- Stable positions itself as a USDT-only chain: Backed by Bitfinex and Tether, Stable aims to reduce fees and optimize large-scale USDT transfers.
Stable, a new blockchain purpose-built for USDT transfers, achieved an $825 million pre-deposit cap within just 22 minutes of opening. The announcement, made on X, marks one of the fastest liquidity events in the 2025 crypto cycle.
The campaign, dubbed Phase 1 Pre-Deposit, attracted high-value participants and strategic DeFi partners including Frax Finance, Morpho Labs, ConcreteXYZ, Pendle, and LayerZero. Yet blockchain data reveals that the overwhelming majority of the inflow came from one entity, a “whale” that front-ran the event.
Read More: Crypto Whale “7 Siblings” Invests $10M in ETH After Taking Out $20M USDC Loan
Whale Wallets Fund 60% of Stable’s Pre-Deposit Pool
Blockchain analysts quickly flagged multiple wallets funding the pre-deposit contract hours before the campaign’s official start. The transaction history indicated around $600 million of inflow between Chain of related addresses, all of which were connected to a long-running Ethereum whale with over $700 million under its belt.
Further examination shows that the deposits of the whale were borrowed on leverage. Just before moving the money to Stable, 300,000 ETH was deposited in the same address on Aave, borrowing 500 million USDT on it.
The source of funding of the whale was linked to BTSE Exchange, which indicated that this was a fund orchestrated by institutions and not a retail-based phenomenon. Analysts noted that this speech had already taken part in Plasma liquidity campaign in another stablecoin-based chain that was launched earlier in 2025, suggesting that some participants are cycling liquidity between projects to increase visibility.
Even with the excitement of the community, the critics stated that 194 distinct wallets attended Stable pre-deposit events, indicating that there was centralized liquidity management as opposed to widespread community engagement.
A Bitfinex-Backed Network for USDT Transfers
The blockchain of Stable was launched unannounced in the middle of 2025 and tied to Bitfinex and Tether, the owners of USDT, the largest stablecoin in the world by market capitalization.
Unlike Plasma, a multi-stablecoin Layer 1 that debuted with heavy marketing around its XPL token, Stable focuses exclusively on USDT. The design promises:
- Low-cost transfers for large USDT movements.
- Simplified integration for DeFi lenders and trading protocols.
- Native liquidity aggregation from institutional partners.
Stable’s early traction highlights the growing demand for dedicated settlement layers optimized for a single stablecoin, particularly as Ethereum gas costs remain high.
According to on-chain fee trackers, USDT transfers on Ethereum burn over 29 ETH daily and add roughly $23 million per day in smart contract fees. Stable’s architecture aims to redirect that volume to its chain, where transaction fees are near zero.
Read More: Satoshi-Era Whale Awakens: $1B in Bitcoin Moved to Galaxy Digital After 14 Years
DeFi Partners Boost Liquidity and Exposure
The campaign of Stable release was supported by the following large DeFi protocols:
- ConcreteXYZ, which provided automated vault exposure on behalf of the institutional investors.
- Frax Finance, which provides liquidity due to its hybrid stable model.
- Morpho Labs and Pendle Finance, combining yield optimization to depositors.
- LayerZero and Gauntlet providing cross-chain routing and risk analytics.
The collaboration framework demonstrates that the ecosystem launch of Stable is closely interconnected with the current DeFi framework, and it is not launched in isolation. This co-launch design draws on practices used by networks that bootstrapped liquidity like Base and Blast that did so by pre-depositing vaults and airdropping benefits of participation.
This campaign is not yet confirmed by the team of Stable, however, according to speculation across Telegram and X, early depositors could be given governance allocations.
Stablecoin Wars: Plasma vs. Stable
The burst of Stable to $825M gave an instant parallel with Plasma, another 2025 competitor that claimed to offer a high-throughput environment of multiple stablecoins. Although Plasma was launched with XPL token and much hype, Stable was launched in a more stealthy but rapid manner.
Industry observers see the two networks as competitors for on-chain stablecoin liquidity:
- Plasma supports multiple stablecoins and wrapped assets.
- Stable focuses exclusively on USDT, leveraging Tether’s brand and distribution network.
Both ecosystems share overlapping liquidity providers, sparking speculation of cross-chain stablecoin arbitrage in the near term.
While the record-breaking deposit speed drew praise, on-chain transparency paints a nuanced picture. More than 60% of funds originated from one participant, and the deposit window closed before many retail users could interact.