Plasma, a blockchain startup backed by billionaire Peter Thiel, just launched what could fundamentally disrupt traditional banking across emerging markets. Fresh off raising $373 million in a seven-times oversubscribed initial coin offering, the company announced Plasma One on Sept. 22.
The stablecoin-native neobank promises to deliver “everyone, everywhere permissionless access to saving, spending, and earning in dollars,” according to the statement. Plasma says users can pay directly from their stablecoin balances while earning double-digit yields exceeding 10%.
With Thiel’s backing and massive funding round, Plasma targets the billions of people globally who desperately need dollar access but face barriers from traditional financial institutions.
Don't Miss:
- Power Outages Up 20% a Year — Here's the U.S. Company Helping Americans Go Off-Grid Safely
- If there was a new fund backed by Jeff Bezos offering a 7-9% target yield with monthly dividends would you invest in it?
What Plasma One Promises to Deliver
Plasma One integrates saving, spending, and sending functions into a single app, the company says. The neobank also offers up to 4% cash back on purchases with either physical or virtual cards, usable at more than 150 million merchants across 150 countries.
The app provides free and instant stablecoin transfers between users, while onboarding is designed to be quick, giving new customers a virtual card within minutes.
Plasma said it built the app for real-world use cases, pointing to exporters in Istanbul who secure digital dollars to protect earnings, merchants in Buenos Aires who pay staff in stablecoins, and commodity traders in Dubai who rely on them for cross-border transactions.
Trending: Microsoft's Climate Innovation Fund Just Backed This Farmland Manager — Accredited Investors Can Join the Same Fund
The Infrastructure Play Behind the Consumer Application
The neobank also acts as a proving ground for Plasma's broader ecosystem, which spans its blockchain, payment rails, and developer tools. According to its website, the Layer 1 blockchain can process over 1,000 transactions per second with sub-second block times.
The company reported more than $2.5 billion in stablecoin total value locked at launch.
The vertical integration across blockchain, tooling, and application allows end-to-end optimization. By being its own first customer, Plasma said it can refine its payment stack more quickly before opening it to external developers and institutions.
Its strategy is aimed at offering wallets, banks, and fintech apps a foundation that has been tested under global demand rather than in controlled environments. The external partners will eventually launch on Plasma using battle-tested technology rather than building from scratch, the company said.
See Also: The ECG Hasn't Changed in 100 Years — This AI Upgrade Could Help Detect Heart Disease Years Earlier
Thiel's Role and the Road Ahead
Thiel's involvement adds a notable backer with deep ties to the financial technology sector. The PayPal (NASDAQ: PYPL) and Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ: PLTR) co-founder was also Facebook's first outside investor, turning a $500,000 stake into over $1 billion, Bloomberg reported.
Plasma said the long-term vision is for anyone, anywhere, to download the app, earn yield on savings, send money instantly, and spend globally with confidence. The company added that success will be defined by developers choosing its infrastructure because it has been proven under real-world conditions.
Access to Plasma One will roll out in stages, allowing rapid iteration while scaling toward billions of users, according to the statement. The company plans to bring the world on-chain through their neobank platform, with mainnet beta launched on Sept. 25.
Read Next: $100k+ in investable assets? Match with a fiduciary advisor for free to learn how you can maximize your retirement and save on taxes – no cost, no obligation.
Image: Shutterstock
