PayPal Ventures Backs Bitfinex-Linked Stablecoin Project

Stable, an institutional-grade stablecoin blockchain backed by cryptocurrency exchange Bitfinex, is integrating a stablecoin built by major online payment platform PayPal.

PayPal Ventures has made a strategic investment in Stable to bring PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin onto the Stablechain, according to an announcement by Stable on Monday.

“This work with Stable reflects our commitment to expanding PYUSD’s utility across multiple blockchain ecosystems and driving adoption,” PYUSD ecosystem head David Weber said, highlighting Stable’s focus on fast and seamless financial transactions.

The news came about two months after Stable emerged from stealth in late July, announcing a $28 million seed funding round co-led by Bitfinex and Hack VC.

Stable is “designed for USDT”

Stable is a layer-1 blockchain designed for seamless financial transactions, targeting peer-to-peer payments, remittances and cross-border transactions.

The project is closely connected to Tether USDt (USDT), the world’s largest stablecoin by market capitalization.

On its website, Stable describes its blockchain as being “designed for USDT,” delivering real-dollar settlement with “sub-second finality, gas-free peer transfers, and USDT as native gas.”

“Using USDT as the native gas token eliminates the complexity of managing volatile tokens just to move digital dollars,” Stable’s FAQ says.

In addition to USDT, Stable is also linked to USDT0 (USDT0), a cross-chain liquidity stablecoin introduced by Everdawn Labs, according to its X account bio and info on its website.

It’s unclear whether Stable uses USDT or USDT0 as the native gas token. Cointelegraph contacted Stable but did not receive a response by publication.

New commerce-related use cases for PYUSD

According to PayPal’s Weber, the partnership with Stable aims to unlock “new commerce-related use cases” for PYUSD.

Launched in collaboration with Paxos in August 2023, PYUSD has grown to become a notable player in the stablecoin stablecoin market, though it still trails far behind Tether’s USDT, with its $172 billion market cap. 

Related: Changpeng Zhao’s YZi Labs deepens stake in stablecoin issuer Ethena

At the time of writing, PYUSD ranked as the 11th largest stablecoin by market cap, valued at around $1.4 billion, according to data from CoinGecko.

“We’re excited to invest in Stable because they’re tackling the real frontier for stablecoins, the emerging markets where reliable, dollar-based payments can have the greatest impact,” PayPal Ventures partner Amman Bhasin said.

PayPal did not immediately respond to Cointelegraph’s press inquiry about its collaboration with Stable.

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