Bitfinex has invested in Plasma, a decentralized financial infrastructure platform that focuses on Bitcoin and facilitates payments using real-world assets.
On October 18, the Bitfinex team revealed via X that it had invested in Plasma to support the growth of Tether adoption on Bitcoin.
A blog post introducing Plasma claims the company is considering offering USDT users a zero-fee payment rail.
Through the usage of Bitcoin, users can send assets valued in US dollars to anyone on the globe without incurring any costs.
With its network acting as the execution layer, Plasma seeks to use the advantages of USDT and similar stablecoins rather than using Bitcoin as the native payment asset.
Because Plasma has native support for UTXO, paying for gas fees with Bitcoin is possible. Additionally, the account architecture creates a hybrid environment where users can access Bitcoin’s other perks, such as staking.
It also provides interoperability with Ethereum virtual machines. According to the blog post, Plasma hopes to encourage more RWAs and DeFi users to embrace the Bitcoin network and address issues with international payments.
Paolo Ardoino, the chief technology officer of Bitfinex and the CEO of Tether, commented on the investment:
Bitfinex is excited to support the growing Bitcoin ecosystem with our investment in Plasma. With the uncertainty that covenants will come to fruition, it’s very important to explore different avenues to build on top of the most secure, decentralized, and resilient money and speech network ever built by humanity: Bitcoin”
Christian Angermayer, the founder and investor of Apeiron Investment Group, has also provided financial support to Plasma. The platforms for venture funding are split funding, Manifold, and Anthos Capital, among others.
