Dialogue with Stable CEO: Mainnet planned to launch in Q4, committed to building a reliable "highway" for USDT

Guest: Brian Mehler, Stable CEO
Interview: momo, ChainCatcher

With the passage of the stablecoin bill, stablecoins are moving from crypto assets to the mainstream stage of global payments, and "stablecoin public chains" have become the new focus of competition in the industry. From Stable, incubated by Tether and Bitfinex, to Arc launched by Circle, and Tempo supported by Stripe, important participants are actively laying out underlying infrastructure, attempting to redefine the efficiency and boundaries of stablecoins.

Why must stablecoins build their own "official chains"? As the exclusive underlying infrastructure for USDT, how will Stable deeply collaborate with Tether to build an advantage in this competition that defines the future payment landscape? ChainCatcher recently engaged in a dialogue with Stable CEO Brian Mehler, and here is the organized transcript of the interview.

1. ChainCatcher: You recently joined Stable as CEO. Can you share what prompted you to join Stable? What important work experiences did you have before this?

Brian Mehler: I am excited to lead Stable at this critical time. What attracted me to join was the company's vision of creating borderless, frictionless digital finance, specifically building a stablecoin payment network that connects emerging markets with institutional-grade infrastructure, which I find very inspiring.

Before joining Stable, I served as CFO and Managing Director at Gateway Capital and led the venture capital business at Block.one. This experience, spanning both traditional finance and crypto-native fields, has given me a clear idea of how to drive Stable into its next growth phase.

2. ChainCatcher: Bitfinex previously invested in another stablecoin-specific chain, Plasma. Why does Tether want to personally create a Layer 1 blockchain specifically designed for USDT? Can you share the intentions and significance of the USDT public chain strategy?

Brian Mehler: USDT has a monthly on-chain transaction volume exceeding $1 trillion, making it the most widely used digital dollar globally, but it still relies on a general-purpose blockchain not designed for payments. We recognize that the market increasingly needs a Layer 1 blockchain specifically built for USDT to address the specific challenges of institutional settlement and B2B cross-border payments.

Stable's goal is to make USDT a key player in global payments. By building this platform, we aim to enhance the usability of stablecoins and support financial operations in emerging markets.

Ultimately, we hope to drive meaningful adoption and change the way global business funds flow. While Plasma is a valuable project, our focus is on creating infrastructure that prioritizes speed, predictable costs, and security for global digital payments.

3. ChainCatcher: Circle launched Arc, and stablecoin issuers are developing dedicated public chains. How do you view this trend? What impact does having a dedicated public chain have on the market competitiveness of stablecoin issuers?

Brian Mehler: The transaction volume of stablecoins has surpassed that of Visa and Mastercard, marking a significant milestone. However, this also exposes a core issue: the underlying infrastructure is decentralized and not specialized. We respect and are pleased to see more stablecoin public chains emerging, serving different use cases and having their unique advantages.

With the dedicated stablecoin public chain Stable, USDT eliminates friction between issuance and settlement, achieving instant, cost-predictable transfers. This is a powerful differentiating advantage that provides real value to users.

4. ChainCatcher: What role have core team members from Tether and Bitfinex played in the creation and development of Stable? How do they influence the project's direction?

Brian Mehler: Tether and Bitfinex provide deep strategic support and institutional resource connections for Stable, especially in compliance architecture and system reliability, offering critical guidance to ensure that Stable has enterprise-level strength at the architectural level and is highly aligned with the development direction of the entire USDT ecosystem. Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino serves as a project advisor, providing key guidance in establishing our compliance architecture.

Our mission is to build a seamless stablecoin payment infrastructure that integrates into everyday financial scenarios, eliminating efficiency bottlenecks in traditional finance while providing efficient settlement tools for institutions. We believe Tether will continue to support innovative projects like Stable that align closely with its ecological vision and can jointly promote industry progress.

5. ChainCatcher: USDT is currently mainly issued and circulated on general-purpose public chains like Tron and Ethereum. What are the core issues with these public chain facilities in stablecoin payment scenarios? What improvements will Stable make in terms of technology and product experience compared to general-purpose public chains?

Brian Mehler: The most critical challenges currently are high and unstable fees, as well as a complex user experience. These issues can indeed hinder adoption, especially for businesses that require reliability and predictability in payment processes.

At Stable, we are committed to addressing these challenges head-on. Unlike general public chains, our dedicated infrastructure eliminates unpredictable fees and ensures fast, reliable transactions. We strive to simplify the user experience, enabling businesses to easily adopt and integrate stablecoins.

We have made significant progress in infrastructure development and are working on enhancing usability and compliance features.

6. ChainCatcher: What recent developments should we pay attention to at Stable? Has the timeline for the testnet and mainnet launch been adjusted?

Brian Mehler: Recently, Stable has made progress in several key areas.

First, our core executive team has been formed, and we have confirmed partnerships with several custodians and payment partners. Notably, we have a new collaboration with PayPal—PayPal Ventures has made a strategic investment in Stable. Together, we will promote the integration of PYUSD into Stablechain, enhancing its distribution capabilities, use cases, and liquidity.

In the coming weeks, we will announce more ecosystem partners to prepare for the network launch. On the product side, our non-custodial wallet, Stable Pay, opened early registration to users two weeks ago.

The testnet is currently running smoothly according to the established roadmap, and the mainnet is scheduled to launch in phases in the fourth quarter of this year. While pursuing progress, we have always prioritized the security and stability of the network to ensure a flawless mainnet release.

7. ChainCatcher: How will you attract developers and the dApp ecosystem to build on Stable? What opportunities do ordinary users have to participate in the Stable ecosystem? Are there any incentive programs?

Brian Mehler: We provide comprehensive tool support for developers: the platform is fully EVM-compatible, allowing existing applications to migrate easily; the mainnet documentation will be launched soon, along with user-friendly APIs and powerful SDKs, greatly simplifying the development process.

For ordinary users, Stable removes the main barriers to using stablecoins, such as fluctuating gas fees. Through our non-custodial wallet, Stable Pay, users can seamlessly manage, send, and spend USDT, enjoying instant settlement and gas-free transfers, truly achieving "seamless entry."

8. ChainCatcher: From a practical application perspective, which applications do you think will land on Stable first? How do you envision the future application landscape based on Stable?

Brian Mehler: Stable Pay is our first application on the chain. In the future, we expect to see a diverse application ecosystem grow around stablecoin settlement, including DeFi protocols, payment tools, and e-commerce solutions. These applications will leverage Stable's efficient infrastructure to jointly promote innovation and adoption of stablecoins across various fields.

9. ChainCatcher: Regulation is an important variable in the development of stablecoins and public chains. How does Stable respond to global regulatory challenges?

Brian Mehler: Stable places a high priority on compliance, and we actively communicate with global regulatory agencies and industry experts to dynamically adapt to policy requirements.

Currently, from the GENIUS Act in the U.S. to the regulatory framework for payment tokens in the UAE, we have seen the global regulatory path gradually becoming clearer. Our goal is to build a secure ecosystem that fully complies with regulatory requirements while earning long-term trust from users, making us the most reliable choice in the market.

10. ChainCatcher: How do you think about the current development of the stablecoin public chain sector? Currently, in addition to stablecoin issuers creating dedicated public chains for their stablecoins, there are also startups developing public chains for the entire stablecoin market. What roles will different players play? How will competition and cooperation unfold?

Brian Mehler: The stablecoin public chain sector is currently entering a period of rapid development. We believe the future of payments should not be a "walled garden" where each operates independently, but rather achieve free flow of value and seamless interoperability.

In this ecosystem, different types of participants will find their respective positions: issuer-led public chains will focus more on deep integration of financial infrastructure, while third-party public chains may emphasize generality and cross-chain services.

Competition will drive technological iteration, but cooperation is key to expanding the industry, especially in areas like protocol standards and cross-chain interoperability, where co-construction can lead to better user experiences.

11. ChainCatcher: Does the rise of stablecoin public chains pose a threat to general-purpose public chains? How will the two coexist in the future?

Brian Mehler: We do not believe that stablecoin public chains will replace general public chains; rather, they will coexist and focus on different areas. General chains are suitable for high-complexity, highly customizable application scenarios, while stablecoin chains like Stable focus on optimizing payments and financial services, achieving faster speeds, lower costs, and more stable experiences.

This can be likened to traditional finance, where the Visa network does not replace SWIFT; they jointly support the flow of global funds at different levels and scenarios. Stablecoin chains and general chains will form a similar complementary structure.

12. ChainCatcher: From a long-term perspective, what are the trends in the stablecoin public chain market over the next 3-5 years? How will Stable maintain its competitive advantage?

Brian Mehler: In the next 3-5 years, we believe the stablecoin public chain market will exhibit two clear trends:

Regulatory normalization: The global regulatory framework will gradually become clearer, driving large-scale adoption of institutional applications;

Scenario normalization: Stablecoins will penetrate into real economic scenarios such as payroll, retail, and trade, becoming true payment tools.

To maintain our lead, Stable will focus on three areas:

First, continuously solidifying our compliance foundation to become the most regulatory-recognized infrastructure;

Second, deepening cooperation with strategic partners to expand real use cases for stablecoins;

Third, continuously optimizing the end-user experience to make stablecoin payments simpler and more reliable. ```