Rumors Emerge: Plasma Team Allegedly Linked to Former Blast Developers Ahead of TGE

Plasma, a Bitcoin sidechain optimized for stablecoins such as USDT, is set to hold its TGE on September 25.

At this critical moment, a Chinese influencer @cryptobraveHQ, who has 205,000 followers, claimed that the Plasma Foundation is largely composed of former developers from the Layer-2 project Blast and that its ties to Tether are overstated. He noted that Tether co-founder Paolo Ardoino invested only $50,000 personally in a $24 million funding round.

The claims cast doubt on Plasma's touted connections to Tether and its stablecoin expertise, potentially impacting pre-market hype for its $XPL token.

Community Rumors and Team Background

The post, which has garnered over 75,000 views and sparked 51 replies, labels Plasma as a "rug chain" derivative of Blast.

It alleges that Plasma's core team splintered from Blast founder Tieshun "Pacman" Roquerre (known as "铁顺" in Chinese circles) following a bitter fallout.

"Pacman and the original team all fell out; the main members except Tieshun came out to do Plasma," the influencer wrote, noting that Blast's pseudonymous structure makes direct resume links difficult to verify.

The post summarizes the team's approach and operations as follows:

• Inheritance of Blast's model: "Hop on a hot track, attach to a prominent partner, attract deposits, then conclude with token issuance."

• Team experience: Lacks "any payment or stablecoin genes."

• Virtual card business: "No different from any U-card on the market, still at the mercy of upstream chokepoints."

Plasma, a Bitcoin sidechain optimized for stablecoins like USDT, has raised $27.5 million and boasts $2 billion in Day One DeFi liquidity from partners including Aave and Pendle.

While Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino and Peter Thiel's Founders Fund are associated with the project, Crypto Brave notes that Ardoino's personal investment was minimal relative to the total round. Instead, Framework Ventures is cited as the main operator, accused of exploiting information asymmetry to market Plasma as Tether-affiliated.

Off-record chats with Tether insiders in Korea reportedly confirmed: "Plasma has no direct relation to us or Stable, just watch and see."

Blast itself, which peaked at $2.3 billion TVL in 2024, faced pyramid scheme accusations and delayed withdrawals, eroding trust.

Its founder Pacman, once celebrated as an Ethereum innovator behind Blur and Blend, was reportedly shunned by the "Ethereum cabal" for prioritizing growth over decentralization, as noted by Blur co-founder Udi Wertheimer.

Community Reactions and Controversy over the Rumor

The authenticity of the community post is widely debated. While many are watching the discussion, some have raised doubts about the claims.

Skeptics such as @GXingPing question the evidence, asking, "Blast's team was anonymous except Pacman, how do you know Plasma is the rest?" Others, like @Mumu_yay, joke, "FUD me so I can enter."

At the same time, @LeotheHorseman criticizes the post itself. He noted:

• Anyone with some knowledge of DeFi and public chain ecosystems knows that the Blast team had gaming expertise, yet the post portrays it negatively;

• Plasma received investments from Paolo Ardoino and Bitfinex and integrated USDT on Day One, yet the post claims it has no relation to Tether;

• The Plasma team includes former FTX payments leads responsible for its neobank plans, but the post claims they lack payment expertise. He argues that if payment experience were strictly required, no payment projects should exist.

He further criticized the author for being excessively negative and cynical, pointing out that after taking promotion from @ChainOpera_AI, they returned to disparage Plasma’s fundamentals.

Plasma itself has not issued a public response and continues to focus on TGE preparations. With upcoming token unlocks for public investors, analysts caution that selling pressure may emerge amid the ongoing controversy.

One community reply summarized it, "Do not just chase trends. Real scenarios and transparent governance are $XPL's true advantage."

At present, these allegations contribute to market volatility for a project aiming to disrupt the $200 billion stablecoin sector. Whether the stakes involve trillions of dollars or merely echoes of past project failures, attention remains fixed on the upcoming launch.

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