Stable, the Layer 1 blockchain designed for stablecoin transactions with USDT as gas, raised $28 million in a seed round led by Bitfinex and Hack VC in July 2025, per The Block. The second round’s $500 million allocation sold out in under 30 minutes despite a $100,000 wallet cap, but data reveals 73% of the first round’s $825 million was deposited by insiders before the public announcement, per DropsTab Institutions like Greenoaks Capital, Thrive Capital, Sequoia Capital, and Ribbit Capital dominated, leaving retail investors with scraps, per Crypto Fundraising Info . This “front-running” erodes trust, as early backers negotiate favorable terms while public rounds serve as optics.
Stable’s USDT-as-gas innovation aims to eliminate volatile fee payments, enabling seamless, fee-free stablecoin transfers on its L1, per PRNewswire. However, the whitepaper lacks detailed tokenomics, vesting schedules, or airdrop commitments, making blind investment risky. Participants risk long lockups without clear liquidity paths, especially with no innovation guarantees amid regulatory scrutiny like the GENIUS Act, per The Block. X discussions highlight similar issues in BlockDAG and WLFI fundraises, where insider dominance stifled retail participation, per Odaily
In a market flooded with L1 launches like Arc from Circle (stablecoin-focused infrastructure) and Google’s GCUL (Python-based finance chain), per CoinDesk, chasing Stable ignores broader plays,pWLFI’s USD1 grew to $2.91B supply in months but faced transparency backlash, per Odaily. Innovation thrives in transparent ecosystems like Sui (65.8M daily transactions) or Kava (USDX stablecoin lending), per KuCoin Learn. Skipping FOMO preserves capital for vetted opportunities, as Stable’s testnet launch in November 2025 offers future entry points without lockup fears, per DropsTab
Crypto fundraises have evolved from retail frenzy to institutional gatekeeping, with accelerators like Outlier Ventures and a16z Crypto Startup School prioritizing VC access over public rounds, per Papermark. Stable’s hype, fueled by PayPal Ventures integration for PYUSD, per DropsTab, exemplifies this shift, but 73% insider grabs underscore inequality. Historical parallels in BlockDAG (36x ROI projection) warn against hype-driven bets, per Bitget News . Discipline—researching tokenomics, vesting, and reserves—outweighs FOMO, positioning savvy investors for 2025’s bull run amid GENIUS Act clarity, per.
