Stable CEO Brian Mehler Exclusive Interview » From managing a $1 billion VC to building the Tether USDT dedicated chain

The biggest pain point in cryptocurrency since its inception has been “the need to use an additional blockchain token as a transaction fee, also known as Gas Fee.” To thoroughly solve this problem, Brian founded Stable, a dedicated L1 blockchain where USDT serves as the native gas token. Users only need to hold a single asset, USDT, to complete transfers, pay fees, and receive payments, completely eliminating the hassle of “two-token transactions,” and achieving a synchronized upgrade in user and developer experience. Stable also supports multiple stablecoins such as PYUSD and has in-depth collaboration with Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino.

Table of Contents

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• Why a dedicated L1 instead of optimizing existing chains?
• What if Circle also wants to build its own stablecoin-specific chain?
• What is the relationship between Stable and Tether?
• What has Brian seen in Asia? He sees more than just the market—it’s infrastructure.

Brian believes that stablecoins should not just be speculative assets but should become truly circulating currencies. This also reflects a key transformation in the crypto industry from asset trading to practical payments. He is especially optimistic about Hong Kong’s leading position in stablecoin regulation, viewing it as an important benchmark for infrastructure development in Asia. This article features an exclusive interview with Brian Mehler.

Special thanks to HSC Asset Management for assisting with the invitation and venue preparation.

(Background: Dual-strategy approach: The true intention behind Tether, the stablecoin giant, promoting Plasma+Stable)
(Additional background: An in-depth analysis of the five major stablecoin chains: development strategies, communities, development progress, and key data (Plasma, Stable, Codex, Noble, and 1Money))

In 2018, Brian Mehler became the first member of Block.one’s venture capital team. At that time, no one in the market had ever established a dedicated VC fund for cryptocurrencies. Block.one invested 1 billion USD into this nascent field, supporting strategic investments like Galaxy Digital and backing a number of game companies that later became industry pillars.

A few years later, he left Block.one to manage private capital and experienced a period of “viewing from outside” as an investor. He didn’t completely leave crypto but shifted roles—from an internal driver to an external observer.

After experiencing the industry from outside the crypto circle, Brian believes that “being able to see further than the immediate, understanding where problems might arise, and avoiding them before they happen.”

Therefore, Brian wants to solve a problem that has existed since the birth of cryptocurrencies: “Volatile gas tokens.”

Why a dedicated L1 instead of optimizing existing chains?

Currently, every L1 claims to solve market problems, but why does USDT need a dedicated chain instead of just optimizing on TRON or another L2?

Brian thinks that since the birth of cryptocurrencies, this issue has persisted: you want to transfer $100 using USDT, but you still need to hold ETH or TRX to pay for gas. This is not a big deal for meme coins or simple transactions; but when what you want to do is “transfer money,” why should you need two different currencies?

“When you want to send $100 USDT, you need to hold two tokens to complete the transaction, which is unnecessary. So, at the core layer of the chain, we remove that,” Brian explains.

Stable’s straightforward solution: make USDT the native gas token directly. As long as you hold USDT, you can send, pay fees, and receive payments—all with the same asset. This simplifies user and developer experience: faster transactions, no need for exchange rate calculations, no swapping in and out of tokens. It claims to reach thousands of transactions per second.

What if Circle also wants to build its own stablecoin-specific chain?

Brian responds: When designing Stable, compliance was the first consideration. Multiple stablecoins are already running on the chain, not just USDT. We also support PYUSD and other OFT tokens transferred via LayerZero. But choosing USDT as the gas token is because it accounts for 65%, is easily accessible, and is the leader in on-chain capital flow.

Issuers of stablecoins creating their own chains face structural issues.

“Banks don’t print a set of currencies that only circulate within their own system.”

Because what the market needs is a widely accepted, unified currency system, not a fragmented closed network. Once entering a permissioned system, it would weaken the security and neutrality of public chains.

In other words, Stable does not intend to become “Tether’s dedicated chain,” even though it is highly integrated with the Tether ecosystem. But it’s impossible to ignore that USDT currently accounts for 65% of the global stablecoin liquidity.

What is the relationship between Stable and Tether?

Tether CEO Paolo Ardoino has been involved as an advisor from early on, providing feedback on protocol design and helping Stable align with a broader narrative—making money more accessible, usable, and circulating.

On the product side, Stable has launched StablePay, which enables on-chain peer-to-peer “zero-fee” transfers, further lowering the barrier to use.

Regarding whether Tether would like Stable to go deeper into their ecosystem, Brian says they are taking a broad approach. PayPal Ventures is also an investor in Stable, and PYUSD can be used on the Stable chain. He believes the stablecoin ecosystem is rising tide lifts all boats—as the overall stablecoin ecosystem grows, all players benefit. So they are pushing forward in this direction.

What has Brian seen in Asia? He sees more than just the market—it’s infrastructure.

When asked about Brian’s views on the development of RWA and stablecoins in Asia, he is very optimistic about Hong Kong’s regulatory framework:

“They’ve established a standard framework for stablecoins, which puts Hong Kong not just in a position to participate but as a regulatory leader. The Hong Kong dollar is the eighth most traded and used currency globally. They chose HSBC and Standard Chartered as joint partners—this allows them to integrate stablecoins at a core level. The issuers of the Hong Kong dollar are them; they are the note issuers. If they develop these products, it’s not just a sandbox—these are real products that will be integrated into the stablecoin and RWA fields.”

Brian also notes that in Asia—whether Singapore or Japan—regulatory guidelines have already been introduced, which builds confidence.

Regarding stablecoin and RWA development in Taiwan, Brian believes Hong Kong is a mature economy. They are cautious in choosing technology and protocols to deploy, ensuring compliance with current regulations and future-friendly frameworks. These are lessons Taiwan can learn from.

From VC investors to infrastructure builders, Brian Mehler’s transformation also reflects the evolution of the entire crypto industry.

The market is shifting from “asset trading” to “real payments.”

And what Stable aims to do is turn stablecoins from a mere asset into truly usable currency.