Stellar (XLM) Rises into Top 25 After Strong Weekly Gains

·

Stellar (XLM) has emerged as one of the standout performers in the cryptocurrency market this week, climbing into the top 25 by market capitalization following a significant price surge. While major players like Bitcoin and Ethereum showed signs of consolidation, XLM bucked the trend with robust momentum driven by network expansion and growing institutional interest.

Market Overview: Consolidation Amid Mixed Signals

The broader crypto market entered a brief consolidation phase this week, with Bitcoin trading just above the $30,000 mark despite minor pullbacks. **Ethereum** dipped slightly to around $1,860. Over the past 24 hours, red dominated the charts — most top 100 cryptocurrencies recorded losses.

Notable decliners include Optimism (OP), down 7.8%, followed by Synthetix (-7%), Frax Share (-6.7%), Algorand (-6.5%), and Near Protocol (-6.2%). Other significant drops came from Mina, Lido DAO, The Graph, and Aave, all shedding over 5% in value.

According to CoinGecko, these losses contributed to a slight 0.11% dip in total crypto market capitalization, now sitting at $1.214 trillion, with trading volume just under $40 billion.

👉 Discover how emerging blockchain trends are shaping the future of finance.

However, amid the downturn, XLM surged 7.1% against the U.S. dollar and an impressive 24% against Bitcoin in just six hours. This momentum helped lift its price to $0.100754, supported by a massive 313.2% increase in trading volume — reaching $191.3 million — signaling renewed investor interest.

XLM Price Performance: From Recovery to Momentum

XLM’s rally began two weeks ago when it was trading at $0.0755. By Wednesday, it peaked at $0.1055 — a nearly 40% gain. Although it has since pulled back slightly toward the $0.10 level, the overall trajectory remains bullish.

Currently ranked 26th by market cap, XLM is on the verge of re-entering the top 25. Over the past week alone, it gained 23.7%, with a 30% rise over 15 days. Year-to-date in 2023, XLM is up 41.4%, though it remains down 12.8% over the past year.

Its all-time high of $0.875 was reached during the 2017 bull run, meaning current prices reflect an **88% decline** from ATH. The token hit a low of $0.03 during the subsequent bear market and briefly touched $0.000476 in January 2015 — its lowest recorded price.

During the 2021 bull cycle, while Bitcoin soared to new highs, XLM didn’t reach a new ATH but did climb to $0.73 in May of that year — demonstrating resilience and latent demand.

What Is Stellar (XLM)? A Blockchain for Global Payments

Stellar (XLM) powers a decentralized, open-source payment network designed to enable fast, low-cost cross-border transactions — offering a viable alternative to traditional financial giants like Western Union and MoneyGram, which often charge high fees and require days for settlement.

Founded in 2013 by Jed McCaleb — former CTO of Ripple — Stellar was created after McCaleb diverged from Ripple’s vision and launched a new blockchain forked from Ripple’s original codebase.

In 2014, he co-founded the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) with Patrick Collison, CEO of Stripe, which invested $3 million in the project at launch. SDF now oversees XLM’s token supply and ecosystem development.

Initially, 100 billion XLM were created with a planned 1% annual inflation rate — later abolished due to community feedback. In 2019, more than half of the total supply was burned or removed from circulation. Today, approximately 2.7 billion XLM tokens are in circulation.

How Stellar Works: Anchors and Decentralized Exchange

Stellar allows users to issue and trade digital representations of any asset — including fiat currencies, stocks, or cryptocurrencies — through trusted intermediaries called anchors.

Anchors are verified financial institutions that hold real-world assets in reserve and issue equivalent tokens on the Stellar blockchain. Users can deposit funds with an anchor and receive tradable tokens; they can later redeem those tokens for the underlying asset.

These tokens can be traded instantly across Stellar’s built-in decentralized exchange (DEX), enabling seamless cross-asset swaps without centralized intermediaries.

Consensus Mechanism: The Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP)

Unlike energy-intensive proof-of-work blockchains, Stellar uses the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP) — a unique federated Byzantine agreement system that relies on a network of trusted nodes to validate transactions.

Nodes vote on which other nodes they trust, forming quorum slices that collectively confirm transactions. This model eliminates mining, reduces energy consumption, and enables faster settlement times (under 5 seconds) with minimal fees.

Because SCP doesn’t require expensive hardware or massive power consumption, Stellar is considered one of the more eco-friendly blockchain platforms, aligning with growing environmental concerns in the crypto space.

Network Growth Fuels XLM’s Rally

The recent surge in XLM’s price coincides with a series of strategic integrations and upgrades that have expanded Stellar’s utility and real-world adoption.

Coinbase Adds USDC Support on Stellar

A key catalyst was Coinbase’s announcement of support for USD Coin (USDC) on the Stellar network. This integration enables near-instant, low-cost global transactions using one of the most widely adopted stablecoins.

With a market cap of nearly $26 billion, USDC ranks second only to Tether (USDT) but is often preferred on centralized exchanges due to its transparency and liquidity.

Coinbase stated:

“From remittances and real-time payments to global fiat-to-crypto on/off ramps, USDC on Stellar delivers real-world utility for businesses and individuals.”

👉 See how blockchain networks are integrating stablecoins for global use cases.

MoneyGram Integration Revives Partnership

Stellar also reignited its relationship with MoneyGram, announcing support for cash deposits and withdrawals via USDC on Stellar directly from crypto wallets.

This marks a continuation of earlier efforts — in 2021, Stellar expressed interest in acquiring MoneyGram — highlighting its long-term vision of bridging traditional finance with decentralized systems.

MoonPay Integration Expands Access

Another major development is the integration with MoonPay, a leading crypto payment infrastructure provider. This partnership allows users worldwide to easily buy and sell cryptocurrencies — including XLM — using local payment methods, improving accessibility and onboarding.

ISO 20022 Adoption: A Game-Changer for Institutional Use

One of Stellar’s most significant technical milestones came in 2023 with its adoption of ISO 20022, a global financial messaging standard used by SWIFT, SEPA, and Faster Payments across more than 70 countries.

ISO 20022 enables richer data transmission in financial messages — crucial for compliance, fraud detection, and interoperability between banks and payment systems.

By supporting ISO 20022 natively, Stellar offers:

This positions Stellar as a strong contender for institutional adoption — especially as global payment systems transition toward this standard by 2025.

Ripple is also ISO 20022-compliant, but Stellar differentiates itself through open access, lower barriers to entry, and community-driven governance via SDF.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Q: What is XLM used for?
A: XLM serves as the native utility token of the Stellar network. It facilitates low-cost transactions, prevents spam attacks via minimal transaction fees (burned after use), and enables asset exchanges through the built-in DEX.

Q: Why did XLM price go up recently?
A: The price surge was driven by increased trading volume and positive developments including Coinbase’s USDC integration, renewed MoneyGram collaboration, MoonPay support, and ISO 20022 compliance — all boosting real-world utility.

Q: Is Stellar better than Ripple?
A: While both focus on cross-border payments, Stellar is more open-source and community-oriented, whereas Ripple targets enterprise clients. Stellar is non-profit-driven; Ripple is a for-profit company pursuing regulatory clarity in the U.S.

Q: Can XLM reach new all-time highs?
A: While past performance doesn’t guarantee future results, growing adoption through stablecoin integrations and ISO 20022 support could drive demand if macroeconomic conditions improve and institutional interest increases.

Q: Where can I buy XLM securely?
A: XLM is listed on major exchanges such as Coinbase, Binance, Kraken, and OKX. Always use reputable platforms with strong security measures.

Q: How many XLM tokens are in circulation?
A: Approximately 2.7 billion XLM are currently in circulation out of an original 100 billion — over half were removed in 2019 to improve scarcity and economic sustainability.

Broader Market Trends Influencing XLM

XLM’s rise occurs against a backdrop of increasing institutional interest in digital assets — particularly around spot Bitcoin ETFs. BlackRock reignited momentum with multiple filings, followed by reports that Fidelity is preparing its own application.

While institutions enter quietly through large-scale purchases that minimize price impact, experts like Fireblocks CEO Michael Shaulov believe retail participation ultimately drives major price rallies.

He noted that institutional adoption lowers barriers for traditional investors but emphasized that retail traders create volatility and upward momentum due to simpler entry methods and emotional trading behaviors.

Meanwhile, risk capital continues shifting toward AI startups — raising $89 billion in Q1 2023 compared to just $2.4 billion for crypto projects — indicating a temporary cooling in venture funding for blockchain ventures.

However, legacy financial firms like Citadel and Charles Schwab are deepening their crypto involvement, suggesting long-term structural shifts rather than fleeting trends.

👉 Explore how institutional adoption is reshaping cryptocurrency markets today.

Core Keywords