Overview
Stellar is a blockchain for payments and tokenized assets, founded in 2014 by Jed McCaleb (also a co-founder of Ripple) and Joyce Kim. It is supported by the non-profit Stellar Development Foundation (SDF).
Stellar’s focus has always been practical: moving money across borders cheaply and connecting to banks, payment companies and cash networks.
How it works
- Stellar uses the Stellar Consensus Protocol, where trusted validators agree on transactions in about 5 seconds.
- Fees are tiny, paid in XLM, and every account must hold a small XLM reserve.
- Anyone can issue tokens on Stellar, such as stablecoins or tokenized funds, and the network has a built-in exchange.
- Soroban, launched in 2024, added full smart contracts.
Real-world use
- MoneyGram uses Stellar for cash-in and cash-out of USDC in many countries.
- PayPal USD (PYUSD) and USDC are issued on Stellar.
- Franklin Templeton runs its tokenized money-market fund BENJI on Stellar.
- Tokenized real-world assets on Stellar grew from under $1 billion to nearly $4 billion in about eight months, by late September 2026.
- In 2026, DTCC, which settles most US securities trades, announced plans to enable tokenization of DTC-held assets on Stellar, targeted for the first half of 2027. XLM jumped over 50% on the news.
The XLM token
| XLM at a glance | |
|---|---|
| Total supply | 50 billion XLM (no new issuance since 2019) |
| In circulation (Oct 2026) | about 35 billion |
| Price (29 Oct 2026) | about $0.17 |
| All-time high | about $0.88 (January 2018) |
| Market cap | about $6.1 billion (#19) |
In 2019, the SDF burned 55 billion XLM (more than half the supply) and stopped all inflation. It still holds a large reserve, which it releases over time for ecosystem growth.
Risks
- Weak link to price. Payments and tokenized funds use Stellar but need only small amounts of XLM for fees and reserves.
- SDF holdings. The foundation’s large XLM holdings can weigh on the price.
- Small DeFi. DeFi on Stellar holds only about $230 million (DeFiLlama).
- Competition. XRP, Solana, Ethereum and others compete for payments and tokenization.
Stellar vs. the competition
| Stellar | XRP | Ethereum | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Focus | Payments, tokenized assets | Payments, bridge currency | Apps, DeFi, tokenization |
| Supporting organization | Non-profit SDF | Company (Ripple) | Ethereum Foundation |
| Tokenized funds | BENJI, others | Some | BUIDL, many others |
Our verdict
Stellar is one of the few blockchains doing exactly what it promised: cheap payments and real-world assets, with big-name partners and a major DTCC project coming.
But that success has a weak link to XLM’s price, and the token remains about 80% below its 2018 high. XLM is a high-risk bet on tokenization creating more demand for the network. Invest only what you can afford to lose.
This review is for information only and is not financial advice.