Stellar Price Surges 200% on Protocol 23 Upgrade and DeFi Growth

The Stellar (XLM) price is experiencing a surge in bullish momentum, driven by recent network-level enhancements and rising ecosystem activity. The upcoming Protocol 23 upgrade is set to introduce several technical improvements, including enhanced smart contract performance and data handling. These upgrades are expected to support more complex decentralized applications, positioning Stellar as a strong platform for DeFi, asset tokenization, and enterprise-level blockchain solutions.

One of the key features of Protocol 23 is the parallel execution of Soboran smart contracts, which boosts transaction throughput and efficiency. Additionally, the upgrade implements CAP-67, introducing Unified Assets Events that simplify asset tracking and improve dApp transparency. The use of Merkle data structures is also enhanced, enabling more efficient data validation. These improvements collectively lay the foundation for more complex and high-performance decentralized applications.

Stellar's DeFi ecosystem is also expanding rapidly. As of July, the Total Value Locked (TVL) on the Stellar Network has surpassed $100 million, indicating growing confidence and capital deployment. This growth is largely driven by the smart contract capabilities enabled by Soroban, Stellar’s custom-built smart contract platform that integrates seamlessly with the core network. The TVL growth has been fueled by tokenized treasuries, stablecoins, and asset-backed tokens launched by institutional partners.

Institutional adoption is playing a significant role in driving liquidity on the Stellar network. Franklin Templeton has tokenized part of its U.S. Government Money Fund on Stellar, allowing investors to interact with traditional financial products via blockchain rails. Circle’s USDC has also expanded significantly on Stellar, becoming a key medium of exchange for on-chain transactions and remittances. Other players in the ecosystem include StellarX, Lobstr, and Ultra Stellar, offering decentralized trading, lending, and pooling options.

Stellar’s focus on interoperability is also benefiting its DeFi ecosystem, enabling seamless asset bridging across different chains and real-world applications. The network’s anchor model allows regulated financial institutions to tokenize fiat currencies, creating a bridge between traditional finance and DeFi. This has enabled a steady rise in on-chain activity in regions where Stellar powers real-time payments and lending applications.

The Stellar price has been on the rise, breaking the bearish pattern and fulfilling a bullish breakout. This price action is expected to attract more than 200% gains in the coming days. If this trend continues, the XLM price may eventually form new highs, breaking the current all-time high at $0.9381. Technical indicators such as the Relative Strength Index (RSI) and the Moving Average Convergence Divergence (MACD) are displaying bullish signals, suggesting a potential surge past $1, forming a new all-time high around $1.54.