Stellar Surges 0.645% Amid Protocol 23 Upgrade, PayPal Integration

Stellar's latest price was $0.4620, up 0.645% in the last 24 hours. Stellar has been gaining significant attention in the cryptocurrency community due to several key developments. Veteran trader Peter Brandt highlighted Stellar Lumen (XLM) as one of the most promising cryptocurrencies, citing its bullish chart patterns. Brandt noted that XLM must remain above its April low and decisively close above a certain level to validate a long-term bullish breakout. This analysis is supported by historical price struggles, where XLM has been stuck in a symmetrical triangle formation since its all-time high in early 2018. Despite attempts to break out, the price has repeatedly retreated, indicating a need for a structural break above the $1 level to trigger further gains.

July has been a pivotal month for Stellar, marked by three major developments. The first is the upcoming Protocol 23 upgrade, which aims to improve smart contract performance and lower costs across the network. The second development is the integration of PayPal’s USD-backed stablecoin, PYUSD, with Stellar. This move could significantly expand XLM’s utility by enabling near-instant, low-cost cross-border transfers globally. The third development is the tokenization of over $445 million in real-world assets (RWAs) on Stellar, led by large asset managers like Franklin Templeton and Circle. This trend underscores Stellar’s strong fundamentals and its potential for institutional adoption.

A tweet from crypto enthusiast Stellar Expert has also drawn attention, projecting that XLM will skyrocket to $1,000 faster than anticipated. This projection reflects growing sentiment among market watchers who believe that utility-based cryptocurrencies could see rapid appreciation as institutional involvement in blockchain infrastructure increases. However, the claim met with some skepticism, with one user noting the absence of traditional financial vehicles like exchange-traded funds (ETFs) that could boost market accessibility and liquidity.

Supporting the bullish stance on Stellar is a recent article summarizing comments made by Austin Hilton, a crypto influencer and market analyst. Hilton emphasized XLM’s status as an ISO 20022-compliant digital asset, a key feature that could lead to significant institutional adoption. He described XLM as a structural component of the evolving financial system, suggesting that early holders of such assets may benefit as institutional players enter the space more decisively. Hilton also pointed to other ISO-compliant cryptocurrencies and the emergence of tokenized real-world assets, highlighting the importance of compliance, transparency, and operational interoperability in this growing area of blockchain development.

Many altcoins are expected to rise significantly in this cycle, but Stellar (XLM) might be distinct and even an outperformer. Analyst Cody from the Altcoin Buzz YouTube channel shared his thoughts on why Stellar might finally be getting its breakout moment. Despite not being a top 15 coin by market cap, there is growing interest in what is happening behind the scenes. Cody highlighted three major reasons for the potential rise in XLM’s price: upgrades to the tech stack, new waves of institutional adoption, and a real push to expand Stellar’s utility around the world.

One of the most important upgrades Cody mentioned is Soroban, Stellar’s smart contract platform launched in 2024. This upgrade allows Stellar to support decentralized apps and DeFi tools, something it lacked before. The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) backed this shift with a $100 million adoption fund to attract developers. With Soroban, the Stellar network can now support tokenized assets, wallets, bridges, and oracles, opening the door to real-world asset tokenization on the Stellar chain. Cody believes that if Soroban continues to improve, it could help the XLM price rise by unlocking a much larger ecosystem.

Another major factor is the rise in institutional trust. Cody pointed to Franklin Templeton, a major investment firm, which has launched a tokenized money market fund called Benji on the Stellar network. As of now, Benji manages over $810 million in real-world asset investments, with more than half of that sitting on Stellar. Other players like IBM, Mastercard, Visa, Deloitte, and Paxos are also involved with Stellar in some way. These partnerships could make the Stellar price far more resilient and valuable in the long term, as these companies trust Stellar’s low fees, fast settlement, and regulatory-friendly approach.

Stellar’s ecosystem is also expanding beyond its original remittance use case. The network is now integrated with MoneyGram for global payments and has partnered with Circle to support USDC. With the GENIUS Act giving more clarity to U.S. stablecoins, Stellar’s alignment with Circle could prove to be a smart move. More recently, PayPal joined the ecosystem by bringing its PYUSD stablecoin to Stellar, instantly expanding the network’s reach to 180 countries. On-chain activity is also rising, with active addresses growing from 65,000 to 80,000 in just one week. Stellar has set clear targets, including breaking into the top 10 blockchains by total value locked (TVL) in DeFi. With Soroban now live, Cody believes the Stellar price could get a serious lift if that TVL figure climbs sharply.

The Stellar network is advancing its technological infrastructure with the upcoming Protocol 23 upgrade. This significant enhancement aims to optimize the network's performance for smart contracts, specifically focusing on improving speed and reducing operational costs. These improvements are anticipated to enhance the developer experience and attract a broader range of projects looking to leverage Stellar's capabilities for building scalable applications.

Stellar has secured a major strategic partnership through PayPal's decision to launch its PayPal USD (PYUSD) stablecoin on the network. This integration represents substantial validation of Stellar's underlying technology and infrastructure, particularly for enterprise-grade financial solutions. Leveraging PayPal's extensive user base, which surpasses 400 million active accounts globally, the collaboration holds significant potential to drive increased transaction volume and utility across the Stellar ecosystem. The deployment of PYUSD leverages Stellar's efficiency in handling digital assets and cross-border transactions.

The network's appeal to institutional participants is reinforced by ongoing growth in tokenized assets. Institutional tokenization activity on the Stellar blockchain has seen substantial development, with the total value of tokenized assets now exceeding $445 million. This trend signifies increasing institutional trust and adoption of the Stellar platform for representing real-world assets in digital form. The recent technical upgrade and significant partnership announcements are viewed by analysts as fundamental factors likely to support the continued evolution and utilization of the Stellar network.