Major financial institutions are using Stellar’s network to move billions of dollars, tokenize real assets, and provide financial services to people who’ve been left out of the traditional banking system. Let’s talk about what’s actually happening with XLM and why institutions are choosing Stellar and XLM for enterprise use cases.
What Makes Stellar Different From Other Blockchain Networks
Stellar processes transactions in about 5 to 10 seconds. The cost? About $0.00001 XLM per transaction, which translates to roughly a hundredth of a penny. Compare that to traditional wire transfers that take days and cost anywhere from $15 to $50, and you start to see why banks are paying attention.
The network can handle around 1,000 transactions per second right now, with Protocol 23 upgrades pushing that toward 5,000 TPS. Bitcoin manages about 7 transactions per second. Ethereum does around 15. When you’re a company like MoneyGram processing millions of remittances, those numbers matter.
Stellar was built specifically for moving money across borders and tokenizing assets. It wasn’t adapted or retrofitted for these purposes. From day one in 2014, when Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim founded the network, the focus was on creating financial infrastructure that could connect banks, payment providers, and regular people without the ridiculous fees and delays that plague the current system.
Real Institutions Using Stellar Right Now
Here’s where things get interesting. PayPal launched its stablecoin PYUSD on Stellar in June 2025. They chose Stellar’s network specifically because it could handle the scale and speed they needed for their “PayFi” ecosystem. When a company like PayPal, which already has massive payment infrastructure, decides to build on your network, that tells you something.
Franklin Templeton tokenized over $270 million of its OnChain U.S. Government Money Fund on Stellar. This isn’t some experimental side project. They’re using blockchain technology for actual recordkeeping of actual assets that actual investors are buying. The transparency and reduced costs made Stellar the obvious choice.
Societe Generale-FORGE integrated its EUR-backed stablecoin EURCV onto Stellar to align with EU’s Markets in Crypto-Assets regulations. One of France’s largest banks looked at the regulatory landscape, looked at available blockchain networks, and picked Stellar.
MoneyGram integrated Stellar’s rails to provide cash-to-crypto and crypto-to-cash services at over 30,000 retail locations globally. For people in emerging markets who don’t have bank accounts, this is game-changing. You can walk into a MoneyGram location with cash, convert it to USDC on Stellar, and send it across the world in seconds for almost no fee.
IBM’s World Wire processes cross-border settlements in more than 50 countries using Stellar’s infrastructure. Mastercard partnered with Stellar for its Crypto Credential solution. These aren’t small players testing the waters. These are massive financial institutions building critical infrastructure on Stellar’s network.
The Tokenization Wave
By Q2 2025, Stellar had tokenized over $400 billion in real-world assets. The network processed $4 billion in RWA payments just in that quarter alone. This growth isn’t hype – it’s actual financial instruments being represented as digital tokens on Stellar’s blockchain.
Archax, a UK-regulated digital asset exchange, integrated Stellar into its tokenization platform and launched the Aberdeen tokenized money market fund. The Stellar Development Foundation even invested in Archax as part of a broader partnership to accelerate RWA tokenization.
Mercado Bitcoin, Latin America’s largest digital asset platform, announced plans to issue $200 million in tokenized fixed income and equity instruments on Stellar. When regional powerhouses make moves like this, they’re betting on long-term utility.
The tokenized RWA market doubled over the past year to $26 billion and projections suggest it could hit $1 trillion by 2030. Stellar is positioning itself as the backbone for this growth. The network’s ISO 20022 compliance makes it attractive to legacy financial institutions that need to meet international standards.
Smart Contracts and Programmable Finance
Stellar’s Soroban smart contract platform went live on mainnet in February 2024. Built on Rust and WebAssembly, it allows developers to create programmable financial services while maintaining Stellar’s signature low fees and fast settlement times.
This opened up DeFi applications on Stellar. Centrifuge launched deRWA on the network, bringing institutional-grade yields to emerging markets. Ondo Finance introduced USDY, a yieldcoin that gives global users access to yield-bearing assets linked to tokenized U.S. Treasuries.
The Stellar Development Foundation’s $100 million adoption fund has supported over 160 projects building on the network. These aren’t just token projects or meme coins. They’re building real financial tools for lending, savings, asset management, and cross-border payments.
Protocol 23, activated in late 2025, introduced parallel transaction processing. Instead of handling transactions one by one, the network can now process multiple smart contract operations simultaneously. This is the kind of technical upgrade that matters when you’re trying to scale to handle millions of daily transactions.
Solving Real Problems for Real People
The global remittance market is worth over $800 billion annually. Families working abroad send money home to support relatives, and traditional systems eat up huge chunks with fees and delays. In many cases, people are losing 5% to 8% of their money just to transfer it.
Stellar’s collaboration with organizations like UNHCR demonstrates how blockchain can solve humanitarian problems. They use Stellar’s Aid Assist platform to deliver aid in regions like Syria and Argentina, reducing administrative costs by 25%. When you can cut a quarter of the overhead in distributing humanitarian aid, more money actually reaches the people who need it.
In emerging markets with 70% smartphone penetration, Stellar’s mobile-first approach makes sense. People might not have bank accounts, but they have phones. MoneyGram’s partnership gives them access to 81,000 global onramp locations where they can move between cash and digital assets.
The USDC stablecoin issued natively on Stellar has processed billions of dollars in payment volume. Circle’s infrastructure, combined with Stellar’s speed and low cost, creates a dollar-denominated settlement layer that businesses can actually use for payroll, supplier payments, and consumer services.
The Institutional Appeal
Banks and large financial institutions don’t move fast. They don’t adopt new technology unless it solves specific problems and meets regulatory requirements. The fact that so many have chosen Stellar tells you something about the network’s infrastructure.
Stellar’s federated consensus protocol is incredibly energy-efficient compared to proof-of-work blockchains. For institutions with ESG commitments, this matters. They can use blockchain technology without the environmental baggage.
The network’s compliance tools meet international standards, which eases adoption for custodial services and financial institutions. In jurisdictions like the EU and U.S., where regulations are getting stricter, having built-in compliance frameworks makes Stellar attractive.
Institutional investors have been accumulating XLM, with trading volumes surging throughout 2025. In September alone, 25.4 million XLM units were traded, signaling strong institutional interest. This isn’t retail speculation driving the price – it’s large players taking positions based on utility and adoption.
Technical Upgrades and Network Evolution
The Protocol 20 upgrade in October 2025 focused on backend stability improvements. While not flashy, these kinds of updates matter for institutions that need reliable infrastructure. Protocol 23 followed with more substantial changes: parallel execution for smart contracts, unified asset events for simplified tracking, and optimized data structures for efficiency.
These upgrades target specific pain points. Faster throughput attracts more developers. Unified event formatting makes it easier to track tokenized assets across the network. Better efficiency reduces costs even further.
Stellar’s Java SDK continues to evolve with Soroban RPC methods and support for Protocol 23 features. The development ecosystem is active, with regular security patches and improvements. This ongoing maintenance might seem boring, but it’s what separates production-ready infrastructure from abandoned projects.
The addition of Stellar to the S&P Digital Markets Index in October 2025 boosted institutional visibility. When major financial indices start including a blockchain network’s native token, it signals mainstream acceptance.
The Future for Stellar and XLM
The Meridian 2025 conference in Rio showcased where Stellar is heading. Over 1,200 attendees, including developers, entrepreneurs, and industry leaders, gathered to see new partnerships and product launches. The event featured Meridian Pay, a smart wallet demonstrating Stellar’s capabilities in unified digital experiences.
The Stellar Development Foundation’s privacy roadmap addresses a critical concern for traditional financial institutions. As blockchain adoption grows, institutions need privacy features that protect sensitive information while maintaining transparency where required.
WisdomTree launched the first regulated physical XLM exchange-traded product in Europe in October 2025. This gives traditional investors regulated exposure to XLM without directly handling cryptocurrency. It’s the kind of product that brings institutional capital into the ecosystem.
Looking at the numbers, analysts project potential targets of $0.50 to $0.77 for XLM if institutional adoption continues accelerating. These aren’t moon-shot predictions based on hype. They’re based on growing total value locked, enterprise wallet adoption, and real usage of the network for financial services.
The addressable market for cross-border payments exceeds $1 trillion annually. Real-world asset tokenization could become a multi-trillion dollar market by 2030. If Stellar captures even a small percentage of these markets, the network’s usage and token value should reflect that utility.
Why This Matters for Digital Assets
Most blockchain projects promise revolutionary change. Stellar is actually delivering practical solutions. When PayPal, Franklin Templeton, and major banks choose your network for real financial operations, you’re past the proof-of-concept stage. You’re building critical infrastructure.
The use cases aren’t theoretical. Right now, people are sending remittances through Stellar’s network. Institutions are tokenizing funds and bonds. Aid organizations are distributing humanitarian assistance. Payment providers are offering cash-to-crypto services. These are solved problems, not white papers.
For families who need to send money across borders, Stellar means keeping more of their hard-earned cash instead of losing it to transfer fees. For businesses operating globally, it means faster settlement and lower costs. For investors and institutions, it means access to tokenized assets that were previously illiquid or difficult to trade.
The technology works. The partnerships are real. The usage is growing. That’s what separates Stellar from the hundreds of blockchain projects that never move past the marketing stage.
If you’re trying to understand digital assets and blockchain’s role in the future of finance, Stellar offers a clear example of what adoption looks like when institutions and regular users can both benefit from the technology. It’s not about replacing every financial system overnight. It’s about building better rails for moving value, one partnership and one transaction at a time.
Finding the Right Support for Your Digital Asset Strategy
As digital assets become more integrated into traditional finance, families and institutions need guidance that goes beyond simple explanations. The intersection of blockchain technology, estate planning, and wealth management creates unique challenges that require specialized knowledge.
Digital Ascension Group works with families who hold digital assets and need comprehensive strategies that account for both traditional and emerging asset classes. The team understands that Stellar, XLM, and other blockchain networks represent more than speculative investments. They’re increasingly part of diversified portfolios and require proper documentation, succession planning, and integration with overall wealth strategies.
Whether you’re an institution exploring blockchain partnerships or a family that’s accumulated digital assets and needs help with long-term planning, having advisors who understand both worlds makes a difference. Digital Ascension Group focuses on education and strategy, helping clients make informed decisions about digital asset custody, succession planning, and integration with existing estate structures.
If you’d like to learn more about how digital assets fit into comprehensive wealth and estate planning strategies, you can reach out to the team at Digital Ascension Group. They can answer questions about digital asset management, refer you to qualified professionals for specific legal or financial needs, and provide resources to help you make informed decisions. You can connect with them by completing the form on our contact page.
The world of digital assets is evolving quickly. Having knowledgeable partners who can explain complex concepts in plain language and help you navigate this changing landscape makes the journey less overwhelming and more strategic.
