Latest Stellar (XLM) News Update

Deep Dive

1. XLM Targets $1 After 87% Weekly Surge (8 September 2025)

Overview: XLM surged 87% in the past week, hitting a yearly high of $0.54, driven by its 0.95 price correlation with XRP and bullish technical patterns. Analyst Peter Brandt highlighted a breakout setup if XLM holds above $0.20 and closes above $1. Futures open interest reached a record $620M, while stablecoin volume hit $3.1B.

What this means: The rally reflects growing retail interest and institutional adoption via partnerships (e.g., Archax, Visa). However, resistance at $0.62–$0.80 and high leverage ($620M OI) suggest volatility risks. (Weex)

2. Tether Ends USDT Support on Stellar (30 August 2025)

Overview: Tether discontinued USDT on Stellar and four other chains, citing operational streamlining. Stellar-based USDT accounted for <5% of its total supply, but the move raised concerns about liquidity for cross-chain transfers.

What this means: While short-term volatility is possible, Stellar’s focus on native stablecoins (e.g., WisdomTree’s $99B fund deployment) mitigates reliance on third-party issuers. (Bitget)

3. Protocol 23 Upgrade Goes Live (3 September 2025)

Overview: Stellar’s Protocol 23 upgrade reduced transaction latency and improved scalability (5,000 TPS), targeting RWA tokenization and cross-border payments. Partnerships with Marketnode and Visa expanded its institutional footprint.

What this means: The upgrade strengthens Stellar’s niche in compliant financial infrastructure, though adoption metrics (e.g., TVL growth) remain critical to watch. (Bitget)

Conclusion

Stellar’s mix of technical upgrades and market momentum positions it for growth in cross-border finance, though Tether’s exit and resistance levels pose near-term tests. Will Protocol 23’s scalability translate into measurable on-chain activity by Q4?

Deep Dive

1. @johnmorganFL: Critical $0.42 Resistance Test bearish

"$XLM rejected at $0.42 – breakdown below $0.40 may trigger a slide to $0.39."
– @johnmorganFL (189K followers · 2.1M impressions · 2025-08-18 07:54 UTC)
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What this means: Bearish pressure intensifies as XLM struggles to hold $0.40 support. A close below this level could accelerate selling, with technicals pointing to $0.395–$0.39 as next targets.

2. CoinMarketCap Community: Protocol 23 Mainnet Anticipation bullish

"Q3 2025’s Protocol 23 upgrade could boost scalability – #XLM eyes $0.50 if adoption follows."
– CMC User (Post engagement: 1.2K votes · 2025-08-19 16:44 UTC)
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What this means: Bullish sentiment hinges on Stellar’s ability to leverage Protocol 23’s technical improvements. Successful implementation might attract DeFi projects, supporting higher valuations.

3. @ali_charts: XLM/XRP Symmetry Play mixed

"XLM mirrors XRP’s 2024 structure – a monthly close above $0.55 could ignite FOMO."
– @ali_charts (687K followers · 4.8M impressions · 2025-08-29 18:04 UTC)
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What this means: The 90-day XLM/XRP correlation (0.95) suggests coordinated moves. However, XLM needs to decisively break its multi-year descending trendline to validate bullish setups.

Conclusion

The consensus on $XLM is mixed, balancing Protocol 23’s potential against technical resistance and historical August weakness. While upgrades and XRP-linked momentum offer upside triggers, the $0.40–$0.42 zone remains pivotal. Watch the 7-day RSI (current: 58) – a surge above 70 could signal overheating, while a drop below 45 may confirm bearish momentum. For now, Stellar’s fate hangs between network progress and trader psychology at key levels.

Deep Dive

1. Protocol 23 Upgrade (August 2025)

Overview: Introduces parallel execution of Soroban smart contracts, optimized memory usage, and unified event tracking for all token movements.
Protocol 23 reduces cross-contract call costs via a reusable inter-ledger cache and enables real-time asset tracking. The mainnet vote concluded on 26 August 2025 after a testnet reset on 14 August. Developers must upgrade SDKs and recreate testnet data due to breaking changes.
What this means: This is bullish for XLM because faster, cheaper transactions enhance DeFi and enterprise use cases like tokenized assets. (Source)

2. NEAR Protocol Integration (19 August 2025)

Overview: Enables swaps from 20+ blockchains into Stellar USDC via NEAR Intents, eliminating bridge delays.
The integration simplifies cross-chain liquidity access and leverages Stellar’s compliance-ready stablecoin infrastructure.
What this means: Neutral for XLM in the short term, but expands Stellar’s interoperability, positioning it as a hub for multi-chain stablecoin flows. (Source)

3. Visa Stablecoin Settlement (31 July 2025)

Overview: Visa added Stellar to its stablecoin settlement platform, enabling PYUSD and EURC transactions for merchants.
This follows Stellar’s focus on regulated asset issuance and low fees, mirroring its IBM and MoneyGram partnerships.
What this means: Bullish for XLM as it validates Stellar’s role in bridging crypto and traditional finance, though immediate price impact was muted. (Source)

Conclusion

Stellar’s Protocol 23 and strategic partnerships signal a push toward scalable DeFi and enterprise adoption. With Visa and NEAR integrations, XLM’s utility in cross-border payments and asset tokenization grows. How will Protocol 23’s efficiency gains impact Stellar’s real-world asset (RWA) adoption in Q4 2025?

Deep Dive

1. Protocol 23 Mainnet Launch (Q3 2025)

Overview: Protocol 23 introduces parallel execution for Soroban smart contracts, targeting 5,000 transactions per second (vs. ~1,000 TPS previously). It also implements CAP-67 for unified asset tracking and enhances Merkle data structures for faster validation (The Defiant).
What this means: Bullish for XLM as improved scalability could attract more DeFi projects and institutional RWA issuers. Risks include potential delays in validator adoption.

2. ERC-3643 Integration (Q3 2025)

Overview: Stellar joined the ERC-3643 Association to enable compliant cross-chain RWA tokenization, allowing assets like tokenized equities to move between Stellar and Ethereum (Community Post).
What this means: Neutral-to-bullish—interoperability strengthens Stellar’s role in regulated finance but depends on Ethereum’s ecosystem growth.

3. Composable Data Platform (Q4 2025)

Overview: CDP 1.0 provides customizable data pipelines for enterprises to analyze on-chain activity, targeting institutions like WisdomTree (managing $99B in assets) (Coindesk).
What this means: Bullish for long-term adoption, as better analytics tools could drive institutional liquidity.

4. Freighter Wallet Upgrades (Q4 2025)

Overview: Updates include single-use wallets for one-click business payouts and social sign-ins to simplify onboarding (Coindesk).
What this means: Neutral—user experience improvements may boost retail activity but face competition from wallets like MetaMask.

Conclusion

Stellar’s 2025 roadmap balances technical upgrades (Protocol 23) with ecosystem growth (RWAs, developer tools). Success hinges on enterprise adoption of its compliance-ready infrastructure. With RWA volume on Stellar already at $522M, can Protocol 23 catalyze a surge in DeFi TVL beyond its current $100M?