Stellar Ecosystem
News

The SDF Policy Hub presents 2025 policy briefs and analyses on payments, tokenization, and DeFi, alongside contributions to regulatory discussions on public blockchains, stablecoins, and financial inclusion.

The Stellar Development Foundation released its Q1 2024 quarterly report highlighting major ecosystem achievements including the launch of smart contracts on Stellar, $3.2M in Stellar Community Fund awards, the introduction of the Soroban Audit Bank for security, and significant growth metrics including 8M+ network accounts and $1.6B in real world asset payment volume.

This guide details how XLM holders can provide liquidity to the KSM/XLM pool on Zenlink DEX via the Amplitude network on Kusama. It covers setting up a Polkadot wallet, acquiring KSM and AMPE, bridging XLM using Spacewalk from Lobstr, and adding liquidity. The process enables earning rewards while enhancing liquidity in the Amplitude ecosystem.

Cables Finance launched on Stellar as a hybrid FX exchange combining centralized liquidity with on-chain settlement. Features include central limit order book (CLOB), slippage-free trading, and OTC capabilities, backed by Stellar Development Foundation.

Cables Finance has launched on the Stellar network as a semi-decentralized FX trading platform featuring a central limit order book, slippage-free trading, and OTC capabilities. The launch represents a collaboration between Cables Finance and the Stellar Development Foundation to democratize access to cross-border payments and FX trading globally.

Script3 founder Markus Paulson-Luna discusses Blend Capital, a decentralized lending protocol on Stellar that lets users, DAOs, and institutions create customizable lending pools. The interview covers Blend's architecture, insurance mechanisms, and integration with Beans.

Pendulum's Q1 2024 roundup highlights the launch of the Spacewalk bridge connecting Stellar and Polkadot ecosystems for seamless XLM and stablecoin transfers. Key developments include reward structures for bridge vaults, new liquidity pools on Zenlink and StellaSwap, and progress on Forex AMM powered by Nabla. Community engagement and governance updates further strengthen the ecosystem's growth.

Runtime Verification completed an audit of Band Protocol's Rust implementation of the Band Standard Reference Soroban Smart Contract. This contract enables querying real-world asset prices from BandChain into the Stellar network's Soroban mainnet. The audit identified issues and informative findings, with a detailed report available.

The Spacewalk Bridge is now live on the Pendulum network, enabling trust-minimized transfers of XLM and fiat-backed stablecoins like EURC, AUDD, NGNC, TZS, and BRL between Stellar and Polkadot ecosystems. Stellar users can trade XLM on Zenlink DEX and provide liquidity in pools such as XLM.s/PEN and XLM.s/DOT. Pendulum's Forex DEX powered by Nabla offers single-sided liquidity provision without impermanent loss, enhancing DeFi accessibility.

Soroban smart contracts platform launches on Stellar mainnet with $100 million adoption fund committed by SDF. The fund has already supported 160+ projects building DeFi applications on Stellar.

Arf, an RWA-backed working capital platform on Stellar, surpassed $1 billion in onchain liquidity volume, supporting global payments institutions. The milestone addresses a $4 trillion liquidity gap in cross-border transactions, with Arf's transparency protocol ensuring on-chain risk visibility for lenders.

Beans App and Blend Capital partnered to bring DeFi to underserved markets via Stellar's Soroban platform. Users can now convert physical cash to crypto through MoneyGram, earn yield on Blend's lending pools, and withdraw back to fiat, eliminating traditional banking intermediaries.

Stellar launched smart contracts on Mainnet on Feb. 20 with a phased rollout prioritizing network stability. Over 160 projects on Testnet will gradually deploy as transaction limits increase, enabling low-cost DeFi applications built on Rust and WASM.

Stellar network validators voted to upgrade Mainnet to Protocol 20 on Feb. 20, enabling Soroban smart contracts with a phased rollout approach. The upgrade delivers a secure, scalable, and developer-friendly smart contract platform built on Rust and WASM, designed for real-world financial inclusion and low-cost transactions.

This article provides a comprehensive overview of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) and its implementation on the Stellar blockchain. It explains DeFi's core components—including blockchain, smart contracts, DEXs, and liquidity pools—and highlights how Soroban, Stellar's native smart contracts platform, enables developers to build DeFi applications with access to real-world financial rails.

Blend, a permissionless on-chain lending protocol, has launched on Stellar Testnet. Users can now test lending, borrowing, and backstopping features using browser wallets like Freighter. The protocol offers high capital efficiency, flexible pools, and risk mitigations for the Stellar DeFi ecosystem.

Aquarius announces updates and 2024 plans for building AMMs on Stellar using Soroban smart contracts. They've developed CPMM and StableSwap models inspired by Uniswap and Curve, with AQUA rewards for liquidity providers. A new UI and integrations are planned post-Soroban mainnet launch on January 30, 2024.

Velo Labs announced strategic partnerships with TransactCloud, FT Worldwide, and an unnamed fintech innovator to advance its Web3 Finance offerings. The collaborations aim to enhance liquidity, trading, and Web2-Web3 connectivity through Velo's Universe platform and Lightyear trading bot.

This article explains asset tokenization on Stellar, covering what it is, who can tokenize assets, key benefits like operational efficiency and transparency, and the technical process for creating digital representations of real-world assets on the network.

Stasis Euro (EURS), the top Euro stablecoin by market cap at $136M, is now live on Stellar Network. Despite leading in market cap, EURS ranks third in daily trading volume, with Stasis positioning it for DeFi use cases on Stellar.

Range partners with Oak Security to deliver end-to-end security for Cosmos projects, extending audits into continuous monitoring. This addresses limitations like dynamic codebases and third-party risks. Range, trusted by Stellar among others, provides customized real-time security tools.

This article explains stablecoins, their types, growth, risks, and regulatory challenges in crypto markets. It highlights issues like centralization and past failures such as TerraUSD. Range is introduced as a leading platform for cross-chain stablecoin intelligence, trusted by Stellar and others.

ClickPesa and Pendulum announced a partnership to expand DeFi-based financing for SMEs in Tanzania. Pendulum's blockchain bridges Polkadot and Stellar, enabling the ClickPesa Debt Fund to provide capital to microfinance institutions serving underserved businesses and women entrepreneurs.

The Stellar Development Foundation submitted a comprehensive response to the French financial regulator AMF's DeFi discussion paper, advocating for regulatory frameworks that balance innovation with consumer protection through open source technology and decentralization principles.

Range CEO Andres Monteoliva discusses mitigative measures for blockchain bridge exploits at the DeFi Security Summit. The talk covers types of bridges and security mechanisms like rate limits and circuit breakers. Range, trusted by Stellar and others, provides cross-chain stablecoin infrastructure with compliance and risk tools.