DeFi, payments, tokenization, Soroban, governance, and project launches — curated daily from publications, project blogs, and community channels across the Stellar blockchain ecosystem.
Myosin hosted a marketing-focused event at Korea Blockchain Week in partnership with Stellar, featuring panels on crypto GTM strategies, a discussion on crypto and traditional finance convergence, and marketing roasts of projects including Blend Capital, a DeFi lending protocol on Stellar.
Abroad announces a strategic partnership with Zypto to enable instant crypto payments in Brazil using stablecoins like USDC. Users can pay via PIX QR codes or numbers, with instant settlement in Brazilian reais directly to recipients' accounts. Zypto's ecosystem, including its wallet and payment tools, integrates with partners like Stellar for seamless crypto-to-fiat usability.
Cursor, an AI-powered code editor, is promoted for students worldwide, offering free Pro access with a university email. It accelerates coding, problem-solving, and project execution, with a livestream tutorial demonstrating a dApp build using Next.js and Stellar Wallet Kit. The article highlights its benefits for students in Latin America building on Stellar, from smart contracts to DeFi protocols.
DCM launched the Transparent Network (TPN), a blockchain-based instant payment system built on Stellar, to modernize Ukraine's financial infrastructure. TPN enables banks to process payments in under five seconds with 70% reduction in acquiring costs for merchants and 60% reduction in transaction costs for institutions.
Normal Finance is building a platform to provide one-click diversified crypto exposure across chains without bridges or CEXs, solving fragmentation for everyday investors. They chose Stellar for its low costs, speed, scalability, global accessibility, and focus on real financial solutions over speculation. Currently, Normal has a live testnet and is preparing for mainnet launch on Stellar.
Meridian 2025, the Stellar Development Foundation's flagship conference held in Rio de Janeiro, showcased major advancements in the Stellar ecosystem under the theme 'The Blueprint.' Key highlights included Soroban smart contract launches, over $3 billion in RWA tokenizations, PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin integration, and new partnerships. The event solidified Stellar's leadership in real-world financial applications and announced Meridian 2026 in Abu Dhabi.
Mercado Bitcoin announced at Stellar Meridian 2025 that it will issue $200 million in tokenized fixed income and equity instruments on the Stellar network, strengthening the ecosystem's position as a leading platform for real-world assets in Latin America.
A Stellar Development Foundation Senior Marketing Advisor shares their first-month experience joining @StellarOrg to lead APAC strategy. They highlight Stellar's focus on real-world financial problems, the recent Soroban smart contract upgrade enabling complex dApps, and opportunities for founders and developers to build on the ecosystem.
The Stellar Community Fund (SCF) #38 round received 83 submissions and awarded $2,568,750 worth of XLM to 24 innovative projects. Funded initiatives span DeFi platforms, wallets, payment solutions, real-world applications like food delivery and remittances, and developer tools for the Stellar ecosystem. This round highlights the rapid evolution and community commitment to building practical utility on Stellar.
Blockchain benefits both financial institutions seeking efficiency and the 1.4 billion unbanked needing accessibility, as emphasized by Stellar Development Foundation CEO Denelle Dixon. Institutional adoption by firms like Franklin Templeton and BlackRock validates infrastructure that also enables fast, low-cost remittances and humanitarian aid. Success requires intentional design serving both ends of the financial spectrum.
Diego Yanez's alfred, an SCF-funded anchor-as-a-service platform for Latin America, evolved from a consumer wallet into a B2B infrastructure provider enabling businesses to access liquidity in local currencies and digital assets on Stellar. The article showcases how SCF support enabled alfred to pivot strategically and raise $3.5M in additional funding.
XLM climbed 3% to break through $0.37 resistance on above-average volumes as Stellar prepares Protocol 23 upgrade. South Korean exchanges Bithumb and Upbit will pause XLM deposits/withdrawals Sept. 3 to support the network enhancement, which aims to expand interoperability for the $460 million in tokenized assets already on Stellar.
CHATS is a blockchain-powered platform revolutionizing humanitarian aid distribution with transparency, smart contracts, and direct cash/voucher assistance to vulnerable communities. It runs on multiple chains including Stellar and Polygon, using non-custodial, gasless smart contracts and stablecoins for secure, efficient fund disbursement. Key features include offline NFC transactions, real-time dashboards, and fraud prevention, benefiting NGOs, donors, vendors, and beneficiaries.
Stellar has emerged as the leading blockchain for enterprise stablecoin payments, with major institutional adoption including PayPal's PYUSD launch and Visa's integration. The network offers compliance-first architecture, predictable costs, and global ramp infrastructure that make it ideal for regulated financial institutions.
Metafyed, a blockchain tokenization platform for private credit and real-world assets, has secured USD 5.5 million in funding from leading investors including Block Tides and venture DAOs. The company is incubated by Cyberport Hong Kong, Draper, and the Stellar Development Foundation, focusing on SMBs in Asia. The funding will expand their marketplace, strengthen compliance, and enhance AI-powered features.
Stablecoins have surged to $250 billion in market value, driven by regulatory clarity from the GENIUS Act. The article explores how stablecoins work, their advantages over traditional banking systems, and their role in enabling financial inclusion, cross-border payments, and emerging DeFi innovations on networks like Stellar.
TD Markets Exchange has launched ZARC Coin, a South African Rand-pegged stablecoin on the Stellar network, in partnership with Shift Markets. The asset offers up to 7.5% APY and enables cross-border payments, remittances, and wealth preservation with 24/7 liquidity and local on/off ramps.
The Stellar Community Fund (SCF) #37 round awarded $1,861,405 worth of XLM to 19 innovative projects building on the Stellar blockchain. Projects span DeFi protocols, privacy solutions, real-world assets, wallets, and developer tools. Out of 76 submissions, 43 were first-time applicants, showcasing the vibrant Stellar ecosystem.
HoneyCoin announces a $4.9 million funding round led by Flourish Ventures, with participation from Visa Ventures, Stellar Development Foundation, and others. The company, a full-stack payment orchestration platform using stablecoins and traditional rails, processes over $150M monthly across 45+ countries. Founded during COVID, it has achieved product-market fit serving millions of users in emerging markets, especially Africa.
This article argues that USD Coin (USDC) is the best stablecoin to hold in 2025 due to its transparency, regulatory compliance, multi-chain availability including Stellar, and growing adoption in emerging markets. It contrasts USDC with alternatives like USDT and DAI, highlighting risks in less transparent or volatile stablecoins. USDC's institutional support and real-world utility in remittances and DeFi make it a standout choice.
The International AIDS Society (IAS) partnered with Stellar Disbursement Platform and Decaf wallet to distribute $49,480 in USDC stablecoins to 248 scholarship recipients from over 50 countries at the 2025 IAS Conference in Kigali. This blockchain solution replaced inefficient cash envelopes and long queues with seamless, secure digital payments achieving 100% delivery success across 425 transactions. The initiative highlights Stellar's potential for modernizing global disbursements for NGOs.
The Stellar Community Fund (SCF) #36 round received 53 submissions and awarded $2,088,654 worth of XLM to 23 innovative projects. Funded initiatives span stablecoin payments, DeFi infrastructure, cross-border remittances, compliance tools, and Soroban smart contract enhancements. Highlights include Stables, Splyce Finance, and Uniblock, showcasing the ecosystem's growing sophistication.
The Stellar Development Foundation hosted a panel at the Fourth International Conference on Financing for Development discussing how blockchain-based tools are delivering measurable results for underserved populations. The session explored real-world applications including the Stellar Disbursement Platform for healthcare worker payments and Decaf wallet for financial inclusion across geographic and socioeconomic borders.
Abroad has won the Stellar Community Fund Build Award #35 for its innovative crypto-fiat infrastructure enabling cross-border payments in Latin America. The award highlights new features like USDC-to-Pix conversions in Brazil with instant local settlements. This funding will accelerate Abroad's expansion across new payment corridors.