DeFi, payments, tokenization, Soroban, governance, and project launches — curated daily from publications, project blogs, and community channels across the Stellar blockchain ecosystem.
Nansen and Slice Analytics released a comprehensive H2 2024 report on the Stellar ecosystem, highlighting Protocol 22's launch, Galexie data platform, Anchor Directory expansion to 180 countries, and significant partnerships with MoneyGram, Stripe, and Mastercard. On-chain metrics show steady growth with daily transactions reaching 2.4M and active addresses peaking at 172K, driven by regulatory optimism and ecosystem maturation.
The Stellar Community Fund (SCF) #33 round awarded $1,033,620 in XLM to 14 projects across Build Awards. Highlights include Stellarcarbon for carbon offsetting, CodeLnPay for cross-border payments, and Warmancer: Black Friday for blockchain gaming. The round introduced SCF 6.1 updates streamlining submissions for future rounds.
Metafyed, a multi-chain RWA tokenization platform, has received funding from the Stellar Community Fund to expand to the Stellar blockchain. In partnership with regulated exchange NASDEX, they're launching their first project, leveraging Stellar's speed, low fees, and interoperability. This collaboration aims to enhance liquidity, compliance, and global financial inclusivity for tokenized real-world assets.
The Stellar Development Foundation highlights how tokenization and blockchain technology are already improving financial access for vulnerable populations, from UN refugee aid payments to protection against hyperinflation in countries like Argentina.
Societe Generale-FORGE announced the launch of EURCV, a MiCA-compliant EUR-backed stablecoin on the Stellar network. The deployment leverages Stellar's scalability, speed, and low costs to enable secure cross-border transactions and financial applications for European users and institutions.
The Stellar Development Foundation commissioned PwC to develop an addendum to the Blockchain Sustainability Framework addressing EU MiCA regulation requirements. The addendum provides methodologies for assessing sustainability metrics and applies them to benchmark the Stellar network's environmental performance.
Ondo Finance announces plans to deploy USDY, its yield-bearing stablecoin backed by US Treasuries, on the Stellar network in the coming months. The integration will enable Stellar users to access institutional-grade yield-bearing assets for treasury management, cross-border payments, and wealth preservation.
The Stellar Community Fund (SCF) Round 31 awarded $2,068,710 in XLM to 22 projects, including payment solutions, DeFi platforms, developer tools, and RWA tokenization engines. The round received 123 submissions, with 71 being first-time applicants, demonstrating strong ecosystem growth.
Messari released a comprehensive PayFi Ecosystem Analysis report highlighting how blockchain technology on Stellar is enabling payment financing applications through instant liquidity and reduced costs. The report covers PayFi infrastructure, stablecoin adoption, and emerging use cases.
Stellar's DeFi ecosystem reached a record $61 million TVL on November 24, more than 150% above its mid-November peak, driven by surging XLM prices and growth across DEXs like Aquarius, LumenSwap, and Soroswap, plus the lending protocol Blend.
This article explains USDT and USDC stablecoins, their features, blockchains, use in payments, comparisons, stability issues, and alternatives. USDC is highlighted on Stellar among other chains, while USDT supports a broader range. Both are key for stable crypto transactions despite past depegging events.
Blockaid has integrated its Onchain Detection and Response (ODR) security technology into Stellar's Lobstr and Freighter wallets, providing real-time threat monitoring and malicious transaction detection. This partnership marks the first deployment of Blockaid's Web3 security features on the Stellar blockchain.
ClickPesa has launched the ClickPesa Debt Fund, a DeFi lending facility built on Stellar and powered by Soroban smart contracts, designed to provide financing to SMEs and women-owned businesses across Africa. The fund's SME I Pool uses Script3's Blend protocol and offers up to 12% annual interest with quarterly repayments, backed by ClickPesa Collateral Tokens (CPCT) pegged to real microfinance loan books.
CEX.io has integrated MoneyGram and Stellar to enable users to convert USDC to physical cash and vice versa at participating MoneyGram locations across the EEA, Africa, LATAM, and select European countries.
The Stellar Development Foundation published a contribution to OMFIF's Digital Assets 2024 Report titled 'The Power of Public Blockchains,' highlighting how public blockchains offer superior stability, security, and resilience compared to traditional financial infrastructure while enabling regulatory compliance and faster settlement.
Huma Finance closed a $38 million investment round ($10M equity, $28M in tokenized RWAs) led by Distributed Global with participation from Hashkey Capital, Folius Ventures, Stellar Development Foundation, and TIBAS Ventures. The funding will support expansion to Solana and Stellar's Soroban network.
The Stellar Development Foundation participated in the Point Zero Forum, where Chief Legal and Policy Officer Candace Kelly moderated a compliance panel and spoke about the Stellar network's role in humanitarian aid. The discussion highlighted regulatory challenges, the EU's MiCA regulation, and real-world applications including UNHCR's use of Stellar for aid disbursement in Ukraine and Latin America.
DECTA, an Ireland-based EMI, is partnering with French fintech Next Generation to launch EURT, a MiCA-compliant Euro-pegged stablecoin on Stellar and three other blockchains. The project, originally launched in 2017, is being relaunched in October 2024 under the new European regulatory framework.
Etherfuse, a tokenized real-world assets platform, raised $3 million in seed funding co-led by White Star Capital and North Island Ventures, with participation from the Stellar Development Foundation. The company is tokenizing emerging market government debt on Stellar and Solana blockchains, starting with Latin American sovereign bonds.
Huma Finance publishes a comprehensive overview of PayFi (Payment Finance), a new frontier in real-world assets that combines stablecoins with financing mechanisms to enable scalable, compliant payment solutions. The article introduces the PayFi Stack—a framework with six layers (Transaction, Currency, Custody, Financing, Compliance, Application)—and highlights Stellar's role alongside Solana in providing high-throughput, low-cost transaction infrastructure for payments.
This guide explores zero-knowledge proofs (ZK Proofs) on the Stellar network, explaining how they enable privacy, scalability, and interoperability for financial applications. It covers ZK Proof fundamentals, implementations like zk-SNARKs and zk-STARKs, and their applications in DeFi, financial inclusion, and privacy-preserving systems.
MYKOBO is transitioning its EURC stablecoin on the Stellar blockchain to Circle's EURC, affecting over 25K asset holders. This move supports MiCAR compliance and expands services to Ethereum, Avalanche, and Solana. Current services will continue uninterrupted during the transition.
Reflector hosted an AMA with Tomer Weller from the Stellar Development Foundation covering Stellar's scalability, latency optimization, DeFi composability on Soroban, and oracle use cases like prediction markets. The discussion highlighted upcoming performance improvements including parallel contract execution and networking optimizations planned for 2025.
Taurus, a digital asset infrastructure provider serving major financial institutions, has expanded its custody and tokenization platforms to the Stellar network, joining other major players like Franklin Templeton, WisdomTree, and Circle in leveraging Stellar for real-world asset tokenization.
Alterscope, a Stellar Community Fund featured project, offers a comprehensive risk dashboard for the Soroban ecosystem to enhance DeFi transparency and risk management. It provides real-time risk overviews, customizable frameworks, and metrics across security, liquidity, community, and governance. Integration benefits dApps by boosting credibility, attracting liquidity providers, and promoting regulatory compliance.
Alterscope introduces a comprehensive risk dashboard for the Stellar Soroban ecosystem, recently funded by the Stellar Community Fund. It provides real-time risk metrics, transparency, and customizable frameworks to help liquidity providers assess protocols. Integration benefits dApps by enhancing credibility, attracting investments, and promoting a safer DeFi environment.
GYEN and ZUSD stablecoins are now available for trading on Bitstamp, a major regulated exchange founded in 2011. The listing enables users to easily convert between USD and these Stellar-based stablecoins with enhanced security and compliance features.