DeFi, payments, tokenization, Soroban, governance, and project launches — curated daily from publications, project blogs, and community channels across the Stellar blockchain ecosystem.
Stellar Development Foundation invested in Archax, a UK-regulated digital asset exchange, to accelerate real-world asset tokenization on Stellar. Archax has tokenized money market funds and partnered with Lloyds Bank and Aberdeen Asset Management, bringing over 100 tokenized funds to the network.
The Stellar Development Foundation has joined the ERC3643 Association to advance compliant asset tokenization standards. SDF will contribute to promoting real-world asset adoption, open-source development, and cross-chain interoperability between Stellar and Ethereum-based standards.
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.
July was a landmark month for Stellar, featuring new SDF leadership appointments, major integrations with Visa for stablecoin settlement, and significant ecosystem advances in DeFi, cross-chain communication, and developer tooling. The network celebrated its 11th birthday while the community engaged in global hackathons and grant programs.
Hoops Finance, originating from a hackathon demo, has rapidly grown into a leading DeFi infrastructure on Stellar mainnet, securing $150K in Stellar Community Fund grants and winning multiple hackathons. The platform boasts strong traction with thousands of daily API requests, high user engagement, and tracks over $25M in TVL. It offers risk-assessed savings, AI analytics, and tools like Comet Swap to simplify DeFi for the masses.
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.
human.tech integrates privacy-preserving identity tools like Human ID, Human Passport, and Human Wallet with the Stellar blockchain to verify humans, simplify onboarding, and enable compliance. These zero-knowledge proof-based solutions address identity gaps for the unbanked, enhancing Stellar's applications in remittances, humanitarian aid, and tokenized assets. Supported by Stellar's Community Fund, the tools are now live and rolling out progressively.
The Stellar Development Foundation showcased 'Stable Summer' at ETHCC in Cannes, highlighting real-world stablecoin use cases including payroll in crisis zones, cash-in/cash-out flows, and institutional adoption. Key themes emphasized infrastructure, interoperability, trust-based design, and B2B payments over speculation.
PayPal's former blockchain head José Fernández da Ponte has joined the Stellar Development Foundation as president and chief growth officer. The SDF also appointed Jason Karsh, ex-Block and Blockchain.com executive, as chief marketing officer. Both hires aim to boost Stellar's growth, financial inclusion efforts, and adoption.
Dobprotocol is a Web3 platform combining AI, tokenization, and blockchain to enable the 'Economy of Machines,' where physical devices like EV chargers and autonomous scooters become tokenized, income-generating assets. Selected for the Stellar Community Fund's SCF Kickstart program, it offers transparent, fractional ownership and real-time monitoring of machine performance. Founders highlight the program's role in strategic alignment and rapid development.
Raja Chakravorti, Chief Business Officer at the Stellar Development Foundation, discusses how Stellar's fast, low-cost blockchain is enabling financial inclusion globally, with use cases ranging from institutional adoption by Franklin Templeton to UN-backed humanitarian aid delivery in crisis zones.
Stellar is advancing its blockchain with a public roadmap emphasizing scalability, usability, and developer tools like Soroban optimizations, Freighter wallet, AI assistants Stella and Contract Copilot, and integrations with OpenZeppelin. It powers real-world assets with $522 million on-chain and $17 billion in volume across 70 countries. The ecosystem offers robust support via the Stellar Community Fund and production-ready infrastructure.
May was a dynamic month for Stellar featuring major global events (Consensus in Toronto, Ledger Leaders Week in Mexico City), new DeFi adoption programs (Hana Wallet & Balanced rewards, Dogstar Protocol), and significant technical upgrades including Stellar Core's TPS nearly doubling to 2,032.
The Axelar Foundation and Stellar Development Foundation co-authored an article examining how blockchain interoperability is essential for retail payments to achieve the seamlessness of traditional payment systems. The piece highlights Stellar's payment innovations and argues for decentralized interoperability solutions like Axelar over custodial bridges.
In 2025, Real World Assets (RWAs) tokenization has surpassed $50 billion, driven by major players like BlackRock and Franklin Templeton on blockchains including Stellar. The article explores reasons for its growth, liquidity benefits, regulatory challenges, and potential for governance and social impact. Projections indicate tokenized assets could reach $30–50 trillion by 2030.
Stellar aims to become a top 10 DeFi chain by TVL, targeting $1.5 billion from current $48 million. The network has seen explosive growth since Soroban smart contracts launched in 2024, with daily contract interactions exceeding 400,000 and weekly fees hitting their highest level since 2021.
The Stellar Development Foundation reported Q2 2025 momentum with new leadership appointments, TVL growth to $153M (#37 ranking), $4.2B in RWA payment volume, and PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin launching on Stellar.
Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation, celebrates her sixth anniversary with a creative country-rap song reflecting on SDF's journey over the past decade and six years of evolution, highlighting achievements in financial inclusion, partnerships, and blockchain innovation.
Soroban introduces smart contracts to the Stellar blockchain, leveraging WebAssembly and Rust for secure, efficient execution. Integrated natively into Stellar, it enables DeFi, tokenization, DAOs, and more without compromising speed or low costs. Launched on mainnet in 2023, it positions Stellar as a full-fledged dApp ecosystem.
The Stellar Community Fund Kickstart #10, held in March 2025, accelerated 32 blockchain startups from 16 countries through a five-day design sprint. 28 teams received $290,000 in XLM awards, with standout projects like Abokyh, Dayfi, and DeFarm recognized for their Stellar integrations. Participants praised the mentorship on Stellar tools, smart contracts, and GTM strategies.
An educational introduction to Stellar's DeFi ecosystem, covering its core strengths in interoperability, scalability, and low-cost transactions. The article explains key technologies like Soroban smart contracts and asset tokenization, while highlighting use cases in cross-border payments, remittances, and financial inclusion.
The Stellar blockchain aims to hold $3 billion in real-world assets (RWAs) on-chain by the end of 2025, a 10x increase from $290 million at the end of 2024. The Stellar Development Foundation is partnering with Paxos, Ondo, Etherfuse, SG Forge, alongside existing ties to Franklin Templeton and WisdomTree. This growth targets powering $110 billion in RWA volume on the superfast, low-fee network.
Nonco, an institutional crypto trading firm, completed an industry-first derivatives transaction using Franklin Templeton's BENJI token on the Stellar network as collateral. The transaction demonstrated how tokenized assets on Stellar enable faster, more efficient collateral management for OTC derivatives with real-time settlement and transparency.
Untangled introduces an Embedded Yield Layer to simplify access to fragmented DeFi and RWA yields across multiple blockchains. It features modular components like Untangled Vault, Credio, and Untangled Pool for automated capital allocation, risk management, and private credit tokenization. Products like USDyc are live on Stellar, Celo, and Polygon, enabling seamless yield for users and institutions.
The Stellar Community Fund (SCF) #34 round awarded $1,717,287 worth of XLM to 17 innovative projects building on the Stellar blockchain. Projects span DeFi, payments, developer tools, gaming, and infrastructure, showcasing Stellar's growing ecosystem for serious builders. Highlights include Greep Pay for stablecoin POS, NebulaVRF for on-chain randomness, and DappRadar for Soroban tracking.
This article explains composability in DeFi and blockchain development using a hot rod analogy, detailing how different protocols and smart contracts can integrate seamlessly on Stellar to create more powerful financial systems. It covers DeFi building blocks, composability benefits, TVL growth, and practical considerations for building composable projects on Stellar.