Stellar powers one of the largest on/off-ramp networks in crypto, with more than 475,000 access points worldwide and over $4.2 billion in MoneyGram-driven USDC remittance volume. Its native asset, XLM, pays network fees and acts as a bridge between currencies inside the protocol's built-in decentralized exchange. Launched in 2014 and maintained by the Stellar Development Foundation, the network targets cross-border payments, stablecoin settlement, and tokenized real-world assets rather than competing for general-purpose smart contract market share.
What Stellar Is Built For
Stellar is a public, open-source blockchain designed for fast, low-cost value transfer between different currencies. Jed McCaleb, a co-founder of Ripple, left to start Stellar in 2014 with Joyce Kim after disagreeing with Ripple's institutional direction. The project uses the Stellar Consensus Protocol, a Federated Byzantine Agreement system that finalizes transactions in 3–5 seconds without the energy cost of proof-of-work.
The protocol bakes three features directly into its ledger: a decentralized order book that matches offers across any issued asset, automatic path payments that route between currencies in a single transaction, and Anchors, which are regulated entities that issue fiat-backed tokens and handle cash-in/cash-out at local endpoints. These primitives make Stellar feel less like a general computation platform and more like a financial network with blockchain properties.
Base fees sit at 0.00001 XLM per operation, which keeps payments economically viable at any size. Roughly 50 XLM leaves circulation per day through these fees, a slow structural drain against the fixed post-2019 supply.
XLM Tokenomics at a Glance
| Metric | Value |
|---|---|
| Max supply | 50 billion XLM (fixed since 2019 burn) |
| Circulating supply | ~32 billion XLM |
| Inflation | None (removed by community vote in 2019) |
| SDF-controlled | ~29.95 billion XLM at time of burn |
| Base fee per operation | 0.00001 XLM |
In November 2019, the Stellar Development Foundation burned roughly 55 billion XLM, permanently removing over half of the original supply. The same community vote disabled the 1% annual inflation mechanism that had been active since launch. XLM now sits in a structurally fixed supply, with minor daily reductions from transaction fees and slow SDF distribution replacing what was previously a dilutionary model.
The SDF still holds a significant treasury used to fund development, ecosystem grants, and anchor partnerships. Those distributions are disclosed in public mandate updates, giving holders visibility into the scheduled release cadence.
Real-World Use Already in Production
MoneyGram's integration is the clearest example of Stellar at work. Users convert cash to USDC and back at hundreds of thousands of MoneyGram locations, settling on Stellar in seconds rather than going through correspondent banking. That one partnership has processed over $4.2 billion in USDC volume since launch, a figure the Stellar Development Foundation documents in its MoneyGram case study.
Franklin Templeton runs a tokenized U.S. Government Money Market Fund with share recordkeeping on Stellar, reporting cost and reconciliation advantages versus traditional transfer agents. According to Stellar's public reporting, over $1.2 billion in tokenized real-world assets now live on the network, spanning money market funds, short-duration treasuries, and private credit instruments.
For traders, the most significant 2026 milestone is the launch of CME Group XLM futures in February 2026. Regulated futures create an institutional hedging venue that attracts asset managers who can't hold spot crypto directly, a meaningful step for XLM's inclusion in traditional portfolios.
Soroban: Stellar's Smart Contract Layer
Soroban launched in early 2024 and reached general availability across the Stellar mainnet after a phased rollout covered by CoinDesk. Contracts are written in Rust and compiled to WebAssembly, a choice that gives developers access to a mature toolchain while keeping execution predictable and metered.
Soroban was built alongside Stellar's payment primitives rather than bolted on. Smart contracts can interact directly with issued assets, the order book, and path payments, so a developer building a lending market or an RWA issuance platform inherits the network's existing liquidity and compliance plumbing. The Soroban Adoption Fund committed $100 million to seed this ecosystem.
Protocol 25, scheduled for 2026, adds native zero-knowledge primitives to Soroban. The design preserves regulatory auditability for institutions that need selective disclosure, a specification Stellar's RWA customers have actively requested.
How XLM Accrues Value
XLM is the settlement token for every operation on the network, so baseline demand scales with transaction count. It also serves as a reserve requirement: every account and trustline on Stellar requires a small XLM balance to exist, locking tokens in proportion to ecosystem size. As anchors, issued assets, and Soroban contracts multiply, the minimum balance requirement compounds.
XLM further acts as a bridge currency in path payments. When a sender holding one asset pays a recipient who wants another, the protocol can route through XLM if that path offers the best rate, creating natural buy-side flow tied to cross-currency activity rather than speculation.
The fixed supply means that demand growth translates more directly into price pressure than on inflationary networks, though XLM's large circulating float and historical SDF distribution schedule both temper that dynamic.
FAQ
Is Stellar a fork of Ripple?
Stellar started from a fork of the Ripple codebase in 2014 but diverged substantially in 2015 with the introduction of the Stellar Consensus Protocol. The two networks now share little beyond their cross-border payments focus.
Can XLM be staked?
No. Stellar uses a federated consensus model without validator staking or delegation rewards. There is no native yield on XLM held in a wallet. For deeper mechanics, see our breakdown of XLM tokenomics.
What are Stellar Anchors?
Anchors are regulated entities, typically banks or fintechs, that issue tokenized fiat on Stellar and handle the cash movement behind those tokens. Our Stellar anchors guide walks through how they work.
How does Stellar compare to XRP for payments?
Both target cross-border payments, but Stellar focuses on retail and individual access while Ripple's XRP Ledger is oriented toward institutional settlement. See the full Stellar vs XRP comparison.
Why Stellar's Payments Focus Matters
Stellar has always been the blockchain that didn't try to be everything. That restraint looked unfashionable during the general-purpose L1 cycle, but the payment-first architecture now underpins a production stablecoin corridor, a growing RWA base, and the largest anchor network in crypto. Protocol 25 and the CME futures listing give the network two 2026 catalysts that extend both its technical capabilities and its institutional reach.
For traders and builders evaluating XLM, the question is whether payment-infrastructure volume eventually gets priced into the asset. The fixed supply, the reserve mechanics, and the bridge-currency role all point toward a value accrual model tied to real usage. The ceiling depends on how much of MoneyGram-style adoption continues to migrate on-chain and how much of that flow routes through XLM rather than settling in stablecoins alone.
Trade XLM on spot markets or open a position with XLM futures on LeveX. Browse Crypto in a Minute for more token guides, including our takes on XRP and Celestia.