Stellar's native token $XLM posted a solid seven-day run, gaining 13% to trade at $0.2167 as of September 25. Trading volume over the prior 24 hours jumped 82% to $528.9 million, while the ne
Stellar's native token $XLM posted a solid seven-day run, gaining 13% to trade at $0.2167 as of September 25. Trading volume over the prior 24 hours jumped 82% to $528.9 million, while the network's market cap stood at $7.57 billion, pointing to renewed interest in the payments-focused blockchain.
On-chain activity on the @StellarOrg network strengthened in parallel with the price move. DeFi total value locked (TVL) rose 5.8% in 24 hours to $260.39 million, according to DeFiLlama data. Weekly decentralised exchange (DEX) volume climbed 86%, and stablecoins held on the chain grew 4.6% to $938.38 million, reflecting a broader uptick in user activity and liquidity deployment.
The numbers build on a longer growth trend for Stellar DeFi. Stellar posted 284% year-over-year TVL growth through 2025 and carried that momentum into Q1 and Q2 2026. Blend, the network's main lending protocol, reached $110.25 million in TVL after growing 25.9% quarter-over-quarter through Q1 2026.
Beyond the headline numbers, Stellar continues to attract institutional interest. Payments platform BVNK has integrated Stellar, opening the network to businesses across more than 130 markets for cross-border stablecoin payments. On the protocol side, the "Adapter" upgrade (Protocol 28) went live on mainnet on September 17, 2026, introducing atomic contract-fleet upgrades and faster consensus under load, aimed at supporting larger financial applications.
Cross-border payments remain Stellar's primary use case, with stablecoin-related volume exceeding $5.5 billion in Q1 2026, a 72% year-over-year increase. That structural demand, combined with growing on-chain liquidity, helps explain why this week's price and volume moves carried more weight than a typical short-term spike.
Sources:DeFiLlama: Stellar Chain OverviewCryptoNews: Stellar TVL Surged to Nearly $200MCoinMarketCap: Latest Stellar News and Updates
