Stellar is the lone green candle in a red market

Stellar ($XLM) is bucking a broad market selloff, posting a gain of around 6% on a day when Bitcoin, Ethereum, Ripple, and Solana are all in the red. A hawkish Federal Reserve has pushed sentiment to extreme fear across the crypto market, yet $XLM is climbing, now ranked 12th by market capitalisation on CoinMarketCap.

The single-day move caps a strong recent stretch: $XLM is up roughly 28% on the week and approximately 65% on the month, largely against the tide of a cooling altcoin market.

RWA traction and a new DeFi on-ramp

Much of the momentum behind Stellar traces back to its expanding role as infrastructure for tokenized real-world assets and stablecoins. Stellar's total value locked has grown roughly 155% year-over-year to around $236 million, while its distributed RWA value reached approximately $2.3 billion and grew nearly 30% in a single month. Citigroup named Stellar a top-five blockchain for tokenized assets in a June 2026 report predicting an $8 trillion tokenization boom.

Adding to the momentum, the Depository Trust and Clearing Corporation (DTCC) selected the Stellar network to pilot the tokenization of its vast asset repository. The plan includes tokenizing Russell 1000 stocks, ETFs, and U.S. Treasuries on the Stellar network, with live assets targeted for the first half of 2027.

On the DeFi side, @StellarOrg received a fresh on-ramp today as $XLM and USDC went live for cross-chain swaps on @SushiSwap. SushiSwap operates across more than 40 blockchains, making it one of the few decentralized exchanges with meaningful liquidity across virtually every major Layer 1 and Layer 2. The integration broadens access to $XLM liquidity for users across the DeFi ecosystem without the need for manual bridging.

Standing out as the market bleeds

Stellar has climbed more than 14% over the past 24 hours at points this week, making $XLM the best-performing asset among the top 100 cryptocurrencies by market capitalisation as fresh ecosystem developments drew renewed buying interest. The rally came alongside a sharp rise in trading activity, with Stellar network volume reportedly jumping to nearly $880 million from about $153 million over the weekend.

Stellar has regained broader attention as the market focuses increasingly on real-world asset tokenization and blockchain-based financial infrastructure, with its compliance-friendly ecosystem and settlement-focused design strengthening confidence around long-term institutional adoption. For now, while the rest of the market waits for the Fed to blink, $XLM is one of the few assets giving bulls something to point to.

Sources:
The Crypto Times: Why is Stellar (XLM) Price Up Today?
Invezz: Stellar price surges as XLM rally gains steam on PayFi buzz
CCN: Stellar XLM Price Surges as DTCC Partnership Sparks RWA Adoption Hopes