The Stellar Development Foundation is accelerating its push into mainstream finance with major payments and asset management firms set to go live on the network. Leadership confirms significant technical groundwork has been laid throughout 2025, positioning Stellar for institutional adoption. This expansion is supported by a 9x growth in Total Value Locked (TVL) on the network over the past year, dramatically outpacing the broader blockchain market’s 2x growth.
- Stellar's TVL grew 9x in the past year, significantly outperforming the aggregate blockchain market which saw only 2x growth
- Protocol 23 upgrade features eight Core Advancement Proposals including parallelized processing and Soroban smart contract improvements
- PayPal's PYUSD stablecoin integration pending NYDFS approval would mark a major expansion of Stellar's payment infrastructure
Institutional Adoption Accelerates
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is making a decisive push into mainstream financial services, with CEO Denelle Dixon and newly appointed President & Chief Growth Officer José Fernández da Ponte signaling that “some of the biggest names in payments and asset management” will begin operating on the Stellar network in the coming weeks and months. This strategic acceleration represents the culmination of a year spent laying both technical and go-to-market groundwork, positioning Stellar as “the blockchain for financial services at scale,” according to Fernández da Ponte.
The foundation’s growth metrics provide compelling evidence for this bold claim. While the aggregate blockchain market saw Total Value Locked (TVL) grow approximately 2x over the past year, Stellar’s TVL experienced a remarkable 9x expansion. This exceptional performance underscores the network’s growing appeal to institutional players seeking scalable blockchain solutions for financial applications. Fernández da Ponte emphasized that he has “not seen a blockchain that has been growing there as fast” as Stellar in recent months.
Technical Foundation and Protocol Upgrades
CEO Denelle Dixon characterized the first half of 2025 as focused on “laying the foundation,” with the back half of the year dedicated to delivering “big acceleration” on the technology front. Central to this technical evolution is Protocol 23, known as the “Whisk” release, which aims to make Stellar “stronger, faster, and developers’ lives easier.” This comprehensive upgrade package includes eight Core Advancement Proposals featuring parallelized processing, unified events, fee and throughput improvements, and significant refinements to Soroban smart contracts.
The protocol improvements are specifically designed to meet the institutional-grade expectations of payments processors and asset managers now evaluating the network. SDF has scheduled testnet and governance milestones throughout the summer, with a mainnet vote targeted for early September. These technical enhancements are critical for supporting the increased transaction volumes and complex financial operations expected from major financial institutions joining the network.
PayPal's PYUSD and Stablecoin Expansion
A cornerstone of Stellar’s payments strategy involves the expansion of its stablecoin ecosystem. In June, PayPal disclosed plans to make its dollar stablecoin, PYUSD, available on the Stellar network, pending regulatory approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services. This move would represent a significant validation of Stellar’s infrastructure and broaden PYUSD’s distribution beyond its current venues.
While neither PayPal nor SDF has provided a firm mainnet date for the integration, both companies have reiterated their commitment publicly throughout the summer. The addition of PYUSD to Stellar’s rails would mark another high-profile issuer joining the network, enhancing its credibility among traditional financial institutions. Dixon also highlighted that “new assets are coming, and others continue to scale,” indicating broader stablecoin expansion beyond the PayPal partnership.
Market Impact and XLM Price Considerations
For investors monitoring XLM’s price response to these developments, the market has thus far treated the integration announcements as a “show-me” story. As of September 16, XLM trades near $0.379, remaining below its mid-summer high of $0.52. Market analysts suggest that breaking through this resistance level may require either marquee partner go-lives, visible PYUSD settlement flows, or a broader macro-driven rally for the entire cryptocurrency market.
Crypto analyst Crypto Patel (@CryptoPatel) shared a technical perspective on September 15, noting that “Demand zone tested – XLM bulls ready to charge.” The analysis pointed to price retracing into a bullish Orderflow Zone with strong rejection expected near current support levels. Patel highlighted that the previous week’s high at $0.4143 is serving as a liquidity magnet, with 4-hour market structure remaining bullish and supporting upside continuation.
Meridian Conference and Future Outlook
SDF aims to convert its pipeline of enterprise partnerships into concrete announcements at Meridian, the foundation’s flagship annual conference held September 17–18 in Rio de Janeiro. The event’s timing aligns strategically with leadership’s “coming weeks” guidance, bringing together builders, policy voices, and potential enterprise adopters. While neither Dixon nor Fernández da Ponte named specific partners, the conference provides an ideal platform for revealing the “biggest names in payments and asset management” referenced in their statements.
The foundation’s 2025 roadmap emphasizes three core pillars: real-world payments, DeFi depth, and pushing toward top-tier TVL rankings. The payments-stablecoin strategy remains central to this vision, with community-originated wallets and protocols, combined with continued work on “plumbing” for an open-source, permissionless stack, serving as catalysts for ongoing momentum. As Stellar positions itself for institutional adoption, the coming months will be critical for demonstrating whether the network can deliver on its promise to become the blockchain of choice for financial services at scale.
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