Welcome to the Stellar Fortnightly Overview. In this edition, we dive into Stellar’s Q2 2026 performance, its consumer payment growth, as well as different conversations that were hosted and featured Stellar’s executive team.
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By the numbers
Total value locked: $211M (-6.9%)
Stablecoin market cap: $395.5M (+18.3%)
Stablecoin 30d transfer volume: $5.24B (-6.3%)
RWA distributed value: $3.07B (+1.3%)
RWA holders: 19,191 (+4.3%)
Lifetime network uptime: 99.99%
The percentages and metrics are calculated from its change over a 14-day time frame, unless noted otherwise.
Inside Stellar’s Q2 2026 Report
The Stellar Development Foundation reported $3.05 billion in tokenized real-world assets in the second quarter (up 100% from the first quarter). The network processed $11.4 billion in stablecoin transfers, and had 2,968 monthly active developers, second only to Ethereum.
Below, we dive into three key developments that stood out to us most:
DTCC, which clears and settles nearly every stock, bond and ETF traded in the United States, partnered with Stellar in May to bring traditional securities to the network.
Slated to launch in 2027, the initial scope covers Russell 1000 stocks, ETFs and U.S. Treasuries. More than 50 firms are in the working group, including BlackRock, Goldman Sachs and JPMorgan.
DTCC cited compliance architecture, throughput and near-zero fees as the reason for selecting Stellar as one of its supported blockchains.
Figure launched YLDS, an SEC-registered yield-bearing stablecoin, on Stellar in May. While yield products are not new to Stellar, YLDS’ SEC registration makes it available to U.S. investors. Combined with Ondo's USDY, which has been live on Stellar since September 2025 and serves non-U.S. investors, Stellar’s network now has stablecoins for both types of investors.
MoneyGram launched MGUSD, its own stablecoin, on Stellar in June, in a bid to expand distribution.
In Europe, AllUnity, a joint venture between DWS, Flow Traders and Galaxy, launched the euro-pegged stablecoin EURAU on Stellar in April. EURAU is MiCA-compliant, meaning it can be distributed across the EU.
Both these assets benefit from the distribution work performed in the same quarter, as Stellar implemented Circle's Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP), which lets USDC to be moved across supported blockchains without requiring wrapped assets or bridges.
Exploring Stellar’s institutional side
Stellar hosted a livestream with Karl Samsen, principal for YLDS at Figure, Luke Tuttle, chief product and technology officer at MoneyGram, and Andres Monteoliva, CEO of Range to discuss what being a tier-1 node validator means. The conversation dove into how Stellar's consensus differs from most networks in that validators are publicly identified organizations, rather than anonymous operators, and each node chooses which others it trusts. Validators also receive no block rewards or transaction fees for participating, meaning organizations run nodes because they have a stake in the security and continuity of the network they build on.
Consumer payment activity on Stellar improved in July, with C2C payment count increasing 50% to an all-time high of 2.7M.
Total C2C payment volume on the network also hit a high of $76.4M, coinciding with the growth in stablecoin activity across Stellar's ecosystem.
K2 launched its lending and borrowing protocol on Stellar. K2 offers pooled, isolated and gated markets, and the integration aims to give issuers a way to make existing Stellar-based assets productive.
Diving into Stellar’s ecosystem
Sentora hosted a conversation on X with Priscilla Ma, director of business development at the Stellar Development Foundation, to discuss how Soroban, the network’s in-house suite of smart contract tools, makes it possible to build lending markets, collateral engines, and yield strategies.
Stellar and Sentora frame vault curation as a way for XLM (Stellar’s native token) holders to borrow against their positions in hopes of attracting institutions and RWA issuers.
Rise In hosted a two-month Stellar hackathon geared toward developers in the APAC region. A demo day was livestreamed on X to showcase the final ten teams that built different payment solutions using the Stellar stack.
Kraken has listed PYUSD on Stellar to its exchange.
The 44th round of the Stellar Community Fund, an open-application awards program that distributes XLM to developers and startups building on Stellar, proved the largest one to date, with $4.6M in rewards distributed to 46 projects. The initiative showcased the various ways that networks can convert treasury capital into ecosystem infrastructure.
Lock in to the ecosystem
Check out the latest job postings on the Stellar Development Foundation.
Stellar is hosting a Stellar House in São Paulo, Brazil on August 6. The event will feature panels, focused roundtables, and fireside conversations covering its institutional ecosystem.
Attend Meridian 2026, the Stellar Development Foundation’s annual conference, in Lisbon, Portugal, on October 28 and 29, 2026.
Until next time!
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This information is for entertainment purposes only. It should not be considered financial advice, nor should it be used to make investment decisions. Cryptocurrencies are high risk and you should consult a financial professional before making any financial decisions. Make sure you do your own research.