Stellar (XLM) surged 15% to $0.1712 despite a broader crypto market slide, posting one of the strongest single-day moves among large-cap tokens. The rally pushed XLM's market capitalization back above $5.67 billion and lifted 24-hour trading volume above $900 million as buyers piled into the move. According to latest reports, XLM is trading near $0.1712, up roughly 15% on the day, with a 24-hour low around $0.1462 and a high close to $0.1758. The token broke decisively above the $0.15–$0.16 zone—a band that had repeatedly capped rallies in recent weeks—and pushed toward the $0.17–$0.18 region on a sharp spike in volume. This outperformance stands out sharply against the backdrop of a broader crypto market decline, with Bitcoin and the total crypto market cap sliding more than 3% over the past 24 hours on fresh geopolitical jitters.
The rally was triggered by the May 27, 2026 announcement from DTCC and the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) outlining plans to enable tokenization of assets held in DTCC's subsidiary, The Depository Trust Company (DTC), on the Stellar network. The initiative forms part of DTCC's broader multi-chain strategy to integrate traditional securities with distributed ledger technology. Under the plan, DTC-custodied assets are scheduled to become available on Stellar in the first half of 2027, with the rollout initially focusing on assessing use cases for highly liquid assets—including stocks in the Russell 1000 index, major exchange-traded funds, and U.S. Treasury securities. As reported by AMBCrypto, the collaboration represents a strategic expansion of DTCC's multi-chain strategy and aims to advance how traditional assets move across digital ecosystems. DTCC has been building toward this for years, with the firm reporting collaboration with more than 50 financial firms to shape its DTC tokenization service, with initial limited production trades targeted for July 2026 and a broader launch planned for October 2026.
A Columbia Business School professor has cast significant doubt on Ethereum's suitability as a global financial backbone, arguing that the Stellar network (XLM) is better aligned with mainstream finance requirements. Austin Campbell, an adjunct professor at Columbia Business School, explained that the choice of Stellar for the DTCC project was not arbitrary, stating that while Ethereum prioritizes censorship resistance, this very feature makes it incompatible with regulated global finance. "Censorship-resistant money and the mainstream global financial system are fundamentally incompatible," Campbell wrote, highlighting that decentralization carries real operational costs that often outweigh benefits for institutional use. Stellar offers open access while employing a trust-based consensus algorithm that allows financial institutions to select partners directly, a critical feature for compliance and risk management. The professor emphasized that Stellar's Layer 1 protocol supports essential control functions including the ability to freeze assets, seize funds, and maintain whitelists of approved participants—features that are non-negotiable for large financial entities.
Stellar's DeFi total value locked (TVL) crossed $200 million for the first time in late April 2026, reaching $197.41 million on April 24 per DefiLlama, with intraday spikes pushing slightly above that mark in the days following. The growth is driven by tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), specifically money market funds and tokenized US and European Treasury bills issued by Spiko, Ondo Finance, and Franklin Templeton. This represents a significant milestone as Stellar moved the other way, posting 284% year-over-year TVL growth through 2025 and carrying that momentum into Q1 and Q2. The network's TVL has grown from under $12 million in November 2024 to around $46 million by May 2025, with the first major leap coming in January 2026 when it hit an earlier all-time high near $196 million. As of May 27, 2026, TVL sits at $161.12 million on DefiLlama, down from the April peak but still roughly seven times its level a year earlier. The stablecoin market cap on Stellar has also retraced, falling 23.15% over the past seven days to $323.73 million.
The partnership announcement has significantly boosted Stellar's position in the rapidly expanding real-world asset tokenization market. According to RWA.xyz network data, the real-world asset tokenization market (excluding stablecoins) has more than tripled from around $12 billion in early 2025 to roughly $33.88 billion in on-chain value. Stellar already ranks among the pioneers in this sector—fourth globally, with 41 tokenized real-world assets worth about $1.8 billion and a roughly 5.39% market share, trailing only Ethereum, BNB Chain, and Solana. Stellar's total value locked in RWAs has grown more than 13% over the past 30 days, demonstrating sustained institutional and corporate adoption. The represented asset value remains steady at $579.71 million, while the number of RWA holders grew 7.54% to 12,459. Messari's Q1 2026 report tracks the cumulative effect, with Stellar's RWA market cap excluding stablecoins rising 91% quarter over quarter from $796 million at the start of Q1 to $1.52 billion by quarter-end, crossing $2 billion on April 11, driven mainly by tokenized government treasury assets.
