TLDR:
- Stellar gains 62% in one week as trading volume explodes to over $2.2 billion.
- Protocol 23 upgrade promises 40% cost reduction and major network performance boost.
- Stellar Core v23.0.0-rc2 confirms readiness, attracting institutional trading activity.
- Bitcoin’s surge above $118K triggers altcoin rally, boosting demand for XLM.
Stellar (XLM) has seen a sharp rise in price over the past week.
The token’s sudden momentum has aligned with a broader market recovery and crucial developments within the Stellar ecosystem. The crypto currently trades at $0.3755, marking a substantial 21.98% surge in just 24 hours.
This momentum has pushed XLM up 62.52% over the past week, signaling strong market confidence. Trading volume has exploded to $2.2 billion, representing a massive 327.70% increase from the previous day.
The token’s price range has expanded from $0.2353 to $0.3917 over seven days, with daily fluctuations between $0.3032 and $0.4012. But what has fueled this rally? Read on.
Stellar Protocol 23 Upgrade Drives Market Excitement
Stellar’s upcoming Protocol 23 upgrade stands as the primary catalyst behind this price rally.
The network has scheduled a mainnet vote for August 14, 2025, generating widespread anticipation among developers and investors. This major upgrade promises significant performance improvements through parallel transaction execution and live state prioritization features.
The technical enhancements could reduce ledger costs by up to 40% while dramatically boosting network scalability. These improvements position Stellar for increased adoption in decentralized finance (DeFi) applications and tokenized asset markets.
X user Tomer Weller highlighted the upgrade’s comprehensive nature. He noted massive runtime performance gains and cost reduction capabilities through Soroban live state prioritization.
Stellar's protocol 23 is STACKED with core advancements*:
– MASSIVE runtime performance gains and cost reduction with soroban live state prioritization which enables soroban data caching and smart contract caching (cap62, cap65, cap66)
– Increased throughput and contention…— Tomer Weller (@tomerweller) January 23, 2025
Stellar Network Readiness Signals Strong Foundation
The Stellar Development Foundation recently released Stellar Core v23.0.0-rc2 on July 9, demonstrating the network’s preparedness for the upcoming upgrade.
This release candidate signals that developers have thoroughly tested the new features and consider them ready for implementation. Following this announcement, institutional trading volume surged dramatically.
The release cleared several resistance levels as heavy trading activity flooded the market. Smart contract caching and data optimization features promise to enhance the developer experience significantly.
RELEASE: stellar-core v23.0.0rc2
Release Notes: https://t.co/ROviq9MQTN
— Stellar Release (@StellarRelease) July 7, 2025
These technical improvements create a unified events system for lighter, more consistent downstream operations.
Bitcoin Rally Fuels XLM and the Broader Crypto Momentum
Bitcoin’s record-breaking surge above $118,000 has triggered a comprehensive altcoin rally across the crypto market. XLM benefits directly from this “alt season” momentum as capital rotates into tokens with clear utility and strong technical foundations.
The broader market optimism has created favorable conditions for cryptocurrencies with solid use cases.
Stellar’s established partnerships and cross-border payment solutions make it an attractive option during market upswings. The combination of technical upgrades and favorable market conditions has created perfect storm conditions for XLM’s price appreciation.
This convergence of factors explains why Stellar continues to outperform many other altcoins in the current market cycle.
The post Here’s Why Stellar (XLM) Price Is Up Today appeared first on Blockonomi.
Source: https://blockonomi.com/heres-why-stellar-xlm-price-is-up-today/