Stellar (XLM) price overtakes Bitcoin Cash, as XLM becomes 16th largest crypto

Stellar (XLM) price has shocked the crypto market by overtaking Bitcoin Cash (BCH) in market capitalization, signaling a major momentum shift.

Now ranked the 16th largest cryptocurrency, Stellar boasts a market value of $8.4 billion, edging out BCH at $8.25 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.

This shift marks a key comeback for Stellar, which has quietly built what some consider one of the most reliable blockchain infrastructures for cross-border payments, real-world asset tokenization, and smart contracts.

Stellar (XLM) price climb reflects renewed investor confidence

The strong upward movement in Stellar (XLM) price is no accident. Over the past year, Stellar has consistently delivered on utility-driven adoption.

It now powers cross-border payments across 70+ countries, processes billions in transaction volume, and has established itself as a leader in real-world asset (RWA) tokenization.

At press time, $522 million in assets are currently tokenized on the Stellar network, with $17 billion in volume already processed, a clear indicator of growing institutional interest.

“Stellar is now one of the most compelling infrastructure plays in the crypto space,” said Meltem Demirors, Chief Strategy Officer at CoinShares. “Its focus on real-world integration is exactly what institutions are looking for.”

Nasdaq gives Stellar a credibility boost

One major tailwind driving Stellar (XLM) price is its recent inclusion in the Nasdaq Crypto U.S. Settlement Price Index, which acts as the benchmark for the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index U.S. ETF.

With this update, the ETF now includes Stellar, Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and XRP, alongside market giants like Bitcoin (BTC) and Ethereum (ETH).

“Index inclusion changes the game for visibility and credibility,” explained Dave Abner, global head of business development at Gemini. “It puts Stellar in the same class as blue-chip assets and brings it into institutional portfolio consideration.”

In the background, Stellar continues to enhance Soroban, its smart contract platform designed for performance and scalability.

Soroban is undergoing major technical upgrades, including ahead-of-time compilation, aggressive caching, and multi-threaded concurrency—features that are expected to significantly boost transaction throughput and smart contract efficiency.

These upgrades have piqued developer interest, further supporting Stellar (XLM) price growth by increasing the utility and competitiveness of the platform in the crowded DeFi and tokenized asset landscape.

Stellar’s RWA dominance becomes impossible to ignore

Another underappreciated factor behind the rise in Stellar (XLM) price is its dominance in the tokenized assets sector. With its clear regulatory focus and strong compliance integrations, Stellar is now among the top blockchain platforms for RWAs.

The recent $200 million tokenization of treasury bonds in Latin America using Stellar is just one example of how the network is transforming financial access at the global level.

“This isn’t just hype. It’s a real use case gaining adoption at scale,” said Michael Anderson, co-founder of Framework Ventures.

While Stellar (XLM) price has now pulled ahead of Bitcoin Cash, the key question is whether it can maintain momentum. With fundamentals strengthening, ETF exposure increasing, and ecosystem upgrades underway, the odds appear to be in Stellar’s favor.

Meanwhile, Bitcoin Cash remains a competitor in the top 20, but its momentum has slowed. Any buying surge could shift the rankings again, but for now, Stellar’s edge is built on a solid foundation of utility and real-world adoption.

This isn’t a hype cycle; it’s a fundamentals-driven ascent, and investors are starting to notice. Stellar (XLM) price momentum is being fueled by more than market sentiment—it’s being driven by adoption.

With real-world use cases in cross-border payments and tokenized assets, Stellar is becoming a key infrastructure layer for global finance. Its recent inclusion in institutional indices only strengthens its long-term growth narrative.