In this future, Stellar has successfully carved out the third-largest blockchain by RWA market cap. As of writing, it’s behind only Ethereum and ZKsync Era. That growth is driving widespread adoption and creative strategic partnerships. Yet, a large percentage of the supply of the network’s native token, XLM, is still locked up in a few wallets. Harshil Parikh, Building on market trends, Stellar’s recent developments indicate a consistent growth path, highlighted by an increase in RWA value and a wider user base.

RWA Growth on the Stellar Network

In 2025, the total value of RWAs on the Stellar network saw significant increases, rising by 84%. Beginning with a market cap of $275 million, the total value of RWAs on Stellar has grown to over $500 million as of May 2025. This expansion is a signal of Stellar’s growing importance as a player in the blockchain space.

Through engaging these esteemed institutions the network has built impressive credibility to enhance its RWA capabilities. Franklin Templeton’s OnChain US Government Money Fund, valued at $497 million, and Circle’s USDC stablecoin, holding $345 million on the Stellar network, are prominent examples. It is through these collaborations that Stellar builds its credibility and over time wins more institutional interest.

User Adoption and Network Activity

Stellar has recently been going through an astronomical surge of user adoption. Those with active accounts have more than doubled from 7.2 million in 2023 to 9.5 million as of May 2025. With about 5,000 new wallet addresses being created daily, the network has continued to show high levels of interest and activity.

Despite this growth, the distribution of XLM tokens is very concentrated. It should be noted that around 90% of XLM holders own under 100 XLM. Since September 2023, the amount of XLM on crypto exchange Binance has surged. In one day, it increased from 180 million to over 1 billion XLM!

Concentrated XLM Supply

Astonishingly, close to 80% of the entire circulating supply—which is currently 30.9 billion XLM—is in the hands of only a few dozen entities. This concentration has raised alarm bells inside the cryptocurrency community about how this could affect decentralization and network governance.

"This isn’t a random distribution — it’s a deliberate strategy… Supply growth is measured and controlled while adoption surges" - one investor

In addition to their strong, fast global payment solutions, low-cost, cross-border payment is just one use case that makes Stellar an attractive platform for other financial applications. Third, the network’s efficiency and scalability are inarguably important factors propelling its adoption.