Day 2 floor coverage from Stellar's Meridian 2026. Etherfuse launches Principal Token for tokenized bonds, Stellar DeFi hub crosses $100M TVL with growing RWA utilization, and market observers discuss institutional adoption trends.
At Meridian 2026's second day in Lisbon, Stellar's infrastructure layer showed institutional maturity across tokenized assets and decentralized finance. Etherfuse launched Principal Token, splitting principal from yield on tokenized government bonds, enabling wallets to offer fixed local-currency stablecoins while routing yield separately. With $50M AUM, the product addresses inflation hedging in high-currency-instability markets such as Nigeria, where borrowers need stable principal but yield must hedge against exchange risk. Stellar's DeFi infrastructure continued steady growth, with the Stellar DeFi Hub crossing $100M TVL and the broader ecosystem tracking $220-260M on DeFiLlama. Institutional vault platforms like Upshift are expanding access, while Centrifuge's growing suite of real-world assets—DEJ AAA treasuries, DEJ TRSY, DEJ HYB corporate bonds—are becoming more spendable through DeFi protocols. Separately, institutional investment in blockchain data infrastructure signals broader appetite for blockchain-native infrastructure beyond token trading.
