Stellar Development Foundation announces major executive hires: José Fernández da Ponte (former PayPal blockchain head) as President and Chief Growth Officer, and Jason Karsh (ex-Block) as Chief Marketing Officer. The announcements coincide with XLM rallying over 80% and Franklin Templeton's $446M tokenized U.S. Treasuries integration on Stellar.
The Stellar Development Foundation has appointed two seasoned fintech executives to accelerate institutional adoption and growth. José Fernández da Ponte, who led PayPal's blockchain and digital currencies division and oversaw the PYUSD stablecoin launch, joins as President and Chief Growth Officer focused on partnerships and scaling adoption in payments, tokenization, and open finance. Jason Karsh, previously at Block leading marketing and partnerships for its Bitcoin hardware division, takes the Chief Marketing Officer role to align brand, product, and ecosystem strategy. The market responded strongly with XLM surging over 80% in a week, driven by these high-profile hires and real-world adoption momentum including Franklin Templeton's tokenization of over $446 million in U.S. Treasuries on Stellar. The protocol now ranks third in RWA adoption, with DeFi TVL up 16% to $141.7 million and stablecoins on the network totaling $627 million.
