Stellar Ecosystem
News

TD Markets Exchange has launched ZARC Coin, a South African Rand-pegged stablecoin on the Stellar network, in partnership with Shift Markets. The asset offers up to 7.5% APY and enables cross-border payments, remittances, and wealth preservation with 24/7 liquidity and local on/off ramps.

The Stellar Community Fund (SCF) #37 round awarded $1,861,405 worth of XLM to 19 innovative projects building on the Stellar blockchain. Projects span DeFi protocols, privacy solutions, real-world assets, wallets, and developer tools. Out of 76 submissions, 43 were first-time applicants, showcasing the vibrant Stellar ecosystem.

HoneyCoin announces a $4.9 million funding round led by Flourish Ventures, with participation from Visa Ventures, Stellar Development Foundation, and others. The company, a full-stack payment orchestration platform using stablecoins and traditional rails, processes over $150M monthly across 45+ countries. Founded during COVID, it has achieved product-market fit serving millions of users in emerging markets, especially Africa.

July was a landmark month for Stellar, featuring new SDF leadership appointments, major integrations with Visa for stablecoin settlement, and significant ecosystem advances in DeFi, cross-chain communication, and developer tooling. The network celebrated its 11th birthday while the community engaged in global hackathons and grant programs.

Flipside Quests launches on Stellar, offering an interactive way to earn rewards while learning DeFi through simple tasks and guided onboarding.

Cheesecake Labs expands its five-year partnership with Stellar Development Foundation, serving as official ambassador at Blockchain Rio 2025 and Meridian 2025. The company has built multiple solutions on Stellar including MoneyGram Wallet, Vesseo Wallet, and MBRL stablecoin, positioning itself to capitalize on stablecoin opportunities following the GENIUS Act.

COCA hosted its first 2025 community AMA with 2,000+ questions about cashback rewards, stablecoin options, and upcoming features. The team clarified eligibility rules, announced plans for tiered loyalty rewards, COCA Travel discounts, and improved merchant transparency in-app.

Visa expanded stablecoin settlement support to include PYUSD, USDG, and EURC on Avalanche and Stellar networks, joining existing Ethereum and Solana support. The move reflects growing institutional adoption of stablecoins following the U.S. GENIUS Act regulatory framework.

An educational guide on using Blend, a permissionless lending protocol on Stellar, to transfer funds between accounts while avoiding cryptocurrency exchange rate volatility by borrowing XLM as collateral.

This article argues that USD Coin (USDC) is the best stablecoin to hold in 2025 due to its transparency, regulatory compliance, multi-chain availability including Stellar, and growing adoption in emerging markets. It contrasts USDC with alternatives like USDT and DAI, highlighting risks in less transparent or volatile stablecoins. USDC's institutional support and real-world utility in remittances and DeFi make it a standout choice.

The International AIDS Society (IAS) partnered with Stellar Disbursement Platform and Decaf wallet to distribute $49,480 in USDC stablecoins to 248 scholarship recipients from over 50 countries at the 2025 IAS Conference in Kigali. This blockchain solution replaced inefficient cash envelopes and long queues with seamless, secure digital payments achieving 100% delivery success across 425 transactions. The initiative highlights Stellar's potential for modernizing global disbursements for NGOs.

Protocol 23 introduces CAP-67 events that can emit data for both new and historical ledgers. Operators must enable two new core flags—EMIT_CLASSIC_EVENTS and BACKFILL_STELLAR_ASSET_EVENTS—to build a complete unified events feed covering classic operations and Soroban transactions.

COCA delivered major Q2 growth with 74% increase in monthly active users, 101% growth in card holders, and 199% increase in card transaction volume. The platform launched ETH staking, COCA cashback rewards, and new integrations including Ramp and Uniswap listings.