Stellar Ecosystem
News

OctoLend plans to enable Bitcoin as collateral for USDC loans on Stellar by leveraging NEAR's chain abstraction stack, including Chain Signatures for MPC-controlled BTC vaults and Intents for cross-chain proof verification.

This article explains why vaults are critical DeFi infrastructure for Stellar's evolution toward institutional adoption. It covers vault mechanics, the rise of curation as a financial discipline, and how Untangled is building vault infrastructure on Stellar to enable yield generation and asset management.

A comprehensive technical exploration of privacy-preserving trading mechanisms on Stellar, comparing zero-knowledge proofs, multi-party computation, fully homomorphic encryption, and trusted execution environments. The authors built working prototypes using MPC and TEE approaches, with TEEs emerging as the most practical solution for production systems.

Hoops Finance released a major authentication update enabling passkey-controlled smart accounts on Soroban, allowing users to authorize DeFi operations via biometric authentication without seed phrases or browser extensions. The founder detailed months of foundational work building the custom authentication layer, demonstrating a complete DeFi lifecycle from account creation through multi-protocol atomic deposits and withdrawals.

Normal Finance completed a comprehensive security audit with Halborn, emphasizing that security must be a foundational design principle rather than a launch checkbox. The protocol prioritized clarity and modularity from inception to manage the elevated risks of index protocols handling pooled capital.

LumosCore launches a permissionless cross-chain bridge between Stellar and XRPL using native $LUMOS tokens and a 50M token reserve. Projects can list assets with just $500 minimum liquidity and no fees.

Normal Finance launches on Stellar, introducing index funds and synthetic assets to the ecosystem. This adds investment primitives to Stellar's payments and remittance infrastructure, enabling users to trade diversified crypto markets and build portfolios onchain without leaving the network.

Rails has launched Institutional-Grade Vaults on the Stellar network, providing regulated, scalable liquidity infrastructure for institutional crypto derivatives. This integration leverages Stellar's high-performance blockchain for high-speed settlement, on-chain verification, and transparent markets. The solution bridges traditional finance standards with the crypto derivatives market, addressing fragmentation and regulatory challenges.

Rubic announces multiple integrations including Sui going live, MegaETH Day 1 support, and an expanded Stellar integration funded by the Stellar Community Fund. The Stellar update enables cross-chain swaps via providers like SimpleSwap and Changelly, with support for LOBSTR and Freighter wallets. Additional enhancements include expanded Relay support and a upcoming Rubic × Stellar marketing campaign.

OctoVault introduces vault infrastructure for structured yield strategies on Stellar, enabling institutional capital deployment across RWAs and crypto assets. The platform packages DeFi primitives like Aquarius, Blend, and native stablecoins into allocatable products with enforceable risk controls, exemplified by USDyc (delta-neutral yield) and Indentura (stablecoin yield with institutional governance).

Lantern Finance positions itself as a superior alternative to Nexo for crypto-backed loans, supporting Stellar (XLM) alongside other major cryptocurrencies like BTC, ETH, and SOL. It highlights better interest rates (e.g., 13% for XLM vs. Nexo's 18.9%), higher LTV ratios for some assets, a 72-hour grace period for margin calls, and zero liquidation fees. Lantern emphasizes enhanced security via BitGo custody and transparent collateral management.

Lantern Finance is presented as a superior alternative to Arch Lending for crypto-backed loans, supporting more currencies including Stellar (XLM), offering better security with BitGo custody and insurance, lower interest rates on select assets, zero liquidation fees, and a 72-hour grace period. The comparison table and FAQ highlight Lantern's advantages in collateral options, risk management, customer service, and overall borrower protections. Arch Lending supports fewer currencies and has higher fees in several areas.

The Stellar Community Fund Growth Hack is running active promotional campaigns across payments, DeFi, and infrastructure projects. Users can earn rewards through ROZO, Myaza, Seevcash, Soroswap Earn, and Allbridge by participating in user acquisition activities like deposits, transfers, bridging, and referrals.

A deep dive into Blend, Stellar's largest DeFi protocol, examining how its permissionless pool creation, market-funded backstop insurance, and mechanism design solve the governance bottleneck in lending protocols while maintaining safety through isolation and aligned incentives.

Hana Earn allows users to passively earn yield on USDC while maintaining full liquidity and control within the Hana crypto app. It eliminates DeFi complexities like monitoring, locking funds, or switching apps by leveraging an onchain stack including Stellar for fast, low-cost settlements. Users can spend or swap USDC anytime without interrupting earnings.

Token Terminal's weekly Snapshot covers emerging DeFi vault curators, Paxos' growth to $6.7B in issued assets including PYUSD and USDG, Solana's diversifying stablecoin landscape, and Ethereum L1's record transactions at low fees. It highlights new listings like Fathom on XDC and tokenized assets on Stellar such as sgBENJI and gBENJI. Platform updates include Studio improvements and a new Nansen integration.

Certora's 2025 report highlights their expansion as a leading DeFi security partner, securing 70% of top protocols by TVL including Stellar, Aave, and Compound. They reviewed hundreds of thousands of lines of code across chains like EVM, Solana, and Stellar, preventing 720+ vulnerabilities and protecting $196.5B in assets. Formal verification proved key invariants for protocols like Stellar, ensuring long-term solvency and security.

Stellar's financial ecosystem expanded significantly in 2025, with stablecoin market cap growing 53% to $243.6M driven by PayPal's PYUSD launch, while RWA market cap surged 196% to $890.2M. U.S. Bank is testing custom stablecoin issuance on Stellar, and the Marshall Islands completed the world's first onchain universal basic income disbursement by a national government.

Hana launches Hana Earn, a seamless feature allowing users to earn yield on USDC directly within the Hana app without lockups or added complexity. Funds remain spendable and under user control, powered by infrastructure including Stellar for fast, low-cost settlements. This makes crypto function more like traditional money by integrating earning into everyday holding and spending.

This article reviews top DeFi portfolio trackers for 2026, including CoinLedger, DeBank, Zapper, Plena Finance, and Bitwave, emphasizing their role in managing complex DeFi assets across chains. It highlights essential features like multi-chain support, real-time data, and tax integration. The piece promotes Hoops Finance AI Copilot for Stellar ecosystem insights.

HOT Wallet by HOT Labs is presented as the premier wallet for Stellar (XLM) users, offering intuitive swaps, bridging, staking, and free account activation on the Stellar network. It supports XLM, USDC, EURC, and other assets across mobile, browser, and Telegram platforms. The article details setup, swapping via Aquarius and Soroswap, bridging, and unique features like MPC security and 24/7 support.

Trustless Work introduces a non-custodial escrow system for security deposits built on Stellar, where funds are programmable, rule-based, and default to refund unless an exception is validated. The platform provides multiple integration tools including a Back Office dApp, Escrow API, Next.js SDK, and Escrow Viewer for platforms handling hospitality, rentals, equipment leasing, and subscription services.

Normal's 2025 recap highlights its evolution from a centralized product to a fully self-custodial, decentralized protocol built on Stellar. Key achievements include 30,000 lines of smart contract code for wallets, AMMs, DEX, synthetic assets, and on-chain indexes, a Halborn security audit backed by SDF, and a Stellar Community Fund grant. The team expanded with key hires like CTO Jay and frontend lead Niko, while hosting global community events.