Stellar Ecosystem
News

A comprehensive guide to building decentralized applications on Stellar's Soroban smart contract platform, covering essential developer tools, a step-by-step roadmap from setup through deployment, and community resources for support.

Soundness Labs and Mysten Labs have developed PQ-Chain, a backward-compatible upgrade for EdDSA-based blockchains like Stellar, Solana, Sui, and Aptos that adds quantum resistance without hard forks or address changes. It leverages the existing quantum-secure seed in EdDSA keypairs, proven via PQ-NIZK proofs at the transaction and account levels. This opt-in approach provides immediate protection during the transition to native post-quantum signatures.

This article explains the multi-layer architecture of modern Web3 blockchains, from Layer 0 foundations to Layer 3 specialized applications. It covers key examples like Cosmos, Ethereum, Optimism, and briefly mentions Stellar among supported L1 networks in the HOT Wallet. The piece promotes a multi-chain wallet for seamless interaction across these layers.

The article analyzes whether the recent crypto market downturn has stabilized, focusing on Bitcoin's critical $70k support level amid strong fundamentals like a weakening dollar and expected rate cuts. It warns of potential systemic risks if breached, while noting high leverage as a key factor. Ads highlight Stellar integrations like OpenZeppelin Smart Accounts.

COCA's 2025 review highlights its transformation from a crypto wallet to a stablecoin banking ecosystem with massive growth in users, card volume, and $COCA token value. Key achievements include Stellar integrations for USDC/EURC, a Series A with Stellar Development Foundation, and product launches like COCA 2.0 and rewards. The company outlines ambitious 2026 plans including Apple Pay, non-custodial accounts, and global expansion.

Freighter wallet now supports adding SEP-50 collectibles on Mainnet, Testnet, and Futurenet via manual input of contract address and token ID. Enhanced memo requirement checks in the Send flow ensure payments to exchanges reach their destination. Additional bugfixes and stability improvements are included.

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.

Normal Finance, an on-chain investing protocol built on Stellar, is now live at normalfinance.io. It enables Stellar users to gain long or short exposure to major crypto assets like BTC, ETH, SOL, ADA, and XRP directly from their Stellar wallets without bridging. The platform offers self-custodial synthetic positions, yield earning, and simple onboarding.

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.

An essay arguing that blockchain protocols and traditional payment systems will coexist and complement each other rather than compete. The author, from the Stellar Development Foundation, advocates for building bridges between code-based coordination (open protocols) and committee-based coordination (legacy financial rails) to serve different use cases and global financial needs.

Denelle Dixon interviews Ben Milne, founder and CEO of Brale, about building regulated stablecoin infrastructure. Brale enables companies to issue and operate fiat-backed stablecoins without building their own banking, compliance, or blockchain stack, dramatically lowering barriers to entry from ~$100M to near-zero.

Stellar Protocol 25 X-Ray, voting tomorrow, introduces native zero-knowledge proof verification capabilities to Stellar smart contracts, including support for BN254 elliptic curves, Poseidon hashing, and Noir circuit verification.

This article provides a comprehensive Spanish-language guide to Stellar Community Fund (SCF) 7.0, explaining its funding process, key changes, and application steps for builders in the Stellar ecosystem. It covers the Interest Form entry point, three Build tracks (Open, Integration, RFP), tranche-based funding up to $150K-$300K in XLM, and practical tips for maximizing success. SCF emphasizes real products, execution, and community governance over mere ideas.

Litemint has launched a wallet-first redesign of its NFT Marketplace on the Stellar blockchain, eliminating registrations and logins for seamless wallet-based interactions. It features one-click minting for various media types, full SEP-1 compliance, and trading across 50+ Stellar markets including StellarExpert Top50. The platform leverages Stellar's first-class asset model for NFTs, ensuring universal interoperability without smart contracts.