Stellar Ecosystem
News

Trustless Work launched v1 of its official NPM package (@trustless-work/escrow), enabling developers to integrate escrow infrastructure directly into their applications with minimal code. The release simplifies escrow deployment and is part of the project's roadmap toward mainnet launch.

Trustless Work presents escrow as a critical infrastructure layer for marketplace platforms, enabling non-custodial fund holding between buyers and sellers without requiring platforms to build custom payment systems. The article outlines how escrow solves the coordination problem in marketplaces and details the technical implementation using stablecoins and smart contracts.

Crypto card provider Rain has expanded its stablecoin-linked Visa cards to support Solana, Tron, and Stellar networks. This update enables companies on these chains to launch branded cards for real-world stablecoin spending anywhere Visa is accepted. The expansion highlights growing demand for blockchain-based everyday payments.

The Axelar Foundation and Stellar Development Foundation co-authored an article examining how blockchain interoperability is essential for retail payments to achieve the seamlessness of traditional payment systems. The piece highlights Stellar's payment innovations and argues for decentralized interoperability solutions like Axelar over custodial bridges.

The Stellar Development Foundation shared Q1 2025 ecosystem performance metrics and progress toward three ambitious 2025 goals: top 10 DeFi TVL ranking, top 10 monthly active wallets, and $3B in onchain RWAs. The network demonstrated real-world impact through institutional adoption, new wallet launches, and significant RWA issuance growth.

Stellar is a blockchain network focused on financial inclusion for unbanked populations through low-cost services like remittances and cross-border payments. It offers scalability via the Stellar Consensus Protocol, interoperability across systems, and support from the Stellar Development Foundation. Lumens (XLM) powers transactions and acts as a bridge currency, positioning Stellar as a leader in accessible DeFi.

A Stellar Development Foundation policy hub page featuring articles on payments and digital assets, including discussions on government spending with digital assets, stablecoin standards, and global consensus on stablecoins.

MoneyGram launched MoneyGram Ramps, an API powered by Stellar and Circle's USDC that lets developers embed compliant cash-to-crypto and crypto-to-cash functionality. The service covers 30+ countries for deposits and 170+ for withdrawals.

This article provides a comprehensive overview of the Stellar blockchain ecosystem, highlighting its key statistics, use cases like cross-border payments, microtransactions, CBDCs, and aid distribution, and unique features such as the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP). It emphasizes Stellar's focus on low-cost, fast transactions for financial inclusion and DeFi innovation. The ecosystem boasts $62.24M TVL, 200 TPS, and partnerships with entities like MoneyGram and IBM.

CompoSecure's Arculus cold storage wallet integrated with MoneyGram to enable cash-to-USDC conversion on Stellar, allowing users to deposit cash at 440,000+ MoneyGram locations worldwide and withdraw local currency. CompoSecure also received an SDF grant to develop Soroban smart contracts for direct stablecoin payments at Visa/Mastercard merchants.

AEON, a next-generation crypto payment framework, has announced a strategic partnership with Stellar to integrate support for $XLM and Stellar-native USDC. This enables seamless crypto payments across AEON Pay's network of over 10,000 brands and 20 million QR-enabled retail stores in Southeast Asia, with expansion planned for Africa and Latin America.

Decaf rebuilt its wallet and payments platform from the ground up to scale stablecoin-powered financial services across 200+ countries. The rebuild adds faster onboarding, zero-fee transactions, Visa card integration, and DeFi access on Stellar and Solana. Decaf aims to impact 1M lives and save $1B+ in banking fees in 2025.

An article advocating for Stellar's adoption by the U.S. government for efficient aid disbursement and public sector payments, highlighting the Stellar Disbursement Platform's proven track record with UNHCR and other organizations.

Stellar's Disbursement Platform and Decaf Wallet offer NGOs and humanitarian organizations a faster, cheaper, and more transparent alternative to traditional cross-border payment methods like cash delivery and prepaid cards.

COCA, a non-custodial stablecoin payments app with over 1 million users, secured strategic funding from the Stellar Development Foundation and FunFair Ventures to accelerate growth and deepen integration with Stellar's ecosystem, including MoneyGram remittances and Soroban smart contracts.

COCA, a stablecoin payments platform, has secured strategic investment from the Stellar Development Foundation and FunFair Ventures. The funding will accelerate COCA's expansion within the Stellar ecosystem, enabling seamless stablecoin payments through non-custodial debit cards and IBANs to over 80 million merchants worldwide.

The Stellar Community Fund (SCF) #33 round awarded $1,033,620 in XLM to 14 projects across Build Awards. Highlights include Stellarcarbon for carbon offsetting, CodeLnPay for cross-border payments, and Warmancer: Black Friday for blockchain gaming. The round introduced SCF 6.1 updates streamlining submissions for future rounds.

Coala Pay, an SCF-funded project by anthropologist Melyn McKay, is a public aid funding marketplace and weather oracle built on Stellar to accelerate humanitarian aid delivery in regions like Somalia. The platform enables organizations to manage programs and payments through private marketplaces while a weather oracle allows preemptive crisis response funding in under 24 hours.

TruBit, Latin America’s leading crypto payment platform, has integrated with MoneyGram Access™, developed by MoneyGram in collaboration with the Stellar Development Foundation. This partnership enables seamless cash-to-USDC conversions at MoneyGram locations across key LATAM markets, targeting the region's $82 billion+ remittance economy. It leverages Stellar's blockchain for efficient cross-border payments and financial inclusion.

The Stellar Foundation released its 2025 roadmap with three primary objectives: achieving $1.5 billion TVL and top-ten DeFi status, reaching 5 million monthly active addresses, and scaling Real World Assets to $3 billion while maintaining its second-place position in the RWA category.

Hana Wallet introduces the Hana Card, a multi-chain virtual debit card for spending crypto from non-custodial wallets anywhere Mastercard is accepted. It supports top-ups with ETH, AVAX, XLM and more, integrating seamlessly with Apple Pay and Google Pay. Launching first in Australia via partnership with Immersve, with global pre-registration open.

Ondo Finance announces plans to deploy USDY, its yield-bearing stablecoin backed by US Treasuries, on the Stellar network in the coming months. The integration will enable Stellar users to access institutional-grade yield-bearing assets for treasury management, cross-border payments, and wealth preservation.