Crypto
Stellar Upgrade Puts $0.25 Back in Play as AlphaPepe Nears Sellout
The Stellar protocol upgrade, Protocol 28, is approaching its mainnet vote on September 16. This upgrade is designed to improve performance under load and make Soroban smart-contract upgrades easier to manage.
Stellar's growth in cross-border payments, tokenized assets, and institutional settlement has strengthened its position. The U.S. Bank has completed a live cross-border payment pilot using its USBDC stablecoin on Stellar, and USDT0 liquidity has been launched through LayerZero's omnichain standard.
XLM is holding near the $0.18 to $0.19 region after recovering from early-September weakness. However, if buyers reclaim $0.20, Protocol 28 strengthens confidence, and stablecoin activity continues expanding, XLM can target $0.25.