Stellar Rockets Toward Crypto Top 10: Could XLM Eventually Overtake XRP?

Stellar has quietly become one of the most interesting stories in crypto over the past month. A few weeks ago, XLM was sitting outside the spotlight and ranked around 20th by market capitalization. Today, Stellar has climbed to 13th place, gaining seven positions in a relatively short period.

That rise is notable when viewed against the broader market backdrop. Bitcoin has struggled to establish a strong recovery; many large altcoins have moved lower, and XRP has largely continued to follow the direction of the wider crypto market. Stellar, however, managed to break away from that pattern for a period and delivered one of the strongest rallies among major cryptocurrencies.

The question now is whether this recent strength can push XLM into the crypto top 10 and whether Stellar could eventually become a more profitable investment than XRP this cycle.

• Stellar Price Growth Has Been Driven by Major Institutional and Network Developments
• Stellar Is Closing the Gap to the Crypto Top 10
• Stellar May Outperform XRP but Flipping XRP Remains Unlikely
• FAQs

Stellar Price Growth Has Been Driven by Major Institutional and Network Developments

A major turning point arrived near the end of May when Stellar experienced one of its strongest independent rallies in years.

Between May 28 and May 30, XLM jumped more than 70% and climbed toward $0.29 even as broader crypto markets faced liquidation pressure and geopolitical uncertainty. That move stood out because Bitcoin and Ethereum were under pressure during the same period.

One of the biggest catalysts came from news involving the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation. Plans emerged to connect the DTCC tokenization platform to the public Stellar blockchain. That development placed Stellar at the center of conversations surrounding tokenized assets and institutional blockchain infrastructure.

Additional developments continued to strengthen the Stellar ecosystem. Mesh integrated Stellar as a settlement layer for global payments. Protocol 26, known as the Yardstick upgrade, went live on mainnet and introduced security and performance improvements. Circle also launched its Cross Chain Transfer Protocol on Stellar, creating easier movement of assets between blockchain networks.

June brought further progress. The Stellar ecosystem released JS SDK v16.0.0, launched the Protocol 27 testnet upgrade, and welcomed GOVY, a tokenized U.S. Treasury Bill product from Archax.

Another milestone arrived when the official Stellar account announced that real-world assets on the network had exceeded $3 billion. That figure crossed multiple major milestones during 2026 and strengthened Stellar’s position within the rapidly growing tokenization sector.

Stellar Is Closing the Gap to the Crypto Top 10

The rally helped push Stellar much higher in the cryptocurrency rankings. XLM currently trades around $0.19 with a market capitalization near $6.4 billion. Just one month ago, Stellar ranked close to 20th place. Today, it sits at 13th position and remains within striking distance of several larger projects.

XLM Price Line Chart / TradingView.com

Stellar community member Sylvian Guibal recently pointed out that XLM gained more than 30% over the past month despite recent profit-taking pressure.

Current rankings show Stellar trailing several assets above it. Dogecoin currently occupies the 10th position with a market capitalization of nearly $12.76 billion.

To reach that level, Stellar would need its market value to nearly double. That translates to an estimated XLM price near $0.38 if competing market capitalizations remain unchanged.

That target may sound ambitious, yet it no longer appears impossible given how quickly Stellar has climbed the rankings over the past several weeks.

Stellar May Outperform XRP but Flipping XRP Remains Unlikely

One of the interesting conversations surrounding Stellar involves XRP. Both networks focus on payments and cross-border value transfer. Both assets also share a long history of moving in similar directions during major market cycles.

There is a strong argument that XLM could outperform XRP from a percentage return perspective during certain periods. Smaller market capitalizations often allow assets to generate larger percentage gains when positive catalysts emerge.

Recent events provide a good example. DTCC-related developments, tokenization growth, stablecoin expansion, and new ecosystem upgrades helped XLM decouple from the broader market at times. XRP did not experience the same degree of separation and largely continued following Bitcoin’s direction.

That does not mean Stellar is likely to overtake XRP in overall market value. XRP currently carries a market capitalization near $68.5 billion. Stellar remains close to $7 billion. Closing that gap would require XLM to rise toward roughly $2.50 assuming XRP remains unchanged.

Several structural factors also favor XRP. Ripple maintains a stronger position among large financial institutions and bank liquidity solutions. Stellar has built a different niche centered on public blockchain infrastructure, tokenized assets, NGOs, remittances, and payment networks.

Related Article: We Asked Claude AI Whether Stellar (XLM) Can Still Deliver a 10x Return by 2027

Another factor worth considering involves supply. The Stellar Development Foundation still controls a substantial portion of the total XLM supply for ecosystem growth. Future releases could create additional market supply over time if adoption does not grow quickly enough.

Historical patterns offer another clue. XRP and XLM frequently move together during major crypto rallies. When XRP enters a strong uptrend, XLM often follows and delivers impressive percentage gains. XRP’s market capitalization usually expands during those same periods, which makes a complete flip difficult to achieve.

Stellar’s recent rise up the crypto rankings remains one of the strongest large-cap stories of 2026. Institutional partnerships, real-world asset growth, payment infrastructure expansion, and continuous network upgrades have all helped strengthen the case for XLM.

FAQs

 **Is Stellar XLM a good investment?**

XLM is a good investment for investors seeking exposure to a payment-focused crypto network. However, it remains a volatile, high-risk altcoin.

 **Could XLM reach $1 dollar?**

Yes, XLM can reach $1, as it has a huge potential role to play in streamlining the cross-border payments.