Stellar ($XLM) is steadily moving closer to the cryptocurrency top 10 following a strong month-long rally.
After spending most of the year ranked between 17th and 21st by market cap, $XLM has emerged as one of the market’s best-performing large-cap assets.
The token surged more than 30% over the past month. Although $XLM has recently faced profit-taking pressure—falling 9.72% over the past week and 7.96% in the last 24 hours to $0.1953—it continues to hold a significant portion of its gains.
Factors Fueling Stellar Rally
Several major developments have fueled Stellar’s recent rise. Last month, crypto payments network Mesh integrated Stellar as a settlement layer for its global payment ecosystem.
At the same time, the development team behind the network activated Protocol 26, also known as the Yardstick upgrade, on the mainnet. The upgrade improved network security and expanded Stellar’s appeal to institutional participants.
Following the upgrade, stablecoin issuer Circle launched its Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP) on the Stellar mainnet, further enhancing interoperability across blockchain networks.
Meanwhile, DTCC partnered with SDF to tokenize DTC-custodied assets on Stellar by next year, marking one of the ecosystem’s most significant institutional initiatives.
The Stellar network maintained positive momentum into June, highlighted by the release of JS SDK v16.0.0 alongside the Protocol 27 testnet upgrade. Additionally, Archax launched the tokenized U.S. Treasury Bill product, GOVY, on Stellar, strengthening the network’s position in real-world asset tokenization.
How Close Is Stellar to the Top 10?
Despite surrendering part of its recent gains, Stellar remains firmly in contention for a top-10 position. $XLM currently ranks as the 13th-largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $6.61 billion.
Last week, the token briefly climbed to 12th place after posting a 27% weekly gain and overtaking Zcash in the rankings. However, the subsequent market pullback pushed Stellar back to 13th.
At press time, Stellar trails three cryptocurrencies ahead of it in the rankings:
- Zcash (12th) — $7.31 billion market cap
- Unus Sed Leo (11th) — $8.76 billion market cap
- Dogecoin (10th) — $12.76 billion market cap
What Would It Take for $XLM to Enter the Top 10?
For Stellar to break into the top 10, its market cap would need to rise to roughly $13 billion, assuming Dogecoin’s valuation remains unchanged.
That would require an increase of approximately 97% from Stellar’s current $6.61 billion market cap. Based on current supply levels, such a move would translate to an $XLM price of around $0.38 per token.
While that target remains ambitious, Stellar’s recent ecosystem growth, institutional partnerships, and ongoing technical upgrades have positioned $XLM as one of the strongest contenders for a top-10 ranking in the current market cycle.
