Stellar Lumens (XLM) rallied nearly 30% in a single day, reaching $0.40, its highest price since early 2025. The surge is a clear sign that excitement is building again, thanks to strong chart patterns and major upgrades happening in the Stellar network.
Protocol 23: The Catalyst Fueling This Rally
One of the major catalysts for this momentum is Stellar’s upcoming Protocol 23 upgrade, set for a mainnet vote on August 14, 2025.
Protocol 23 introduces parallel transaction execution (CAP-0063) and live state prioritization (CAP-0062), making Stellar far more scalable and cost-efficient for developers and institutions alike.
According to industry sources, this upgrade could slash ledger processing costs by up to 40%, making Stellar a serious contender in the growing DeFi and RWA (real-world asset) tokenization space.
Meanwhile, one of the strongest signals of institutional confidence came from Franklin Templeton, which recently tokenized $445 million worth of U.S. Treasuries on the Stellar network. This single move pushed Stellar’s total value locked (TVL) to $543 million, nearly doubling from earlier in the year.
DeFiLlama confirms this momentum, showing Stellar’s DeFi TVL at a current $119.65 million, with $446.07 million TVL under the RWA category. However, RWA protocols are not counted in Chain TVL.
Stellar XLM Price Outlook: Key Levels to Watch
From a technical lens, XLM price has broken out of a descending triangle pattern with conviction, tearing past the critical $0.32 resistance level.
Analysts on Crypto Twitter, including popular Javon Marks, have identified a confirmed bullish flag and double-bottom pattern, with the price climbing above the 50/100 EMA and RSI/ADX still trending upward.
Volume confirms the move: XLM posted a 24h volume of $2.23B, up 276%, with spot trading across Binance and Bitget leading the charge. Open interest in futures also reached $246 million, the highest level since January, confirming both institutional and retail demand.
Currently trading around $0.3894, XLM has room to grow. Currently, the next resistance for XLM is around $0.42 to $0.45, a key zone where prices may slow down slightly. This level also aligns with the same trend we saw from the June rally.
However, if the current momentum holds, a climb to $0.50 appears realistic. After that, the next big target is $0.681, which top analyst Javon Marks has highlighted. If XLM manages to break above that level, we could eventually see a move toward $1.29, although that’s a longer-term goal.
That said, traders should be cautious in the short term, as the RSI is currently at 92.64, indicating the coin is heavily overbought. So, a slight pullback could happen before the next leg higher.
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