Stellar (XLM), an open blockchain platform known for fast and cheap cross-border payments, is attracting attention from both retail and institutional investors in 2025.
However, the concentrated distribution of XLM supply and its potential applications in the field of real-world assets (RWAs) create both opportunities and challenges.
What implications will the concentrated supply and growing balances on exchanges have?
One of the main concerns regarding Stellar is the concentration of XLM supply. According to Flipside Crypto, the top ten XLM wallets hold approximately 25 billion XLM. The total circulating supply is 30.9 billion XLM, meaning that nearly 80% of the supply is owned by a small group. This raises questions about decentralization. A few entities that hold large volumes of tokens can significantly influence the market. Meanwhile, about 90% of XLM holders own less than 100 XLM.
This imbalance indicates that most retail investors have minimal influence on the price. As a result, the market faces volatility risks if 'whales' decide to sell.
Moreover, data from stellar.expert shows that XLM balances on Binance have been steadily increasing since the end of 2023, from 180 million XLM to 1 billion XLM. This growth reflects the increasing demand for trading and signals potential selling pressure in the event of negative news. At first glance, such data often seems negative for the network's prospects. However, XLM investors argue that the increase in circulating supply may indicate growing adoption.
"This is not an accidental distribution — it is a deliberate strategy... The growth of supply is measured and controlled, while adoption is rapidly increasing," commented an XLM investor.
On-chain data further supports this view. The number of active Stellar accounts increased from 7.2 million in 2023 to 9.5 million in May 2025. On average, the network adds about 5,000 new wallets daily. This steadily growing demand helps absorb circulating XLM.
Signs of increasing demand for XLM in the real-world assets (RWA) sector
Stellar is solidifying its position in the real assets space — one of the hottest trends in the crypto industry.
Currently, Stellar ranks third in market capitalization for RWAs, trailing only Ethereum and ZKsync Era. Key players in the Stellar RWAs ecosystem include Franklin Templeton OnChain US Government Money Fund (valued at $497 million) and the USDC stablecoin from Circle, which holds $345 million in the Stellar network. The total value of RWAs on Stellar increased by nearly 84% in 2025. It rose from $275 million to over $500 million by May. This growth reflects Stellar's increasing appeal for the tokenization of real-world assets.#Write2Earn #BinanceSquare #TradeStories #Binance #trading $USDC