This week, the classic “follow-the-leader” dynamic returned to the cryptocurrency market. After XRP posted a strong rise, holding steady at $1.3988 with a weekly gain of 40.94%, its historical counterpart, Stellar (XLM), began to catch up at the same time.
With a weekly gain of 22.33% and closing at $0.19111, XLM reached the first important technical threshold on its way toward breaking above the full mid-range average.
Difference in underlying motivations
The current rise highlights the difference between the engines of the two systems: while XRP climbs after Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s official meeting at the White House regarding the Digital Asset Clarity law, S t e l l e r dominates the tokenization of real-world assets (RWA).
The value of real-world assets on S t e l l e r has surpassed $3 billion, making it the global leader in tokenizing non-U.S. sovereign debt, with about $490 million issued in partnership with Franklin Templeton and Ondo. The key mid-term catalyst is its integration with the DTCC Foundation, which oversees assets worth $114 trillion, to bring Russell 1000 stocks and index funds to S t e l l e r in the first half of 2027.
Network growth is supported by a record 2,968 monthly active developers, along with the move to Protocol 28 (Adapter), which will raise the production rate by 65% to reach 3,351 transactions per second.
In contrast, Ripple is expanding its commercial infrastructure: Ripple Prime raised $275 million through the issuance of institutional bonds; the RLUSD stablecoin received approval in Japan and authorization under the EU’s MiCA framework; meanwhile, XRPL validators are preparing to launch XLS-65/66 updates to kick off native asset lending pools in collaboration with Clearpool.
Chase path: Two main scenarios for S t e l l e r’s price
On the weekly timeframe, XLM looks like it’s catching up after its reversal from the $0.15232 bottom. While XRP is at $1.40 in a deeply oversold zone on the weekly RSI, XLM is still only testing its moving averages within the $0.191–$0.194 range—leaving room to reach the next key threshold:
- If breakout occurs: XLM needs to secure a weekly close above the $0.217–$0.230 resistance zone, removing technical obstacles to the move toward the $0.26 and $0.30 targets.
- If momentum fades: failure to break $0.195 due to local profit-taking could pull the asset back into a consolidation channel, with a retreat toward support levels of $0.177 and $0.152.
Although S t e l l e r is lagging XRP in terms of pace, its leadership in the RWA sector and its technical upgrades provide it with the resources needed to continue the bullish trend. The final direction will be determined in mid-September after voting on Protocol 28 and the upcoming news from Washington regarding the Clarity law.