Stellar’s Evolution: Driving DeFi Growth through Soroban and Composability
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) recently unveiled a series of transformative advancements at the Meridian 2025 conference in Rio de Janeiro, signaling a new era for the network. The central theme, "The Blueprint," focused on composability—the ability for developers to seamlessly integrate disparate protocols into complex financial applications using Soroban smart contracts.
A major highlight was the integration of Circle’s CCTP V2, which allows $USDC to move natively between Stellar and over 15 other blockchains without traditional bridges. This breakthrough, combined with the launch of the Meridian Pay smart wallet, drastically lowers the barriers for cross-chain DeFi activity and institutional adoption. Furthermore, the network’s Protocol 23 ("Whisk") upgrade has introduced parallel transaction processing, aiming for a throughput of 5,000 transactions per second. This ensures that as the ecosystem grows, it remains one of the most efficient and scalable platforms for high-volume financial services.
The real-world impact is already visible: Mercado Bitcoin announced plans to issue $200 million in tokenized assets on Stellar, while Ondo Finance ($ONDO ) has brought its yield-bearing $USDY to the network. These developments suggest a bright future for $XLM and USDC, as increased liquidity and developer interest drive total value locked (TVL) to new heights. By prioritizing interoperability and developer-friendly tools, Stellar is positioning itself as the premier hub for the future of decentralized and traditional finance.
