Stellar (XLM) Overtakes Bitcoin Cash in Market Cap Amid ETF Boost

Stellar (XLM) has officially surpassed Bitcoin Cash (BCH) in market capitalization, climbing to the 16th spot among cryptocurrencies, according to CoinMarketCap. As of now, Stellar holds a market cap of $8.4 billion, narrowly edging out Bitcoin Cash at $8.25 billion.

This reshuffling comes as Stellar gains fresh momentum, supported by its recent inclusion in the Nasdaq Crypto U.S. Settlement Price Index. The updated index, now used as the benchmark for the Hashdex Nasdaq Crypto Index U.S. ETF, features Stellar alongside leading cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum (ETH), Solana (SOL), Cardano (ADA), and XRP. This inclusion signals growing institutional recognition for Stellar’s role in blockchain finance.

XLM’s upward trajectory is backed by strong fundamentals. The network now supports cross-border payments across 70+ countries and has processed billions of transactions. It also plays a key role in tokenized real-world assets (RWAs), with $17 billion in processed volume and $522 million currently on-chain—placing it among the top blockchains in the RWA space.

Stellar’s technical development is also advancing, with ongoing enhancements to its smart contract platform, Soroban. Improvements such as concurrency support, ahead-of-time (AOT) compilation, and advanced caching are expected to boost performance and developer adoption.

Despite recent volatility, Bitcoin Cash remains in the top 20, and any renewed buying pressure could see it reclaim higher ground. Still, Stellar’s recent progress and growing use cases position it well for continued upward momentum.

As investor interest in blockchain-based financial infrastructure increases, Stellar appears poised to further solidify its presence among the crypto market’s top-tier assets.