This week brought the classic catch-up dynamic back to the crypto market. After the XRP token delivered a powerful rally, settling at $1.3988 with a weekly gain of 40.94% as per TradingView, its historic counterpart Stellar (XLM) simultaneously began actively playing catch-up.
Having gained 22.33% over the week and closed at $0.19111, XLM reached the first important technical threshold on its path toward a full-fledged medium-term breakout.
The current rally has highlighted the difference between the ecosystems’ fundamental drivers. While XRP is rising following Ripple CEO Brad Garlinghouse’s official White House meeting regarding the Digital Asset Market Clarity Act, Stellar dominates the real-world asset tokenization sector.
The value of RWAs on Stellar has exceeded $3 billion, making the network the world leader in the tokenization of non-U.S. sovereign debt, with approximately $490 million issued in partnership with Franklin Templeton and Ondo. The main medium-term catalyst is its integration with the Depository Trust & Clearing Corporation (DTCC), which oversees $114 trillion in assets, to bring Russell 1000 securities and ETFs onto Stellar in the first half of 2027.
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The network’s growth is supported by a record 2,968 monthly active developers and the transition to Protocol 28 (Adapter), which will increase network throughput by 65% to 3,351 TPS.
The Ripple ecosystem, in turn, is expanding its commercial infrastructure. Ripple Prime raised $275 million through an institutional bond issuance, the RLUSD stablecoin received approval in Japan and authorization under Europe’s MiCA framework, and XRPL validators are preparing the XLS-65/66 amendments to launch native lending pools together with Clearpool.
Catch-up trajectory: Two key scenarios for Stellar’s price
On the weekly timeframe, XLM looks like an asset playing catch-up, having begun its reversal from the $0.15232 bottom. While XRP at $1.40 is already in deeply overbought territory on the weekly RSI, XLM is only testing the moving averages in the $0.191–$0.194 range, leaving it with room to reach the next key milestone on the chart.
Stellar’s further trajectory in its pursuit of the leader depends on its ability to hold its ground and overcome key price barriers:
- If a breakout follows: XLM needs to secure a weekly close above the $0.217–$0.230 resistance zone. This would remove the technical obstacles to a move toward the $0.26 and $0.30 targets.
- If momentum fades: Failure to break above $0.195 due to local profit-taking would send the asset back into its consolidation channel, with a pullback toward the $0.177 and $0.152 support levels.
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Despite Stellar lagging behind XRP’s pace, its leadership in the RWA sector and its technical upgrade give the asset the resources needed to continue the trend. The final direction will be determined in mid-September following the vote on Protocol 28 and news from Washington regarding the Clarity Act.
