Hunter

Software Engineer | Development and Strategy @StellarAtlas.io | Founder @Ionize.org | prev. @PUBGesports

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

Excited to announce we’ve passed the @StellarOrg SCF 33 Build Award pre-screening and are moving on to the Community Vote!

Beyond thankful for the teams at @BuildOnStellar and @easya_app for their constant support and making this a possible!
See blog - https://t.co/u7I7ag0ilA

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@LindsayPoss Oh shit.

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@TimHaldorsson @arc Love to see it!

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@Maurnzz @Maurnzz
run it back?

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@ShrimzyPUBg Represent

[Chain INK @0xchainink]

$XLM : Review 📜

What if the company that clears $2.5 quadrillion in securities annually chose your blockchain as the first public chain to host tokenized U.S. stocks, ETFs, and Treasuries, and that announcement happened two days ago?

Meet Stellar - a Layer-1 blockchain built for cross-border payments and asset tokenization, founded by the man who created Mt. Gox and co-founded Ripple. 2-5 second finality. Near-zero fees. Connected to Visa, PayPal, Circle, and Franklin Templeton. And as of May 27, 2026, DTCC, the backbone of American capital markets, announced it will bring tokenized Russell 1000 stocks, ETFs, and U.S. Treasuries to Stellar by H1 2027 under an SEC no-action letter.

The first public blockchain ever selected by DTCC.

Let's explore how Stellar went from quiet payments chain to Wall Street's chosen infrastructure. 👇

��� Stellar at a Glance

Stellar is a decentralized, open-source blockchain platform focused on facilitating low-cost international money transfers, connecting financial institutions, and enabling asset tokenization. Launched in 2014 by Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim through the Stellar Development Foundation, the network operates with its native cryptocurrency XLM (Lumens).

The $XLM token prevents spam, facilitates transactions, and serves as a bridge currency for cross-border transfers. Total supply is ~50 billion XLM with ~30.6B in circulation.

Marketplace Insight: DTCC, which processes $2.5 quadrillion in securities transactions annually, announced it plans to connect its tokenized securities platform to Stellar by 2027. This is the first time DTC-custodied securities will live on a public blockchain. More than 50 financial firms, including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Bank of America, BlackRock, and Ondo Finance, are part of the industry working group. This isn't a partnership. This is the central securities depository of the United States choosing Stellar as its public blockchain.

⚪ Mission

Stellar's mission is to create an open financial system where money flows as freely and cheaply as email. Unlike many blockchain projects that prioritize decentralization above all else, Stellar emphasizes transaction speed, minimal fees, and regulatory compliance, positioning itself as infrastructure for traditional financial institutions seeking blockchain integration.

🔵 A Brief History

Stellar was founded in 2014 by Ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim, with the aim of facilitating fast, low-cost cross-border payments, while including unbanked populations in the global economy.
McCaleb is one of the most important figures in crypto history. He created Mt. Gox (the first major Bitcoin exchange), co-founded Ripple, and then left to build Stellar after disagreements over Ripple's direction. He wanted a bottom-up, nonprofit approach focused on financial inclusion rather than enterprise sales.

David Mazieres, a Stanford professor, co-founded Stellar and created the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), a fast, energy-efficient alternative to proof-of-work. SCP provides 2-5 second finality without mining.
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) was established as a nonprofit. Denelle Dixon, former COO of Mozilla, was appointed CEO and Executive Director, bringing operational excellence from one of the internet's most important nonprofits.

Early partnerships established Stellar's institutional credibility: IBM launched World Wire on Stellar for cross-border payments, Deloitte tested blockchain-powered transfers, and regional integrations launched across the Philippines (Coins ph), India (ICICI Bank), Africa (Flutterwave), and Latin America (Tempo Money Transfer).

By 2024-2025, Stellar had cemented its position as the compliance-first payments chain. Circle launched native USDC on Stellar. Franklin Templeton ($380B AUM) chose Stellar for its OnChain U.S. Government Money Market Fund. Visa explored Stellar for stablecoin settlements. PayPal integrated Stellar for PYUSD transfers. Moneygram leveraged the network for mobile money corridors.

Stellar in 2025 reinforced its original mandate of fast, low-cost, and accessible payments. Network development stayed centered on cross-border transfers and financial access within emerging markets.
Then came May 27, 2026. DTCC said it plans to connect its tokenized securities platform to Stellar by 2027. The plan follows a No-Action Letter issued by the SEC in December 2025 that authorized DTC to implement a tokenization service. DTCC oversees more than $114 trillion in assets across U.S. capital markets. Stellar became the first public blockchain selected for DTCC's multi-chain tokenization strategy. Russell 1000 stocks, major ETFs, and U.S. Treasuries will live on Stellar by H1 2027.

🔵 Ecosystem Narrative

Stellar's ecosystem is built on a decade of institutional trust, regulatory compliance, and real-world payment corridors. It's not the flashiest chain. It's the one that Visa, PayPal, Franklin Templeton, Circle, and now DTCC chose for production infrastructure.

Key dynamics include:

➛ DTCC Integration (May 2026) brings tokenized DTC-custodied Russell 1000 stocks, ETFs, and U.S. Treasuries to Stellar by H1 2027. First public blockchain for DTCC. 50+ firms in working group including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, and Ondo Finance. SEC no-action letter provides legal framework.

➛ Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP) provides 2-5 second finality without mining or staking. Energy-efficient. No slashing risk. Designed for institutional compliance and deterministic settlement.

➛ Built-in Decentralized Exchange (SDEX) provides native order book functionality on the protocol level. Every asset on Stellar is automatically exchangeable without external DEX contracts.

➛ Anchor system connects traditional currencies to Stellar. Licensed financial institutions (anchors) accept fiat deposits and issue equivalent digital representations, bridging traditional banking with blockchain.

➛ Circle USDC is issued natively on Stellar, providing regulated stablecoin infrastructure for cross-border payments.

➛ Franklin Templeton OnChain U.S. Government Money Market Fund ($380B AUM) operates on Stellar, one of the largest traditional asset managers using a public blockchain in production.

➛ Protocol 23 upgrade (upcoming) introduces parallel transaction processing, enhanced scalability, and improved developer tooling.

➛ Soroban smart contracts platform extends Stellar beyond payments into DeFi, tokenization, and programmable finance with Rust-based contracts.

⚪ Token Utilities

$XLM powers the Stellar payments infrastructure:

➛ Transaction Fees - Near-zero fees (~0.00001 XLM per transaction) prevent spam while keeping transfers accessible. Fees are burned, creating deflationary pressure.

➛ Bridge Currency - XLM acts as intermediary in cross-border transfers when two currencies lack a direct trading pair. Conversions happen automatically through SDEX.

➛ Account Reserves - Users must hold a minimum XLM balance (1 XLM base reserve + 0.5 XLM per additional entry) to maintain accounts, preventing network spam.

➛ Liquidity Provisioning - Provide liquidity on SDEX and AMM pools for yield from trading activity.

➛ Staking (Soroban) - Stake XLM to participate in Soroban smart contract execution and earn rewards.

➛ Governance - XLM holders participate in SDF governance and network upgrade decisions.

⚪ Key Features

➛ DTCC's First Public Blockchain - Tokenized Russell 1000 stocks, ETFs, and U.S. Treasuries coming to Stellar H1 2027. SEC no-action letter. 50+ firms in working group. The most significant institutional validation any public blockchain has ever received.

➛ 2-5 Second Finality - Stellar Consensus Protocol provides deterministic settlement without mining. No probabilistic confirmation. No chain reorgs. Designed for institutional settlement.

➛ Near-Zero Fees - Fractions of a cent per transaction regardless of transfer size. Fees are burned. Designed for remittances, micropayments, and high-volume enterprise use.

➛ Visa, PayPal, Circle, Franklin Templeton - The most prestigious institutional partnership roster in blockchain. All live in production, not pilot programs.

➛ Built-in DEX (SDEX) - Native order book at the protocol level. Every asset automatically exchangeable. No external smart contracts required.

➛ Soroban Smart Contracts - Rust-based programmable finance platform extending Stellar beyond payments into DeFi, tokenization, and automated financial logic.

➛ Compliance-First Architecture - Built for regulated financial institutions. KYC/AML-friendly. Anchor system bridges traditional banking. View keys for selective transparency.

➛ 10 Years in Production - Operating since 2014 without a major security breach. The most battle-tested payments blockchain in existence.

🔵 Meet the Stellar Team

Stellar is led by one of the most experienced and credentialed teams in all of blockchain, with a founder who created Mt. Gox and co-founded Ripple, a CEO from Mozilla, a CTO building institutional-grade infrastructure, and a chief scientist from Stanford.

▶️ Core Members:

➛ Jed McCaleb [ @JedMcCaleb ] - Founder, Chief Scientist & Board Member | Created Mt. Gox, the first major Bitcoin exchange. Co-founded Ripple before leaving to build Stellar with a nonprofit, financial inclusion focus. One of the earliest and most influential figures in crypto history. Now leads Stellar's technical research and scientific direction.

➛ Denelle Dixon [ @DenelleDixon ] - CEO & Executive Director, SDF | Former COO of Mozilla, where she led the organization through significant growth and regulatory navigation. Brings nonprofit leadership, regulatory expertise, and institutional credibility to Stellar's operations. Described the DTCC partnership as bringing "public blockchain infrastructure closer to regulated market systems."

➛ Nicolas Barry [ @nicolassf ] - CTO | Leads protocol development, network upgrades (Protocol 23), and Soroban smart contract platform engineering.

➛ Jason Karsh [ @jasonkarsh ] - CMO | Founder of Karsh Consulting. Formerly at Google, Coinbase, Blockchain com Blocks (Square), BlockAid, and Geteero. Brings deep experience from the biggest names in both tech and crypto. Based in San Francisco.

➛ Jason Chlipala - COO | Oversees day-to-day operations, organizational execution, and strategic planning for SDF.

➛ Candace Kelly - CLO | Chief Legal Officer overseeing regulatory compliance and legal strategy across multiple jurisdictions.

➛ David Mazieres [ @dmazieres ] - Co-Founder & Chief Scientist | Stanford professor who created the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP). Provides the academic and scientific rigor underpinning Stellar's consensus mechanism.

▶️ Board Members:

➛ Lauren Thorbjornsen - Chief of Staff & VP of Communications ➛ Lin-Hua Wu - Board Member ➛ Ronaldo Lemos - Board Member ➛ Ginger Baker - Board Member ➛ Asiff Hirji - Board Member

➛ Stellar Development Foundation (San Francisco) - Nonprofit organization founded to support the development and growth of the Stellar network. Manages ecosystem grants, partnerships, and protocol governance.

🔵 Ratings

➛ Use Case: ★★★★★ (5/5) - The DTCC announcement on May 27, 2026 fundamentally changes Stellar's use case rating. The company that clears $2.5 quadrillion in annual securities volume chose Stellar as its first public blockchain for tokenized stocks, ETFs, and Treasuries. Under an SEC no-action letter. With 50+ firms including JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, and Ondo Finance in the working group. Russell 1000 stocks will live on Stellar by H1 2027. Add to that Visa, PayPal, Circle (USDC), Franklin Templeton ($380B AUM), and Moneygram already live in production, and Stellar has the most impressive institutional adoption roster in all of blockchain. 10 years of operation. 2-5 second finality. Near-zero fees. Compliance-first architecture. This is no longer just a payments chain. It's the public blockchain that Wall Street's central infrastructure chose.

➛ Tokenomics: ★★★✦ (3.5/5) - Total supply of ~50 billion XLM with ~30.6B in circulation. Transaction fees are burned, creating deflationary pressure, but the burn rate is minimal relative to supply. The large supply creates psychological barriers for retail investors. SDF holds a significant portion of remaining supply as ecosystem reserves. XLM is down 81% from ATH ($0.94 in 2018). The token's primary utility is as a bridge currency and fee mechanism rather than a direct value capture asset like governance or burn tokens. The DTCC integration could significantly increase transaction volume and fee burns, but the tokenomics remain the weakest element of an otherwise institutional-grade infrastructure. The 1.5-point deduction reflects the massive supply, limited direct value accrual mechanisms, SDF's large holdings, and the 8-year price decline from ATH.

➛ Audits: ★★★★✦ (4.5/5) - Stellar has been operating since 2014 without a major security breach or consensus failure, making it the most battle-tested payments blockchain in existence. The Stellar Consensus Protocol was designed by Stanford professor David Mazieres and has been academically peer-reviewed. The fact that DTCC, Visa, PayPal, Franklin Templeton, and Circle all passed their own rigorous internal security assessments before integrating with Stellar speaks louder than any third-party audit. The SEC no-action letter implies regulatory-grade scrutiny of the network's security and compliance architecture. The codebase is fully open-source. The 0.5 deduction is for the complexity of the upcoming Soroban smart contract platform (new code, new attack surface) and the transition challenges that Protocol 23 may introduce.

➛ Community: ★★★★ (4/5) - Stellar has a loyal, long-term community that has held through an 81% drawdown from 2018 ATH with conviction built on institutional adoption rather than speculation. The DTCC announcement energized the community with a 244% volume surge. Active on Reddit, Discord, and X. The community spans crypto natives, fintech builders, and financial inclusion advocates, particularly strong in emerging markets where Stellar's remittance corridors operate. The SDF's nonprofit structure creates trust. The deduction is that Stellar's community is quieter and smaller than competing chains like Solana or XRP despite having arguably stronger institutional adoption. Developer ecosystem around Soroban is still growing. The community doesn't generate viral retail energy, preferring to let the partnerships speak.

🔵 Conclusion

Stellar just received the most significant institutional validation any public blockchain has ever received. DTCC, the company that clears $2.5 quadrillion in annual securities transactions and oversees $114 trillion in assets, chose Stellar as its first public blockchain for tokenized securities.

Russell 1000 stocks, major ETFs, and U.S. Treasuries will live on Stellar by H1 2027, under an SEC no-action letter, with JPMorgan, Goldman Sachs, BlackRock, and 47 other firms in the working group.
This isn't a partnership announcement. This is the central securities depository of the United States integrating with a public blockchain for the first time. And they chose the chain that Visa, PayPal, Circle, Franklin Templeton, and Moneygram already use in production. The chain that's been operating since 2014 without a security breach. The chain built by the man who created Mt. Gox and co-founded Ripple. The chain with a Stanford professor's consensus protocol and a former Mozilla COO running the foundation.

Hhere's the math that matters: DTCC processes $2.5 quadrillion annually. Even tokenizing a fraction of 1% of that volume on Stellar would dwarf every DeFi protocol's TVL combined. And DTCC didn't choose Stellar for a pilot.

They chose it for their multi-chain tokenization strategy under an SEC no-action letter, with 50+ of the world's largest financial institutions in the working group. When you spend a decade building the most compliant, most institutional, most boring payments chain in crypto, and then the backbone of American capital markets picks you as their first public blockchain, "boring" becomes the most bullish word in the market.

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@KatContii @PUBGEsports @Owenusmc21 @ShrimzyPUBg @KSnKickstart @CowBoixxx @PurdyKurty A true American

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@KatContii @PUBGEsports @Owenusmc21 @ShrimzyPUBg @KSnKickstart @CowBoixxx @PurdyKurty What is in this mans hair?!

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@ShrimzyPUBg Also I remember pubbing with Cowboi when he was too young to compete and to see how far he's come in such little time is super impressive

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@ShrimzyPUBg Brother you've earned this. Couldn't think of anyone better to represent USA.

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@dom_kwok @StellarOrg @easya_app Hyugeee

[Jed McCaleb @JedMcCaleb]

Stellar continues to be one of best blockchains for real world use.

[Denelle Dixon @DenelleDixon]

Today, @The_DTCC's tokenization service announced plans to connect with @StellarOrg starting H1 2027.

This integration will allow market participants to leverage traditional assets in a digital ecosystem for faster settlement, greater asset mobility, extended trading hours, cost efficiency, and lowered risk.

The network was built for this moment.

Watch ↓

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@PamphileRoy @BuildOnStellar 🥳

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@FTDA_US @StellarOrg @FTI_US @DenelleDixon Amazing!

[Franklin Templeton Digital Assets @FTDA_US]

5 years onchain with @StellarOrg 🎂

https://t.co/U80p5QEYle

@StellarOrg | @FTI_US | @DenelleDixon

[Build on Stellar @BuildOnStellar]

@claudeai @cerebral_valley Love a good hackathon! We've got some 🔥coming up on DoraHacks soon!

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@BuildOnStellar @claudeai @cerebral_valley +1

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@silencexlm 🔥🥳🥳

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@samconnerone @Flix_SD <3 @arc & @circle and @silencexlm most of all

[Hunter @HunterIonize]

@BuildOnStellar @Must_be_Ash @CoinbaseDev @0ceans404 @StellarOrg @Rawritude Sorry to be that guy, but the speakers are very quiet