Stellar partners with TopNod to enter Asia: RWA and stablecoins as breakthrough points, can XLM usher in a new turning point?

On February 12, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) announced at the Hong Kong Consensus Conference that the non-custodial wallet TopNod will officially join the Stellar network. This marks an important step for SDF in accelerating its expansion into the Asian market. In the region, Stellar faces fierce competition in cross-border payments and asset tokenization from public blockchains such as Solana, TON, and XRP.

TopNod utilizes sharded keys and Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) technology to achieve a secure architecture without the need for mnemonics, focusing primarily on tokenizing real-world assets (RWA) and stablecoin applications, rather than short-term speculative tokens. Although the project’s visibility outside the Web3 community remains limited, its product positioning aligns closely with Stellar’s current institutional strategy.

Raja Chakravorti, SDF’s Chief Business Officer, stated in an interview with BeInCrypto that the Asia-Pacific region is the core engine of future growth. SDF plans to build anchor networks in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam within the next year, and will announce more local financial institution collaborations in the upcoming two quarters. Meanwhile, SDF has also partnered with Singapore’s tokenization platform MarketNode to explore on-chain issuance of money market funds.

Data shows that the RWA volume on the Stellar chain has exceeded $1 billion, with total DeFi lock-up increasing threefold year-over-year. However, the price of XLM has fallen about 71% from its 2025 high, significantly weaker than Bitcoin and Ethereum. On-chain transaction frequency remains stable, but the average transaction size has decreased, reflecting ongoing payment demand while high-value capital flows are slowing.

Chakravorti also admitted that tokenization itself is no longer a moat; the key moving forward is “distribution capability.” Currently, Franklin Templeton’s tokenization fund remains a flagship RWA project for Stellar, but networks like Solana, Polygon, Ethereum, and Avalanche are also accelerating efforts to attract institutional participants.

In terms of compliance and privacy, Stellar recently launched the X-Ray upgrade, introducing native zero-knowledge encryption features that emphasize “auditable privacy.” SDF believes this configurable approach could meet the diverse regulatory environments and institutional needs across Asia.

SDF confirmed that its Meridian 2026 conference will be held in Abu Dhabi in October. TopNod integration plans will be launched in markets such as the Philippines, Singapore, and Japan. For Stellar, the infrastructure and vision are in place; the real test lies in whether large-scale applications can be successfully implemented.