Stellar has recorded a sharp rise in developer activity. As of the end of the second quarter of 2026, monthly active developers on the network were up 125% year-over-year, according to data shared by the Stellar Development Foundation, the nonprofit organization created in 2014 to support the payments-focused network.

The figure marks an all-time high of 2,968 monthly active developers. Based on Electric Capital metrics (the venture firm's long-running developer reports track open-source code contributions across blockchain ecosystems), that places Stellar second globally, behind only Ethereum and ahead of both Solana and Bitcoin. Notably, the growth occurred while most other major ecosystems saw contractions in developer activity.

Stellar Builders Driving Real-World Use Cases

The increase reflects more than passing curiosity. Developers are increasingly using Stellar to build practical financial tools focused on payments, remittances, and tokenized real-world assets. The network's low fees, high reliability, and focus on accessibility continue to attract teams targeting emerging markets in regions such as Nigeria, India, Turkey, and Brazil. That orientation toward money movement traces back to Stellar's origins as a low-cost payment and asset-issuance network, and it has been reinforced over the years by integrations such as a 2021 partnership with MoneyGram that let users convert cash to and from the USDC stablecoin at physical agent locations.

The high road 📈 As of the end of Q2, monthly active developers on the Stellar network are up 125% YoY. Developers are choosing Stellar as the place to build the future of finance. pic.twitter.com/XyMUYCgUP4

— Stellar (@StellarOrg), August 20, 2026

Stellar's broader Q2 results provide context for the developer surge. Tokenized real-world assets on the network reached $3 billion, while stablecoin transfer volume remained robust. Institutional participants have been active on the asset side of the network for some time: Franklin Templeton's on-chain U.S. government money market fund, one of the first U.S.-registered funds to record share ownership on a public blockchain, launched on Stellar in 2021. These on-chain metrics suggest that builders are responding to tangible demand rather than pure speculation.

Structural XLM Growth, Not a Temporary Spike

The Stellar Development Foundation has supported the expansion through targeted programs, including hackathons and multiple rounds of the Stellar Community Fund. Recent funding rounds directed millions of dollars toward early-stage projects, helping convert interest into sustained building activity. The range of what those builders can create has widened as well: the Soroban smart contract platform, introduced through the Protocol 20 upgrade in early 2024, brought general-purpose, Rust-based smart contracts to a network that had previously focused on payments and asset issuance.

Stellar Picks 10 Startups For New Africa Focused Accelerator Stellar ( @StellarOrg ) Development Foundation and CV Labs have selected 10 startups for their joint accelerator. Six companies are building products specifically for African markets. The 12-week programme will support… pic.twitter.com/aDgAbo81MJ

— BSCN (@BSCNews), August 20, 2026

Unlike growth driven purely by short-term incentives, the 125% rise appears more structural. Developers are choosing Stellar for its combination of speed, cost efficiency, and real-world payment focus at a time when many competing networks have seen reduced engagement.

What the Figures Say About Stellar's Ecosystem

The data points to a gradual but meaningful shift. While price action and trading volume often dominate headlines, sustained developer growth is one of the clearer leading indicators of long-term network health, and Electric Capital's contribution-based tallies have become a widely cited way to track it.

Stellar's ability to attract and retain builders while other ecosystems cooled suggests the network is carving out a distinct role in on-chain finance. The open questions now concern persistence: whether monthly developer counts hold near the record level in subsequent quarters, and whether projects emerging from the recent funding programs ship products that sustain usage.

The Stellar Foundation has framed the result as confirmation that developers see Stellar (XLM) as a place to build the future of finance. With monthly active developers at a record high and real-world asset activity expanding, the network enters the second half of 2026 with stronger foundational momentum than many of its peers.