The Stellar (XLM) network set an all-time high in decentralized finance (DeFi) on Friday, October 2, 2026, with the total value locked (TVL) across its protocols reaching approximately $273 million, according to COINOTAG. On-chain tracking had placed the same figure near $265 million only a week earlier, indicating that capital committed to applications on the chain grew over the intervening days.

TVL is a widely used benchmark in the DeFi sector that measures the aggregate value of assets deposited in a blockchain's smart-contract applications, including lending markets, decentralized exchanges, and liquidity pools. Analytics providers compile the metric across individual protocols to gauge how much capital is committed to a given chain's on-chain ecosystem at any point in time. Because readings are denominated in dollars, they can move with both deposit activity and the market prices of the assets locked, which is why single-day figures are typically read alongside broader trends.

Stellar is a payments-focused blockchain launched in 2014 by Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim, and it is maintained by the non-profit Stellar Development Foundation. Its native asset, the lumen (XLM), is used to pay transaction fees on the network. The protocol has historically specialized in cross-border payments and tokenized asset issuance, and it expanded its programmability with the mainnet activation of its Soroban smart-contracts platform through the Protocol 20 upgrade in February 2024. Soroban enabled developers to deploy applications such as lending protocols, automated market makers, and other DeFi services directly on Stellar, providing the infrastructure for the activity now reflected in TVL measurements. That places the entire DeFi footprint captured in the new record within the roughly two and a half years since programmable applications first became deployable on the chain.

The Friday, October 2 record of roughly $273 million in total value locked marks the highest level recorded for the network's DeFi ecosystem, based on the figures cited in the report. The comparison with the approximately $265 million tracked a week earlier illustrates the change in capital committed across Stellar's protocols over that period. As a point-in-time gauge, subsequent TVL readings will show whether deposits hold near the newly set level, and updated figures from analytics providers tracking Stellar's protocols will offer the clearest view of how the ecosystem's capital base develops.

This content was first published on COINOTAG: https://en.coinotag.com/stellar-xlm-tvl-record-273-million