Stellar (XLM) Rockets 288% in Yearly Surge, $1 Next?

According to CoinGecko data, Stellar (XLM) is up 288% on a one-year basis. In terms of percentage gain, Stellar (XLM) surpasses that of lead cryptocurrencies Bitcoin and Ethereum, which posted yearly returns of 88% and 73%, respectively.

At the time of writing, Stellar was trading just 0.3% higher to $0.36 as price momentum stalled in late August.

On the upside, immediate resistance lies at the daily SMA 50 at $0.416 ahead of $0.433, $0.49 and $0.52. If these hurdles are cleared, Stellar might aim for $1, which would mark a 177% increase from the current price.

Support is envisaged at the daily SMA 200 at $0.312. However, the chances of consolidation remain likely before the market makes a major move.

Stellar network fundamentals remain positive with a major upgrade, “Whisk,” in the pipeline.

Stellar Whisk upgrade

On Sept. 3 at 5 p.m. GMT, Stellar public network validators will vote to upgrade the network to Protocol 23, named Whisk.

Whisk (P23) goes live today, September 3

Biggest DX boost for Stellar since smart contracts
—Unified Events → one event format for ops + contracts
—Parallel Processing → faster txs, lower fees, smoother scaling

⏰ 17:00 UTC / 1PM ESThttps://t.co/dJpAiyJidk

— Build on Stellar (@BuildOnStellar) September 3, 2025

Whisk or Protocol 23 upgrade represents the biggest DX boost for Stellar since smart contracts launched on the platform and will introduce eight new Core Advancement Proposals (CAPs) on the Stellar mainnet.

Over the past decade, 22 versions of the Stellar protocol have been implemented in major Stellar Core releases, voted on (and accepted) by Stellar validators and applied to upgrade Stellar mainnet, with the Whisk upgrade being the 23rd.

In positive news, the Department of Commerce has begun putting economic data, the quarterly GDP data, on various blockchains, including the Stellar network, the first ever in crypto history.

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