The long-running rivalry between Stellar and Ripple just got a new jolt. This time, it wasn’t about tech upgrades or legal wins – it was about a bold opinion. A well-known figure in the Stellar community, posting under the name “Stellar Expert,” shared a thread that quickly caught the attention of both camps. His message was clear: XLM has evolved, while XRP is still stuck in hype mode.
In the thread, Stellar Expert criticized Ripple’s latest move – the development of an EVM-compatible sidechain. According to him, Ripple is still in the planning phase, while Stellar is already ahead with its smart contract platform, Soroban, which is live, optimized, and built for utility. The tone wasn’t subtle. He framed Ripple as playing catch-up and positioned Stellar as the more advanced and mature blockchain.
He didn’t stop there. He also took a shot at Ripple’s recent addition of USDC on the XRP Ledger, saying it only came after RLUSD, Ripple’s own stablecoin, “flopped.” In contrast, he praised Stellar’s USDC, pointing out it already has over 1.5 million trustlines and real transactional volume. His final point drove it all home: XRP is still selling hype. And hype always fades.
That’s a powerful soundbite – but it doesn’t quite tell the whole story.
Ripple is planning an EVM sidechain.
— Stellar Expert (@StellarExpert) June 12, 2025
Stellar already has Soroban smart contracts — live, optimized, and built for real utility.
Ripple just launched USDC on XRPL after RLUSD flopped.
Meanwhile, Stellar’s USDC has 1.5M+ trustlines and real volume.$XLM isn’t catching up —
It’s… pic.twitter.com/DLYWUgFnzT
For starters, the claim that RLUSD flopped doesn’t hold up when you look at the data. In fact, RLUSD has seen rapid growth since its launch. Its circulating supply has increased sixfold, reaching over $320 million by June 2025.
And the trading activity has been anything but weak. Within its first month, RLUSD passed $3 trillion in cumulative trading volume across centralized exchanges. Just in January 2025, it processed $2.84 trillion in volume, placing it among the top-performing stablecoins by activity at the time.
Those are not the numbers of a failed product. If anything, they show strong institutional and retail demand – even if it hasn’t caught up yet to the scale of USDC’s adoption on Stellar.
To be fair, Stellar does have real advantages. Soroban is live and well-integrated, giving developers a playground for building apps in a smart contract environment that’s already functional. USDC on Stellar has become a key piece of its utility, especially for cross-border transactions and payments. But the narrative that Ripple is only “selling hype” doesn’t match what’s happening on the ground – or on the charts.
Ripple’s focus has been more aligned with enterprise solutions, tokenization, and real-world financial infrastructure. It’s less flashy, maybe even slower to roll out some features, but it’s moving in a deliberate direction – one that appeals to big institutions and payment networks. The launch of USDC on XRPL is another step in that process, giving Ripple users access to a globally recognized stablecoin inside the XRP ecosystem.
This thread from Stellar Expert seems to be part of a broader strategy – not just to highlight Stellar’s progress, but to position it in contrast to Ripple at a time when XRP is gaining momentum again. With the SEC case cooling down and major announcements around EVM compatibility and stablecoins, XRP is back in the spotlight. Naturally, Stellar wants to remind the crypto world that it’s not only still around – it’s pushing boundaries too.
But ultimately, this isn’t a winner-takes-all scenario.
Stellar and Ripple have always taken different paths. Stellar leans toward open-access tools, community use, and programmable finance. Ripple aims for institutional adoption, global payment rails, and enterprise-grade liquidity. The competition is real, but so is the mutual relevance. Both projects can succeed – and in different ways.
So while the debate on crypto Twitter heats up, the data offers a cooler perspective. Stellar is evolving. Ripple is delivering. And hype? It’s not always a bad thing – especially when it turns into real-world numbers.
Read also: Ripple (XRP) vs Hedera (HBAR): Which Has More Upside Potential This Bull Run?
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