Over the past few years, Ripple and its native token XRP have dominated crypto news. From big partnerships with banks to the lengthy battle with the SEC, XRP has been loud and public. Everyone was watching the Ripple case unfold while the XRP price remained stuck in place.
But what if that attention was a distraction? What if the real financial rails of the future were being built quietly, without the noise? That’s what some analysts like Stellar Expert (@StellarExpert on X) are suggesting. According to him, XLM may have been the plan all along. While Ripple fought regulators in court, Stellar built relationships, infrastructure, and a global presence that is only now beginning to show its true purpose.
Jed McCaleb is one of crypto’s most important early figures. He co-founded Ripple and helped build XRP. But in 2013, he walked away. The next year, he created Stellar and launched XLM with a different mission.
Instead of focusing on institutional banking and Wall Street like Ripple, McCaleb took Stellar in a different direction. He wanted to build something sovereign. Something open. Something the global population could actually use.
That difference in vision shows in the way each network has evolved.
What you'll learn 👉
XRP vs XLM: Two Strategies, One Global Goal
Ripple has always been front and center: lawsuits, press releases and partnerships with banks. It has always chased the traditional finance world and paid the price in visibility. XRP price has been affected by the SEC battle since 2020, and despite occasional rallies, it hasn’t broken free of that pressure.
XLM, on the other hand, was building in silence. According to Stellar Expert, Stellar quietly built remittance rails for refugees in Ukraine, partnered with IBM to launch World Wire, embedded itself into IMF research papers, and enabled native USDC transfers. It did all of this with barely any mainstream attention.
XRP fought the battle but XLM laid the foundation for what comes after. Stellar isn’t just about ideas. It is already powering real transactions in real countries. Stellar Expert points out some key regions where Stellar has quietly expanded: Nigeria, Kenya, the Philippines, Ukraine, and Bermuda. These are not random locations. They are all test beds for currency transitions or CBDC pilots.
4/ Stellar is the blueprint for currency collapse zones.
— Stellar Expert (@StellarExpert) July 14, 2025
Look where it’s expanding:
•🇳🇬 Nigeria (CBDC and USDC corridor)
•🇰🇪 Kenya (Cross-border remittances)
•🇵🇭 Philippines (MoneyGram integration)
•🇺🇦 Ukraine (refugee stablecoin aid via Stellar)
•🇧🇲 Bermuda (CBDC pilot)…
Stellar’s work with the UNHCR, MoneyGram, and national banks proves that it isn’t waiting for permission. It is already doing the work. And it’s doing it where it matters most, the Global South, where financial access and stability are deeply needed.
While Ripple has been building slowly through legal drama and delayed rollout, Stellar has already integrated the features needed for a post fiat world. XLM is ISO 20022 compliant, which means it’s ready to talk to global banking systems. It supports smart contracts through Soroban, its new contract layer. It has KYC compliant anchors, stablecoins, and interoperability tools. And it’s also quantum resistant, a feature few people talk about but that could matter in the future.
As Stellar Expert notes, this is what Ripple is working toward but Stellar is already there.
Stellar’s Price Is Still Low but Its Impact Is High
Despite all this progress, XLM price has not seen the same kind of explosive movements that XRP or other tokens have during the bull cycle. The current Stellar price remains relatively quiet, just like the network itself. But that might be the point.
While the Ripple price narrative played out in headlines and courtrooms, Stellar’s growth went unnoticed by many. But the smart money, institutions, governments, and global NGOs, seem to be watching. According to Stellar Expert, organizations like the World Bank, IMF, and UN have already cited Stellar in their research.
That kind of validation isn’t for show. It’s part of the long game.
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Why USDC Picked Stellar and Didn’t Tell You
Most people think USDC runs on Ethereum. And it does. But Stellar is also one of the chains Circle chose for USDC and the experience is very different. On Stellar, USDC transfers settle in 5 seconds and cost almost nothing. These low fees and fast speeds are what make Stellar perfect for remittances, cash based aid programs, and underbanked markets.
Stellar powers MoneyGram’s crypto on off ramps, and it is already being used across fintech corridors in Africa. And yet, none of this is being advertised heavily. Stellar Expert says that’s not a coincidence. Sometimes the most powerful systems work best when few people are watching.
For over three years, Ripple has been the face of resistance in crypto. It fought back against the SEC. It got relisted. It made waves. But while everyone was watching XRP price charts and legal updates, Stellar built quietly.
It struck deals. It laid pipes. It created financial corridors across continents. It didn’t make promises. It made infrastructure.
And now that the lawsuits are almost behind us, people are starting to ask a different question: Was XRP just the distraction while XLM became the backbone?
XLM Might Power the Quiet Reset
The reset everyone talks about, the transition to digital currencies, CBDCs, and on chain settlement, won’t happen on live television. It will happen in the background, through networks that are already trusted, fast, and cheap.
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According to Stellar Expert, that network is Stellar. It’s already there in places that need financial alternatives. It already runs native USDC. It’s already being used by institutions that matter. And XLM price is still flying under the radar.
Whether or not you believe in a global financial reset, it’s clear that XLM and Stellar are positioned for something big. The only question is whether people will notice before it’s too late.
Because the loudest asset in the room isn’t always the most important. Sometimes the future is built in silence.
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