Stellar (XLM) Price Jumps 6% as Top Crypto Performer

Stellar's XLM token hit $0.3880 on Saturday, beating all other top 20 cryptocurrencies. The surge comes as PayPal moves closer to launching its stablecoin on Stellar's network.

Stellar's XLM is having a moment. The cryptocurrency shot up 6% to $0.3880 on Saturday, making it the best performer among the top 20 cryptos by market cap. It's not just a one-day wonder either – XLM has been consistently outperforming other major cryptocurrencies this week.

On Friday, when Bitcoin smashed through $118,000 to hit a new all-time high, most cryptos were struggling to keep up. But XLM? It was posting double-digit gains alongside just a handful of other top-tier cryptocurrencies. That kind of sustained momentum doesn't happen by accident.

XLM Price Gets Boost from PayPal Partnership News

The real driver behind XLM's rally is PayPal's upcoming stablecoin launch. Back in June, PayPal announced it wants to bring its USD-backed stablecoin (PYUSD) to Stellar's blockchain. They're just waiting for regulatory approval from New York's financial watchdog.

This isn't small news. PYUSD is currently only available on Ethereum and Solana, so adding Stellar would be a major expansion. PayPal picked Stellar because it's built for fast, cheap payments – exactly what you need for a stablecoin that people will actually use.

Ian Burrill, a Senior Director at PayPal who runs their crypto engineering team, recently explained why they're excited about Stellar. In a video from the Stellar Foundation, he said the network is fast and cheap, plus it can reach users in over 180 countries. For merchants, this means they can send money instantly, which is huge for managing cash flow.

The partnership makes sense for both sides. PayPal gets access to Stellar's global payment infrastructure, including all the on-ramps, off-ramps, and digital wallets already connected to the network. That could bring PYUSD to users in over 170 countries. Meanwhile, Stellar gets a major fintech company validating its technology.

XLM Price Shows Strong Technical Momentum

The numbers back up the bullish story. During a 24-hour period from July 11 to July 12, XLM traded in a $0.071 range, swinging between $0.345 and $0.416. That's about 20% volatility, which is pretty normal for crypto but shows there's real interest from traders.

The big move happened early Saturday morning around 1:00 AM UTC. XLM jumped from $0.354 to $0.393 on massive volume – 551 million units compared to the usual 234 million daily average. That kind of volume spike usually means institutional buyers are getting involved.

XLM kept climbing through Saturday morning, hitting a high of $0.416 before running into resistance around $0.400-$0.403. That's where some profit-taking kicked in, which is totally normal after a big run-up.

But here's the interesting part: in the final hour of trading, XLM found another gear. It climbed 3.89% from $0.37 to $0.39, with the biggest move happening between 4:03-4:08 PM UTC. The token jumped from $0.374 to $0.385 on volume well above the hourly average.

By the end of Saturday's session, XLM had found support around $0.385-$0.387. Traders are now watching to see if it can break through the $0.39-$0.40 resistance zone that technical analysts have identified.

The combination of strong fundamentals from the PayPal partnership and solid technical momentum suggests XLM could have more room to run. With the stablecoin integration still pending regulatory approval, early positioning ahead of the official launch could pay off for investors who get in now.