Stellar Expands Asia Push With TopNod Wallet Integration
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) introduced at Consensus Hong Kong that TopNod, a non-custodial pockets, will combine with the Stellar community. The transfer is a part of SDF’s broader push into Asia — a area the place it faces stiff competitors from Solana, TON, and XRP within the funds and tokenization markets.
TopNod’s pockets makes use of key sharding and Trusted Execution Environment (TEE) expertise to eradicate the necessity for seed phrases. The platform focuses on tokenized real-world property (RWAs) and stablecoins moderately than speculative tokens, although it stays a comparatively younger undertaking with restricted model recognition outdoors Web3 circles.
SDF Bets on Emerging Markets
In an unique interview with BeInCrypto, Stellar CBO Raja Chakravorti known as Asia Pacific “a essential progress driver” and mentioned SDF plans to construct out anchor networks in Indonesia, the Philippines, and Vietnam over the approaching 12 months.
“We introduced staff within the area targeted on Singapore first, however we’ve actually been specializing in increasing quickly,” Chakravorti mentioned, including that extra APAC monetary establishment partnerships could be introduced over the following two quarters — although he declined to share specifics.
SDF has additionally partnered with MarketNode, a Singapore-based tokenization platform, and mentioned it’s in discussions with monetary establishments about tokenizing cash market funds within the area.
The ambition is obvious, however execution stays the query. Stellar’s on-chain RWA value crossed $1 billion over the previous 12 months, and its DeFi TVL tripled. Yet XLM has fallen roughly 71% from its 2025 high of $0.52, underperforming each Bitcoin and Ethereum. Daily transaction volumes have held regular, however common transaction values have dropped, suggesting that core cost use circumstances persist whereas speculative and high-value capital flows have dried up.
2026: The Distribution Problem
Chakravorti acknowledged that tokenization alone is now not the differentiator.
“Last 12 months was actually about proving that tokenized merchandise could be constructed at scale. This subsequent 12 months is admittedly going to be about specializing in discovering the fitting distribution outcomes for these property,” he informed BeInCrypto.
This is arguably Stellar’s largest problem. Franklin Templeton’s tokenized money market fund stays the community’s flagship RWA product, and US Bank recently announced a stablecoin partnership. But competing chains are shifting quick — Solana and Polygon are each founding members of the identical Blockchain Payments Consortium (BPC) as Stellar, and networks like Ethereum and Avalanche proceed to draw institutional tokenization tasks.
Privacy vs. Compliance
Stellar’s current X-Ray upgrade (Protocol 25) launched native zero-knowledge cryptography. Chakravorti framed this as an institutional necessity moderately than a privacy-maximalist play.
“Privacy components could embody ship, obtain, who’s the holder — however importantly, these must be auditable,” he mentioned. “The privateness could look barely completely different relying on who you’re speaking to.”
Whether this configurable strategy satisfies each regulators and privacy-conscious customers in Asia’s numerous regulatory panorama stays to be seen.
What’s Next
SDF confirmed its annual Meridian convention will transfer to Abu Dhabi in October 2026. The TopNod integration is anticipated to go dwell throughout the Philippines, Singapore, Japan, and different Asian markets, although no particular timeline has been offered.
For Stellar, the formulation is acquainted: sturdy infrastructure, rising institutional curiosity, and a transparent narrative. The lacking piece — as Chakravorti himself admitted — is distribution at scale.
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