South Korea’s largest crypto exchange, Upbit, suspended trading of Stellar’s XLM token on September 3 as the Stellar network commenced its Protocol 23 upgrade. The measure aimed to safeguard network integrity and protect trader positions during the scheduled overhaul, which targets improvements in transaction throughput and smart contract interoperability.
XLM price performance in the 24 hours leading up to the upgrade demonstrated consolidation within a narrow $0.36-$0.37 range. Trading volume peaked at 28.9 million XLM during resistance tests at $0.37 before the suspension. Technical analysis indicated strong support at $0.36, while multiple unsuccessful attempts to breach the $0.37 threshold underscored prevailing selling pressure.
Protocol 23 introduces enhancements to ledger synchronization and transaction validation logic. The upgrade implements optimizations in consensus message routing and block confirmation finality, reducing latency during peak usage periods. Core developers and network validators coordinated with major exchanges to implement compatibility checks and node software updates ahead of the fork.
Exchanges beyond Upbit also signaled readiness to pause trading temporarily to facilitate integration of the new protocol version. Stakeholders emphasized minimal expected downtime and smooth resumption of services upon confirmation of network stability. The upgrade follows extensive testnet simulations and audit reports verifying protocol compliance and security properties.
Market participants have identified key future price levels at $0.45 for resistance and $0.30-$0.32 for support. Confidence in the network’s cross-border payment use cases underlies institutional interest in XLM and related payment rails. Corporate partnerships in central bank digital currency research further highlight enterprise confidence in Stellar’s infrastructure capacity.
Industry analysts note that successful execution of Protocol 23 could reinforce Stellar’s position as a high-performance ledger for asset tokenization. Ongoing monitoring of network metrics such as average block time, transaction throughput, and finality duration will inform future adoption decisions among financial institutions exploring on-chain settlement solutions.
Next steps include post-upgrade performance benchmarks and phased re-enabling of trading pairs. Exchanges indicated a staged approach to order book reinstatement, prioritizing stablecoin pairs before broader listings. Traders and institutional users will assess order flow, liquidity depth, and price volatility in subsequent sessions to recalibrate strategies based on the network’s upgraded capabilities.
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