Stellar’s Origin Story Matters Again As Tokenized XLM Dollars Move Mainstream

Stellar Lumens is easy to misread because its “introduction” was never a pitch for a general-purpose crypto computer. From the very start, it framed itself as a payments network that connects real-world issuers—banks, fintechs, money-transfer operators, and other “anchors”—to on-chain assets people can actually use. That design choice is now resurfacing in investor conversations as more financial products show up as tokens rather than database entries. The practical implication: Stellar’s first question isn’t “what can I build?” but “who will issue and redeem value?” That makes its entry point unusually concrete compared with networks that begin with smart contracts