The Stellar (XLM) network is quietly experiencing a surge in on-chain activity in December 2025. However, muted price action has caused investors to overlook these new records.
These signals may reflect positive fundamentals that could support an upcoming price recovery. So what exactly are these new records?
What Do Stellar’s New On-Chain Records Mean for December?
Operations on Stellar represent desired changes on the ledger. They are submitted to the network as grouped components within a transaction.
In December 2025, the number of Operations on Stellar reached the highest level of the year. This milestone marks a notable increase in network activity.
Operations on Stellar. Source: Artemis
Many operations related to Payment or Path Payment indicate a strong flow of cash and assets, increasing the liquidity of the system.
This growth indicates that an increasing number of users, organizations, or applications are processing a greater number of transactions. It signals rising real-world demand.
Second, chain transactions are growing steadily and showing signs of a breakout.
Stellar Chain Transactions represent the total number of transactions recorded on the Stellar chain. They include core actions such as asset transfers and smart-contract interactions.
Stellar Chain Transactions. Source: Artemis
Data from Artemis shows that Chain Transactions maintained an upward trend throughout the year. The chart also signals a notable spike in December.
Recently, US Bank — one of the largest commercial banks in the United States — began actively testing stablecoin issuance on the Stellar network. Institutional attention may attract retail interest and boost overall network activity.
In addition, Stellar’s Total Value Locked (TVL) reached its all-time high in December 2025, surpassing $179.18 million.
Stellar’s Total Value Locked. Source: DefiLlama
TVL increased even though XLM’s price has not recovered. This pattern suggests that investors are locking more XLM into Stellar-based ecosystems.
Despite the strong on-chain activity, XLM currently sits at the most critical support zone of the year. The weekly chart highlights a range of $0.24 to $0.195.
Stellar (XLM) Price Weekly Demand Zone. Source: CryptoPulse
“XLM/USDT is sitting right at its weekly support — a level that held multiple times in previous market cycles,” analyst CryptoPulse commented.
Analysts view this as an accumulation opportunity for those who expect a wider crypto recovery in late 2025 and early 2026. The next target remains at $0.40–$0.49.
However, fundamental strength does not always move in parallel with price action. Even XRP — an altcoin closely correlated with XLM — has refused to rally despite major developments from Ripple. Therefore, DCA strategies involving capital diversification or waiting until overall market sentiment improves may be less risky options.
