Stellar vs Hedera
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Neither is on ISO's RMG member list and each has a different enterprise model: XLM via anchors and stablecoins (often described as a member, but not listed), HBAR via a Governing Council of up to 39 organizations and no formal ISO 20022 standing that we can source
How Stellar and Hedera differ
These two occupy different corners of enterprise finance. Stellar's consensus protocol lets each node choose its own trusted quorum slices, and its ledger updates every 5 to 7 seconds; the 5,000 TPS figure is a 2025 goal, not a measured rate. Hedera's hashgraph runs under a Council of up to 39 organizations, and its own documentation cites about 10,000 TPS with 3 to 5 second finality, which are Hedera's own figures. On fees, Stellar's minimum is 0.00001 XLM per operation, while Hedera's are denominated in USD: $0.0001 for a base crypto transfer, $0.001 for a fungible token transfer and $0.0008 for a consensus message.
ISO 20022 standing: XLM vs HBAR
Neither is on ISO's Registration Management Group member list. Stellar is often described as a member, but the list archived in March 2026 shows no Stellar-named entity, and SEP-31 and SEP-9 are not ISO 20022 message formats. Hedera's own documentation does not list ISO 20022 among its properties, and its Consensus Service is a capability, not a certification. The site scores ISO integration 4 for XLM and 3 for HBAR.
What to watch on each side
Stellar's traction is stablecoins and tokenized funds: PayPal's PYUSD went live on Stellar in September 2025, and Franklin Templeton's BENJI fund represented over $650 million as of April 2026, according to an SDF and Franklin Templeton announcement. Much of the headline volume is self-reported by the foundation. Hedera's is institutional pilots, including Archax's tokenized money market fund units and UK gilts that Lloyds and Aberdeen used as FX collateral, and the Reserve Bank of Australia naming Hedera among Project Acacia platforms. Hedera's profile asks whether pilots become production volume; Stellar's asks whether Soroban, still early, attracts real use.
Where XLM vs HBAR differ
| Metric | XLM | HBAR | Gap |
|---|---|---|---|
| TPS | 5,000 (target) | ~10,000 (Hedera-reported) | HBAR lists 2x the throughput of XLM (not like for like: XLM is target, HBAR is Hedera-reported) |
| Finality | 5-7 seconds | 3-5 seconds | HBAR finalizes about 1.5x sooner (range midpoints) |
| Transaction fee | 0.00001 XLM minimum (100 stroops) | $0.0001 base crypto transfer | |
| Launch year | 2014 | 2018 | XLM is 4 years older on the spec sheet (Hedera's mainnet went live in early access in 2018 and opened to the public in 2019) |
| Market cap | $6.29B | $3.70B | XLM is 1.7x the size of HBAR |
Key partners on our spec sheet: none in common (4 listed for XLM, 5 for HBAR).
Rows left out because the values match: the same regulatory status on our sheet (SEC/CFTC: named digital commodity (Mar 2026 joint interpretation)).
Specs are curated by hand and can lag real-world changes; market cap is live.
Scorecard: XLM vs HBAR
Hand-set 0-10 scores, not benchmarks. How they work
| Dimension | XLM | HBAR | Edge |
|---|---|---|---|
| Speed | 5 | 7 | HBAR +2 |
| Adoption | 7 | 7 | Level |
| Developer activity | 7 | 8 | HBAR +1 |
| Regulation | 7 | 7 | Level |
| Market strength | 7 | 6 | XLM +1 |
| ISO 20022 integration | 4 | 3 | XLM +1 |
30-day move, indexed to 100
Over the last 30 days XLM moved -6.4% and HBAR moved +10.7%, so HBAR finished 17.1 percentage points ahead of XLM. That is a 30-day snapshot, not a trend.
Deep Dive Verdict
The AI verdict for XLM vs HBAR is not published yet.
Not financial advice. Scores are hand-set and the verdict is AI-generated. Do your own research.
Questions about XLM vs HBAR
Which is cheaper per transaction, Stellar or Hedera?
The profiles give different units, so there is no clean dollar comparison. Stellar's network minimum is 100 stroops (0.00001 XLM) per operation. Hedera's published schedule lists $0.0001 for a base crypto transfer, $0.001 for a fungible token transfer and $0.0008 for a consensus message, all subject to change. The answer depends on what is being sent and on the price of XLM.
What governs each network?
Stellar was introduced by Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim, cofounders of the Stellar Development Foundation, a nonprofit, and each node picks its own quorum slices. Hedera is governed by a Council of up to 39 organizations with rotating, term-limited seats and equal voting power, and its own site lists 33 members. Node operation and governance still sit with the Council, though the codebase moved to Linux Foundation Decentralized Trust as Hiero in 2024.
Which has the more established stablecoin activity?
Stellar, on the profiles: PayPal's PYUSD is live there, Societe Generale-FORGE announced its EURCV stablecoin on Stellar in February 2025, and the SDF reports real-world-asset payment volume of $4.2 billion in Q2 2025 and $5.4 billion in Q3 2025, which are the foundation's own figures. Hedera's profile centers on tokenized funds, gilts, carbon credits and AI attestations rather than stablecoin issuers.
Can I convert or swap XLM to HBAR?
Yes, through an exchange or a crypto-to-crypto swap service that lists both coins. Before you swap, compare the fees and the exchange rate, send each coin on the right network to the right address, and check the platform works in your region. Same steps for HBAR to XLM. This site does not run swaps or recommend any platform; this is general information, not a recommendation.