Stellar (XLM) Surpasses Bitcoin Cash (BCH) in Market Cap Rankings
In brief
- XLM surpassed BCH in market cap, now ranking 16th at $7.55 billion versus BCH's 18th at $6.61 billion.
- Stellar rallied 13% in 24 hours on golden cross technical signal and weeklong uptrend.
- Protocol 28 upgrade delivered faster consensus, atomic contract upgrades, and 10–15% throughput gains.
XLM's Climb Accelerates on Technical Strength
XLM has risen over 13% in the last 24 hours, according to market data. The move follows a technical breakout—a golden cross signal that typically precedes bullish momentum. This rally isn't isolated; it's part of a broader weeklong advance that's lifted XLM from deeper lows.
The timing isn't coincidental. Stellar XLM began to rise from a low of $0.172 on September 16, which coincided with a broader market rebound and the launch of Protocol 28 (Adapter upgrade) on Mainnet. That upgrade delivered tangible improvements to the network's core infrastructure.
Protocol 28 Brings Performance Gains
The Adapter upgrade launched on September 16 brought improvements including faster consensus, even under load; atomic upgrades for fleets of contracts; and a safer, standard way to migrate contract data. These aren't cosmetic changes—they address real bottlenecks in smart contract deployment and execution.
Performance metrics back this up. P28's mainnet launch also brought performance gains to Stellar, allowing ledgers to close in about 5 seconds, down from about 5.7 seconds. Throughput rose 10–15% on mainnet, while a peak of 216.1 TPS was recorded across 100 consecutive blocks. These gains matter for developers building on Stellar.
Bitcoin Cash Retreats Despite Futures News
Bitcoin Cash's position weakened even as the ecosystem saw positive developments. CME Group, the world's leading derivatives marketplace, announced that it will launch Bitcoin Cash (BCH) futures on October 19, pending regulatory review. The listing will enable market participants to trade larger and micro-sized contracts of Bitcoin Cash futures (250 BCH and 25 BCH respectively).
Yet this news arrived after BCH's peak. Before this announcement, Bitcoin Cash was rallying from a $213 low on September 16 to a $365 high on September 23, 2026, before bulls retreated. At the time of writing, BCH was down 4.53% in the last 24 hours to $331.
The flip in rankings reflects where momentum sits right now. Near Protocol (NEAR), which sits in the 17th spot with a market cap of $6.66 billion, sits sandwiched between the two—a reminder that these rankings shift quickly when technical upgrades and market sentiment align.
