Stellar (XLM) weakened to around $0.22 on Oct. 2 (local time), after a rally that had been up 27% over the past month. The move then stalled below $0.25. Daily trading volume also fell 26%, indicating fading buying momentum.
Key Summary
On Oct. 2, XLM was trading around the $0.22 level and was down about 2% over the past 24 hours. Over the same period, daily trading volume fell 26% to about $254 million.
Analysts view the $0.24–$0.25 range as clear resistance and say new catalysts are needed to break through it.
This pullback appeared right after the amount of altcoin exchange deposits surged by 160% in two weeks. It is interpreted as profit-taking by holders following the September rally.
Entering the XLM pullback range
According to the price-aggregation site **CoinGecko**, XLM was traded at around 0.22 dollars, down about 2% over the 24 hours as of October 2. During the day, the price fluctuated between 0.2169 and 0.2281 dollars, and over the past seven days it has formed a sideways range of 0.2071 to 0.2366 dollars. In the process, trading volume also dropped noticeably.
As of the same day, XLM’s daily trading value was about 254 million dollars, down 26% from the previous day. According to data from on-chain analytics firm CryptoQuant, the number of deposits to altcoin exchanges surged by about 160% over two weeks, reaching around 78,000 as of September 28. This is the highest level since October 2025 and is interpreted as a sign that holders are moving tokens to exchanges to realize gains from September’s upswing.
Related article: Bitget restores protected funds of more than $300 million along with the resumption of withdrawals
Diverging outlooks on XLM
Market analyst **Arman Shirinyan** said in a recent report that XLM is trapped in a “lack-of-conviction range.” Through his analysis, he diagnosed that the moving averages are clustered closely together, with strong resistance forming at 0.24 to 0.25 dollars and major support at 0.19 to 0.20 dollars. He explained that in a situation where trading volume is thin, even if breakout attempts appear in either direction, the credibility may decline.
He said that unless clear catalysts emerge—such as a network upgrade or a broad altcoin rally—there is a high likelihood that XLM will continue a range-bound market in the 0.18 to 0.24 dollar band for the time being.
However, there are also more optimistic views based on technical indicators.
In a report released on Thursday, crypto analyst **Manish Chhetri** analyzed that XLM is being traded above the 50-day, 100-day, and 200-day exponential moving averages (EMA). These EMAs are clustered in the approximate 0.188 to 0.195 dollar range, and he said they are acting as short-, medium-, and long-term support levels.
Chetri interpreted the Relative Strength Index (RSI) as around 63, saying it indicates a bullish phase just before overheating. At the same time, he noted that the MACD is staying in positive territory, leaving room for further upside from a technical standpoint. He set the first resistance line at 0.237 dollars and the second at 0.261 dollars.
However, sentiment in the derivatives market is somewhat cautious. According to CoinGlass data he cited, XLM’s long-to-short ratio is 0.68, dropping to near the lowest levels in about a month. This means leverage traders are reducing bullish bets and taking a more defensive posture.
Background behind the Stellar rally
In September, favorable news also continued on the network fundamentals front. BVNK, a stablecoin infrastructure company under Mastercard, said that on September 22 it integrated Stellar into its platform. In an official announcement, BVNK explained that more than 130 countries’ enterprise customers can use the Stellar network as an additional payment rail across areas such as cross-border payments, merchant settlement, and fund transfers.
Price volatility remains high. According to Shirinyan’s chart analysis, after XLM plunged by about 41% from around the June peak of 0.27 dollars to roughly 0.16 dollars, the summer low, it rebounded in September. Even so, the current price remains about 75% below the all-time high of 0.8756 dollars recorded in January 2018.
Next article: Dogecoin to push to introduce the first “app layer” in 12 years