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Range CEO Andres Monteoliva confirmed his company's Tier 1 validator role on Stellar this week, with SDF [quoting him](https://twitter.com/StellarOrg/status/2080659966373826603) calling it a "natural next step" for a team that secures stablecoin and fiat infrastructure daily. A [July 23 broadcast](https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1XGyggDpaPLxM) brought MoneyGram, Figure, and Range together with SDF's Jose Da Ponte to discuss what institutional validator participation looks like on a network with no staking incentives. [Sentora](https://sentora.com) launched institutional DeFi vaults on Stellar through the Stellar DeFi Hub, and SDF published [DeFi security standards](https://stellar.org/blog/ecosystem/stellar-defi-security-standards-and-best-practices) covering audits, bug bounties, capital buffers, and emergency pause controls.
# Institutions as Consensus Participants
The ["Beyond Building" broadcast](https://x.com/i/broadcasts/1XGyggDpaPLxM) on July 23 was the first extended public conversation with Stellar's three newest institutional validators. [MoneyGram](https://moneygram.com) processes nearly $2 billion in weekly stablecoin FX volume across 200+ territories and operates on-off ramps, non-custodial wallets in Colombia and El Salvador, and its MGUSD stablecoin on Stellar. [Figure](https://figure.com) issues YLDS, a yield-bearing stablecoin, on Stellar alongside Ethereum and Solana. [Range](https://range.org) provides compliance and operational controls for companies managing digital assets before funds move.
Stellar's consensus model offers no staking rewards or token emissions. All three institutions joined as validators to influence governance and network security, not to capture yield. Monteoliva described the infrastructure Range builds daily as the same infrastructure the team now helps secure at the protocol level.
SDF's Denelle Dixon published a [July 21 post](https://stellar.org/blog/ecosystem/distribution-is-the-last-constraint) arguing that distribution is the binding constraint on onchain products. The framing: onchain experiences that embed into offchain use cases outperform those that require users to navigate a separate onchain context.
# DeFi Infrastructure and Security Standards
[Sentora](https://sentora.com) launched institutional DeFi vaults on Stellar through Ultra Stellar's Stellar DeFi Hub, using Soroban smart contracts. The vaults support XLM, USDC, and PYUSD. A [July 22 X Space](https://x.com/i/spaces/1qxoNNpPBzgJv) detailed how vaults address XLM holders seeking liquidity without forced token sales. SDF's DeFi team noted that Soroban now supplies lending markets, collateral engines, and yield strategies that Stellar's payment rails previously lacked.
SDF's [DeFi security standards](https://stellar.org/blog/ecosystem/stellar-defi-security-standards-and-best-practices), published July 20, define audit requirements before user funds go live, mandatory bug bounty programs, capital buffers, and emergency pause controls, adapting mature DeFi practices to Stellar's compliance frameworks.
# Protocol Development and Developer Tools
[CAP-85 moved to Accepted](https://github.com/stellar/stellar-protocol/commits/HEAD) in the Stellar protocol repository this week. CAP-84 and CAP-86 entered Final Comment Period simultaneously. Active discussions cover WASM VM memory metering improvements, externally managed contract executable types, and a `getEvents` v2 endpoint.
[Allium Labs](https://stellaranalytics.allium.so/rwa-stablecoin) launched a Stellar analytics dashboard tracking RWA tokenization and stablecoin volume in real time, with issuer-level RWA market cap breakdowns and filters that isolate genuine economic activity from infrastructure transfers.
At the [July 23 Stellar Developers Meeting](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0RpAMlqRmkY), Hypertron debuted as a programmable B2B payment operating layer with privacy-first design and compliance controls. The meeting confirmed Stellar Quest is back online after third-party service sunsets, and that [skills.stellar.org](http://skills.stellar.org) now offers 24 AI skills, 17 contributed by the community.
# Builder Community and Regional Activity
The APAC Stellar Hackathon Philippines Demo Day ran at GCash headquarters in Manila on July 18, with 60 projects pitching across eight hours. The top 10 finalists advance to the APAC Grand Finale.
[Pebriansyah, founder of ORBIT Protocol](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CVjjTOELdY4) in Indonesia was featured in a Rise In Builder Spotlight, describing his path from crypto educator with 60,000 students to Stellar builder and mentor at webcoding.id.
A [Turkish-language Stellar developer handbook](https://x.com/i/article/2080195293052628992) published this week covers Soroban, DApp development, oracles, privacy, ZK, and SCF funding routes. The Stellar Turkey chapter held a community meetup in Istanbul.
A [Drips Wave spotlight](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2uRZhK90agU) this week featured Fundable, which enables streaming payments and fiat off-ramps across 23 African countries, Brazil, and Europe, and Tansu, which brings on-chain governance and voting to open-source projects.
# Lightning Round
* [SCF Public Goods Awards](https://github.com/SCF-Public-Goods-Maintenance/scf-public-goods-maintenance.github.io/pulls?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Apr+label%3Apg-award-proposal): 18 proposals open, feedback period closes July 29.
* [SCF Handbook](https://github.com/stellar/scf-handbook/commits/HEAD): 10 editorial commits this week, including clarifications on USD-valued XLM awards and Grassroots Award diction.
* [Freighter 5.43.0](https://x.com/i/article/2076792636883533825): token swaps with inline trustline creation, customizable auto-lock timer, restored smart contract signing, and muxed address history fix.
* [Drips Wave 7 changelog](https://drips.network/blog/posts/wave-7-changelog): appeal process for rejected repositories, 2.8x faster test transactions, improved CI failure assessment.
* [Bitbond Offering Manager](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3Y_3rezU-H4): no-code compliant token issuance across Ethereum, Solana, Stellar, and XRP Ledger.
* [Vestellar profile](https://www.risein.com/blog/how-melike-kecelioglu-built-vestellar-on-stellar): token streaming and vesting protocol on Stellar for investor schedules and contributor payroll.
* [SDF and Hacken Q2 2026 Security Report](https://twitter.com/StellarOrg/status/2080201134640128349): Tomer Weller on the architecture of trust for institutional blockchain adoption.
* [Para on Stellar DeFi roadmap](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kRX8iIFbTN4): top-10 lending protocols targeting Q3 and Q4 launch; DTCC partnership cited for digital securities custody.
* [Tellus Coop on AI-powered DeFi threats](https://blog.telluscoop.com/p/hackers-usan-ia-para-explotar-defi): analysis of AI-assisted smart contract exploits and SDF's proposed 5% capital reserve standard.
* [SkyChart](https://skychart.dev): updated Stellar portfolio explorer with constellation-comparison visualization and no backend.
* Lusty Finance, a Turkish team, received an $82,500 SCF grant, according to the [Stellar Turkey ambassador chapter](https://twitter.com/stellar_turkey/status/2076919927215157717).
# Upcoming Events
* **July 24** [Stellar Town Hall](https://discord.com/events/897514728459468821/1499821622356607010), Discord
* **July 25** [StellarX PH Online Workshop, PSU Lingayen](https://luma.com/pua0oeg9)
* **July 25** [StellarX PH Workshop 2, Mindanao](https://luma.com/2km9x00e), Davao City
* **July 25** [StellarX PH Online Workshop, SLSU Lucena](https://luma.com/xl4pn8pr)
* **July 26** [Build On Stellar, Mumbai](https://luma.com/ydtxd70f)
* **July 26** [Build On Stellar, Nagpur](https://luma.com/2df10j5d)
* **July 26** [Stellar India Build Sprint, Vadodara](https://luma.com/tw5qwr91)
* **July 27** [Weekly Brazilian Ambassador Meeting](https://discord.com/events/897514728459468821/1464247285474136135), Discord
* **July 28** [StarMaker Community Call](https://discord.com/events/897514728459468821/1394227738725974128)
* **July 30** [Stellar Summit, São Paulo](https://luma.com/wvcqg77b)
* **July 30** [Stellar Developers Meeting](https://discord.com/events/897514728459468821/1530165449369845810)
* **July 30** [E.Africa Weekly Community Call](https://discord.com/events/897514728459468821/1483896022064435271), Discord
* **August 1** [Stellar x CV Labs Accelerator](https://www.cvlabs.com/accelerator/stellar), Cape Town and Lisbon
* **August 1** [Summit Sundown and Caipirinhas](https://luma.com/lpia8cvw), São Paulo
* **August 2** [Stellar Cup and Brazilian Barbecue](https://luma.com/4fp8qm3f), São Paulo
* **August 6** [Stellar House São Paulo](https://luma.com/StellarHouseSP)
# Ambassador Activity
The Stellar Philippines chapter organized the APAC Stellar Hackathon Demo Day at GCash in Manila on July 18. Stellar Brazil is preparing for the Stellar Summit in São Paulo on July 30. Stellar Turkey highlighted a community meetup in Istanbul and an SCF grant win for a local team. Stellar Chile held its weekly community call on July 24.
# What to Watch
* SCF Public Goods Awards feedback closes July 29. [18 proposals](https://github.com/SCF-Public-Goods-Maintenance/scf-public-goods-maintenance.github.io/pulls?q=is%3Aopen+is%3Apr+label%3Apg-award-proposal) are open for community input.
* Stellar Summit São Paulo opens July 30. Watch for partnership and product announcements from the in-person gathering.
* CAP-84 and CAP-86 are in Final Comment Period. Outcomes will define the next protocol upgrade scope.
* The APAC Stellar Hackathon Grand Finale date is unannounced. The Philippines top-10 finalist list is the next milestone.

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