Foundation

SDF mandate

Our mandate provides transparent and live updates on our progress towards our goals.

Mission driven

The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization with a mission: “creating equitable access to the global financial system leveraging Stellar.” SDF is not a charity. It is self-funded, pays taxes, and has no shareholders. This unique corporate structure enables SDF to remain focused on its mission without undue influence.

In contrast to many organizations in the blockchain industry that may face pressure from shareholders or prioritize short-term revenue goals, SDF is able to stay aligned with its long-term vision—supporting the development and deployment of everyday financial services built on Stellar for a global audience.

At its inception in 2014, SDF was vested with the authority to use the XLM to enhance and promote Stellar and the broader Stellar ecosystem in support of the SDF Mission. This mandate hasn’t changed. But the tools necessary to support the work have and will continue to change over time as the uses of Stellar and needs of the ecosystem grow and evolve.

In 2019, SDF introduced the first framework detailing the Foundation’s mandate. As the network and ecosystem grow, the activities and uses of the Stellar network naturally evolve to support the needs of the ecosystem and the market. SDF aims to adapt its support to contemporary ecosystem needs by allocating its resources to fund a wide range of activities and incentivize sustainable growth. Thus SDF is mandated to:

Build the public goods that are needed for the Stellar system to grow and flourish;
Advocate for sustainable public policy and regulatory support and guidance on a global basis;
Promote the network and the ecosystem projects to the developer community, end customers, enterprises, institutions (private and governmental);
Invest in assets, protocols, companies and teams that support the mission and develop the Stellar network and the ecosystem at large.

Through these efforts, SDF ensures that its assets are deployed in a transparent, mission-aligned way to foster a thriving, inclusive financial ecosystem powered by Stellar. SDF also reallocates funding support amongst these activities as dictated by the needs of the ecosystem and market trends.

Current allocation of assets

Below are the real-time balances of XLM held by the SDF, organized by account. These balances are public, and anyone can track usage in near real-time using the provided links. In addition, SDF publishes a quarterly report that outlines goals and provides transparent accounting of XLM usage.

Evolution of Account Structure

In 2019, SDF divided its XLM holdings into four main accounts: Direct Development, Ecosystem Support, Use-Case Investment and User Acquisition. The XLM were allocated among these accounts based on projected needs, with the goal of responsibly integrating these funds into the ecosystem. Since that time, this framework has supported a range of initiatives, some more successful than others.

As Stellar evolved, so did its usage — significantly and positively. And in 2025, the accounts were updated to reflect current priorities driven by the ecosystem growth and the changes in market demands: SDF Development, Stellar Growth, Product and Innovation and Assets and Liquidity.

SDF development

At the inception of Stellar, XLM were given to the SDF to support the operational work of the SDF. The current balance in this account can be found here. The SDF sells XLM from this account on public exchanges like Kraken, Coinbase, and Bitstamp and through direct sales, in order to pay for the operational expenses of the SDF and to support the broader work of the Mandate.

On a regular basis SDF reimburses the SDF Development account for the activities it does to build, promote, advocate for and invest in the Stellar ecosystem. Much of the substantive work performed by the SDF team is work that is funded by the Growth, Product and Innovation, and Assets and Liquidity accounts.

The SDF Development account was intended to support the general operating expenses of the SDF, such as rent, server costs, network level marketing, and advocacy or policy work. Salaries for SDF employees are paid initially from SDF Development, and can be supported by the other accounts as well depending on the work. SDF also uses the Stellar network where it can for core financial infrastructure, from using the network to pay grantees, vendors, business partners and employees as well as manage treasury.

Stellar growth

SDF is committed to growing the Stellar ecosystem, making Growth the largest category of work performed. This includes increasing the number of developers, the number of accounts, the number and type of assets, the volume of assets, and the velocity of transactions on Stellar. It includes providing monetary support to companies, teams, and projects that are independently strengthening the Stellar ecosystem. And includes investments through the Enterprise Fund that improve the depth and breadth of wallets, exchanges, defi protocols, data partners, bridges and messaging platforms, payments companies and infrastructure partners on the Stellar network. To support massive growth goals, we will be creative and responsive to the needs of the organizations and to the broader market demands.

The Stellar Growth account funds developer engagement through events like hackathons, meetups, the Ambassador program, and Meridian, alongside infrastructure grants, research grants, and the Stellar Community Fund. These initiatives are structured around activities spearheaded by developers in the ecosystem, designed to attract builders, fuel engagement, and identify critical tools that keep the network safe and thriving.

Beyond building, the Growth account drives adoption by helping projects acquire users and scale their impact. Building great products isn't enough—people need to use them. SDF provides targeted support to projects gaining real traction, helping them reach new audiences while seeding ETFs, ETPs, and other investment strategies that expand ecosystem exposure. The goal is to bring new users into Stellar, accelerate growth for products demonstrating real-world value, and champion the broader narrative of financial access, transparency, and innovation powered by the network.

Product and innovation

Stellar’s long-term success depends on the real-world utility of the products and services built on it. That’s why the SDF is committed to identifying, funding, and building high-impact tools that support the ecosystem — and to helping builders bring those tools to users around the world using the funds from this account.

Sometimes, the path to solving ecosystem gaps means building the solution ourselves or in collaboration with ecosystem developers. At other times, it may mean acquiring or supporting promising tools already in development. Either way, SDF uses the Product and Innovation account to ensure the right infrastructure exists to unlock adoption and growth.

SDF invests its own time and capital into projects that fill strategic gaps in the ecosystem or serve as foundational infrastructure for other builders. We also use this lever to promote interoperability, scalability, and ease-of-use by building products and tools that align with open-source principles and Stellar’s long-term mission. All products are designed with scalability, transparency, and open access in mind — ensuring they benefit the broader ecosystem, not just individual stakeholders.

Assets and liquidity

Assets and liquidity are at the heart of Stellar’s mission to create equitable access to the global financial system. Without a diverse range of real-world assets on the network — and without the liquidity to move between them efficiently — the Stellar ecosystem cannot fulfill its promise as a global, interoperable financial platform.

Bringing more assets onto Stellar — such as fiat-backed stablecoins, tokenized financial instruments, or institutional assets — is essential for enabling everyday financial services like cross-border payments, savings, lending, and remittances. Assets give users something to transact with, while also expanding the utility and reach of the network.

SDF actively supports asset issuance by collaborating with institutions and fintechs to bring these beneficial assets to the network, and, in some instances, hold the assets to support initial volume requirements. SDF pursues integrations with bridges, custodians and compliance providers to enhance utility for network assets. The goal is to ensure that all necessary participants are available on Stellar so that the issued assets will be successfully deployed and utilized. SDF supports growing fiat-accessible on/off ramps and ensuring global stablecoin coverage. Grants are made to providers who build deposit and withdrawal services, enabling users to move funds between Stellar and local banking and other financial systems.

With assets, comes the need for liquidity. Liquidity ensures that once assets exist on Stellar, they are usable — meaning users can easily exchange one asset for another, at fair rates, without delays or high slippage. Stellar relies on decentralized exchanges (DEXs), automated market makers (AMMs) and other trading venues (CEXs, etc.) to provide this liquidity across global asset pairs. Without sufficient liquidity, users face poor transaction experiences, inefficient markets, and limited adoption.

SDF helps increase liquidity by funding market-making programs for key assets, offering grants or incentives for institutions that provide on-chain liquidity and encouraging integration with decentralized liquidity protocols that align with Stellar's smart contract platform. Deep, varied, and reliable currency markets are not optional — they are foundational to Stellar’s future as a global network. These funds ensure the infrastructure exists to support those markets at scale.

Conclusion

Since the first formal mandate published in November 2019, SDF’s goal has been to use and disperse the XLM in order to fully operationalize the Stellar ecosystem. Along the way, we’re committed to fulfilling our mandate with as much transparency, clarity, and energy as we can. Expect a detailed accounting of our progress each quarter, but of course you can always verify and follow along on the ledger.

Here is what accounts will move to: