Stellar price: Bell upgrade heads toward mainnet vote
Published on 11/09/2026 at 18:32 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWSWhat Bell means for XLM
- Stellar's Bell Protocol 30 passed its testnet vote on November 3, with a mainnet validator vote scheduled for November 23.
- The upgrade would add muxed contract addresses, post-quantum signature verification for smart contracts and millisecond ledger timing.
- XLM was quoted at USD 0.15048 at 19:25:35 Berlin time, 2.84% above CoinGecko's November 8 UTC close of USD 0.146331.
The Stellar price is in focus as Bell Protocol 30 moves from a completed testnet vote toward a scheduled mainnet decision. Stellar validators are due to vote on mainnet activation on November 23, 2026, at 17:00 UTC. Approval would make Bell the next major protocol upgrade for the network, but the vote date remains subject to change.
The Stellar Development Foundation says Bell contains three proposed changes. Muxed contract addresses are intended to let one smart contract distinguish payments for multiple customers. A second change allows smart contracts to verify ML-DSA post-quantum signatures. The third records ledger close times with millisecond precision, removing a technical constraint for possible faster ledger closes in future upgrades.
Protocol change still needs approval
The testnet vote passed on November 3, according to CryptoDaily. Its report notes that Bell would require software updates from wallets, exchanges and node operators. Ordinary XLM holders would not need to migrate their holdings. The upgrade would also not make the network faster immediately: the millisecond clock is described as a prerequisite for later protocol work rather than an instant increase in block speed.
Current XLM market context
Investing.com displayed XLM at USD 0.15048 at 19:25:35 Berlin time on November 9, with a market capitalization of USD 5.32 billion, 24-hour volume of USD 71.31 million and a rank of 16 on that page. Its reported 52-week range was USD 0.13725 to USD 0.31124. For a UTC day comparison, CoinGecko lists a November 8 close of USD 0.146331. The Investing.com quote was therefore 2.84% higher than that verified prior UTC close; this is not a rolling 24-hour comparison.
Recent market coverage described XLM as below USD 0.16 after a brief move to about USD 0.171 on November 4 following the testnet vote. The network milestone and token performance have not moved in lockstep. For investors, the November 23 vote is the next clear date to monitor, alongside whether infrastructure providers complete the required updates and whether demand for XLM responds to the upgrade narrative.
More Stellar coverage is available on the Stellar topic page.
