Stellar price steadies ahead of Bell Protocol 30 vote
Published on 11/13/2026 at 13:08 | Editorial responsibility: Rafael Müller, Editor-in-Chief AD HOC NEWSBell vote sets Stellar focus
- Protocol 30 Bell is live on Stellar's testnet after validator approval on November 3, 2026.
- Validators are scheduled to vote on mainnet activation on November 23 at 17:00 UTC.
- CoinGecko listed an XLM close of USD 0.148350 for November 12, while its November 13 page showed USD 0.1465.
The Stellar price remains tied to a scheduled network decision rather than a completed mainnet upgrade. Protocol 30, known as Bell, is already live on Stellar's testnet, but validators are not due to vote on mainnet activation until November 23, 2026, at 17:00 UTC.
The Stellar Development Foundation describes Bell as an upgrade designed to make smart accounts more practical for businesses. Its three proposed changes are muxed contract addresses, post-quantum signature verification inside smart contracts and millisecond ledger timing.
What Bell changes
Muxed contract addresses are intended to let one smart contract distinguish balances for multiple customers by using a 64-bit identifier. This could reduce the need for separate contracts when exchanges, custodians or payment providers manage customer funds. The new contract address format begins with W.
A second change, CAP-87, allows Soroban smart contracts to verify ML-DSA post-quantum signatures. This does not make the entire Stellar network post-quantum: the foundation says network transaction signatures will continue to use Ed25519 for now. CAP-88 introduces millisecond ledger timing, preparing the protocol for potentially faster ledger closing in later upgrades rather than changing the current speed by itself.
Price context for XLM
CoinGecko's UTC price history lists a November 12 close of USD 0.148350. On its November 13 page, the service displayed XLM at USD 0.1465, while the Investing.com Stellar page showed USD 0.14849 when read on the publication date. These snapshots do not establish a precise intraday return, but they place the token close to the prior UTC daily level and well below the 52-week high shown on Investing.com.
The scheduled vote is therefore the next clearly defined protocol event. Approval would still be a condition for mainnet activation, not proof that the changes will immediately increase XLM demand. The upgrade's direct relevance is strongest for infrastructure operators, wallets, exchanges and developers that must prepare for the new address and ledger-data formats.
More coverage is available on the Stellar topic page.
