2025 was a year where the XDC Network moved from ecosystem alignment to visible execution. Behind the scenes, its infrastructure reached maturity. In the open, stablecoin support, regulatory engagement, and tokenized assets proved its real-world relevance. As institutions began exploring use cases with increasing confidence, the network found itself in conversations it had long been building toward.
From new developer tooling to compliance-first dApps and stablecoin-backed trade pilots, the XDC Network emerged as a credible option for regulated digital finance. This year-in-review captures the stories, partnerships, and infrastructure upgrades that shaped its growth.
The story of XDC Network in 2025 isn’t defined by a single moment.
— XDC Foundation (@XDCFoundation) December 16, 2025
It’s the result of many pieces coming together across infrastructure rails, real-world use cases, and a growing global footprint.
Our year-end recap reflects on that progress and the road ahead for 2026 and…
Network Performance and Infrastructure Evolution
XDC 2.0: Security and Finality for Institutional Workflows
The tail end of 2024 saw the rollout of XDC 2.0, but its impact became evident in 2025. The upgrade introduced a new Chained HotStuff consensus mechanism, offering three-block finality and the introduction of slashing for malicious validators. These weren’t just theoretical upgrades—they brought XDC’s performance in line with what enterprise users need: fast, final, and secure settlement.
That mattered for developers building trade contracts, and even more so for those tokenizing assets that require regulatory clarity on state finality. The XDC mainnet has operated with uninterrupted uptime since its launch in 2019, processing over 800 million transactions by 2025.
EIP-1559, ERC-4337, and Ethereum-Level Tooling
In parallel, the Apothem testnet activated EIP-1559. This update helped normalize gas fees, which—though already low on XDC—benefited from better predictability for dApps managing throughput. Developers also got their hands on ERC-4337 account abstraction, unlocking smart wallets with built-in multisig, session keys, and gas delegation.
With these tools, builders could offer onboarding experiences closer to Web2 standards, making wallets smarter and reducing friction for end-users entering DeFi or tokenized asset ecosystems.
XDC Network continues to evolve with its latest upgrade, bringing EIP-1559 support to the Apothem Testnet!
— XDC Network (@XDCNetwork) February 4, 2025
📅 Activation Target: Block 71,550,000 | Feb 14, 2025
EIP-1559 introduces a base fee model, enhancing fee predictability & network efficiency. This update in XDPoS… pic.twitter.com/KIRrDfLrnW
XDCScan Relaunch: Etherscan-Powered Explorer Raises the Bar
While XDCScan has long served as the network’s default block explorer, 2025 brought a major upgrade. Through a new partnership with Etherscan, XDCScan relaunched on the same infrastructure that powers Ethereum’s industry-standard explorer. This transition gave developers a familiar interface with deeper tooling—supporting verified contracts, detailed analytics, and advanced API access.
The upgrade wasn’t cosmetic. It aligned XDC’s developer experience with other leading EVM chains, making it easier for engineers to onboard and monitor smart contract deployments. With over 30,000 contracts active by year’s end, the visibility and consistency offered by the new XDCScan became foundational for building at scale.
Stablecoins and Payments Infrastructure
Native USDC Launch: A Milestone for Liquidity and Compliance
In September, Circle officially launched native USDC on the XDC Network, complete with support for Cross-Chain Transfer Protocol (CCTP V2). The result: enterprises could now mint and redeem USDC directly on XDC without relying on wrapped tokens. For payment platforms and tokenization use cases, this removed a major trust hurdle.
Within weeks, over $25 million worth of USDC was circulating natively. This catalyzed activity across DeFi and made XDC a compliant rail for stablecoin-backed settlement.
Adoption Through Exchanges and Custodians
Following the launch, major platforms quickly integrated USDC on XDC. KuCoin, Bitrue, and Changelly added support for USDC/XDC trading pairs, and wallets like SecuX enabled native storage for users seeking self-custody. These listings gave both retail users and businesses simple access to move funds across borders at low cost using fiat-pegged digital currency.
Critically, institutional-grade providers also came on board. Stably, a digital asset custody platform, added support for USDC on XDC, giving fintech firms a secure interface for managing digital dollars. As Circle continued expanding its CCTP protocol in 2025, XDC was prominently featured in their ecosystem maps, signaling its growing role in the multichain stablecoin economy.
🚀 @XDC_Network_ is now live on the SecuX Wallet App!
— SecuX (@SecuXwallet) June 5, 2025
A fast, low-fee Layer 1 built for real-world finance, XDC is ideal for DeFi and global trade.
Store, trade & access DApps like XSwap, Oku Trade, Stargate with cold wallet security 🛡️
📖 https://t.co/bB5fLut7mq#XDCNetwork pic.twitter.com/fcL13HVyaj
Merchant Payments and Real-World Use
Beyond institutional finance, USDC adoption filtered into merchant infrastructure. The AliX Pay platform launched in Southeast Asia, enabling QR code-based payments using USDC on XDC. Integrated with regional e-commerce platforms, AliX Pay allowed users to settle invoices and purchase goods with zero gas fees thanks to XDC’s architecture.
The team behind AliX Pay chose XDC specifically for its finality, cost-efficiency, and compatibility with USDC, which minimized friction in payment processing. These types of merchant use cases showed how XDC could serve not only cross-border B2B finance but also local, retail-focused ecosystems in emerging markets.
🤝Aliniex Announces Strategic Partnership with XDC Network, Integrates Real-World Payments via AliX Pay
— Aliniex.com (@Aliniex) May 26, 2025
We're excited to announce our strategic partnership with XDC Network (@XDC_Network_ ) to expand our ecosystem and enhance real-world payment capabilities through AliX Pay… pic.twitter.com/ee13z9DvqT
The Foundation for RWA and DeFi Interoperability
With stablecoins in place, XDC’s on-chain financial stack became more complete. USDC created a dependable base layer for real-world asset (RWA) settlement and DeFi integrations, giving developers a dollar-denominated asset to build lending pools, liquidity farms, or yield vaults. It also bridged TradFi users—like exporters, banks, and real estate funds—to tokenized instruments without volatile assets.
Most importantly, the launch of native USDC wasn’t just about payments. It was about enabling a unified value layer for on-chain finance, where settlement, collateral, and compliance could all operate under one framework.
Real-World Asset Tokenization: From Concept to Deployment
Maturing the RWA Vision
In 2025, the XDC Network transformed real-world asset (RWA) tokenization from theory into operational infrastructure. Instead of pilot projects or proofs-of-concept, the year saw production-grade deployments involving regulated debt, real estate, and trade finance instruments. This evolution reflected a growing institutional appetite for programmable assets, and XDC’s architecture proved ready to meet the challenge.
Built for real-world constraints—low transaction costs, finality within seconds, and EVM compatibility—XDC offered an ideal substrate for tokenized assets that need transparency without compromising legal enforceability. Developers and asset originators leveraged this foundation to bring new financial primitives online, while regulators observed how these frameworks could enhance auditability, KYC/AML compliance, and market efficiency.
Major Milestone: VERT Capital Issues $75M Tokenized Debt on XDC
One of the most important tokenization milestones came from Brazil. In partnership with securitization firm VERT Capital, the XDC Network hosted the lifecycle issuance of a ₢75 million (approximately $75M) Agribusiness Receivables Certificate (CRA) on-chain. The transaction wasn’t a wrapped note or external representation—it was recorded natively on XDC, with full tracking of disbursements, payments, and investor rights.
Structured as a 6-year multi-series issuance, this debt instrument represented a leap in transparency for Brazilian agribusiness markets. By leveraging XDC’s blockchain, every transaction related to the bond—from coupon payments to investor recordkeeping—was available on-chain for regulators, underwriters, and auditors.
Notably, this issuance is part of VERT’s broader plan to tokenize up to $1 billion in receivables and corporate debt via XDC over the coming years. These assets were previously inaccessible to global investors due to lack of visibility and high intermediation costs. With XDC, VERT is creating direct, trackable channels between real-world borrowers and digital asset markets.
Mercado Bitcoin Taps XDC for Tokenized Credit
Brazil’s largest crypto exchange, Mercado Bitcoin, also turned to XDC in 2025 to power tokenized securities. The firm partnered with the network to issue over $15 million in corporate credit instruments using smart contracts and stablecoin settlement. The goal: bring efficiency and liquidity to mid-market corporate debt issuance in Latin America.
By using the XDC blockchain, Mercado Bitcoin could create asset-backed tokens that are transparent, programmable, and tradable under Brazil’s CVM sandbox guidelines. This initiative marked another real deployment—not just experimental—of tokenized RWAs on a compliant infrastructure. For exchanges and issuers alike, the move showed how tokenization could reduce costs and expand investor access, especially in emerging markets.
Commercial Real Estate Meets Tokenization
In Europe, XDC played a key role in bridging blockchain with commercial real estate financing. Through a joint effort between the UK-regulated exchange Archax, property platform VerseProp, and other partners, an institutional-grade real estate deal was tokenized on the XDC Network in 2025.
This transaction turned a physical asset—an office building with a defined debt structure—into fractionalized on-chain tokens that could be held and transferred globally. Investors could access performance-linked debt backed by the asset, while issuers retained full legal control and compliance. This tokenization structure opened the door to similar deployments in 2026, showing that XDC is capable of hosting both digital native and asset-linked tokens under regulatory oversight.
RWA Accelerator: Creating the Tokenization On-Ramp
To help scale these real-world deployments, the XDC Foundation and Plug and Play Tech Center launched a second round of the RWA Tokenization Accelerator in 2025. The program supported early-stage startups focused on asset tokenization, offering technical mentorship, capital access, and direct integration with the XDC blockchain.
Startups in the 2025 cohort included:
- Toknar – focused on invoice and payment tokenization.
- InvestBay – a platform for tokenized debt and equity crowdfunding.
- Brickken – tools for regulated token issuance and investor management.
- Compute Labs – infrastructure for off-chain data and compliance bridges.
Each team received architectural guidance to deploy their products on XDC, building toward an ecosystem of RWA platforms that could interact via shared standards and liquidity rails. The accelerator showed that onboarding new builders requires more than grants—it demands a coordinated effort to deliver production-ready tooling and legal infrastructure.
From Infrastructure to Market Integration
What made XDC’s RWA progress distinct in 2025 was that it moved beyond technical feasibility into real usage by institutions. It wasn’t only about asset representation—it was about legal enforceability, compliance, and integration with traditional finance rails.
Smart contracts on XDC governed real economic relationships. Assets like debt, equity, and real estate were no longer abstract. They were programmable, governed by code and contracts, and compatible with regulatory regimes across multiple jurisdictions.
This shift from potential to actual deployment marked a turning point. It confirmed that XDC’s long-term strategy—serving as a compliance-capable Layer-1 for tokenized finance—had the infrastructure and institutional relationships needed to support the next wave of digital finance.
Institutional Engagement and Ecosystem Expansion
Contour Acquisition: Reviving Trade Finance Rails
Perhaps the year’s most significant institutional play came when XDC Ventures acquired Contour. Once backed by HSBC and Standard Chartered, the platform had lost momentum. Under XDC’s umbrella, it’s being rebuilt as a stablecoin-native Letters of Credit network—leveraging the finality and low fees of the XDC mainnet.
Contour now gives XDC a strong foothold in enterprise trade workflows—no longer just a target, but an owned product line.
ETP Listings in Europe: Regulated Access to XDC
One of the biggest access milestones came in July, when 21Shares, Europe’s largest crypto ETP issuer, launched the first XDC-based exchange-traded product on Euronext Paris and Amsterdam. This listing gave European institutional investors a way to gain direct exposure to the XDC token through regulated channels, without interacting with crypto wallets or exchanges.
The product trades under the ticker XDCN, is fully collateralized, and complies with EU financial standards. Shortly after its debut, representatives from the XDC ecosystem—including co-founder Atul Khekade—took part in a gong ceremony at Euronext Amsterdam, publicly marking the event. The listing reflects growing institutional demand for transparent, compliant access to digital asset networks like XDC.
When Tradition Meets Innovation: XDC Network at Euronext Amsterdam
— XDC Network (@XDCNetwork) October 19, 2025
In a powerful symbol of how far blockchain has come, @XDCNetwork Co-Founder @atulkhekade joined @21shares for a gong ceremony at @euronext Amsterdam, celebrating the official launch of the 21Shares XDC Network ETP… pic.twitter.com/BMp1g5sWlE
SIX Swiss Exchange: A New Institutional Milestone
Later in the year, another key milestone followed. In October, XDC Foundation’s Ziv Keinan rang the bell at SIX Swiss Exchange in Zurich, celebrating a second ETP listing through 21Shares. The Swiss market—home to some of the world’s most regulated crypto financial infrastructure—brought additional legitimacy to XDC’s institutional offerings.
These back-to-back listings meant that by the end of 2025, XDC had compliant, publicly traded financial products live across two major European stock exchanges. This kind of regulated exposure made it easier for asset managers, pension funds, and private banks to gain exposure to blockchain infrastructure via traditional portfolios.
XDC Network celebrated a major milestone with the SIX Swiss Exchange bell-ringing ceremony, marking the listing of the 21Shares XDC Network ETP (XDCN) in Zürich .
— XDC Network (@XDCNetwork) October 28, 2025
The celebration continued with the XDC Institutional Roundtable on Digital Assets Rails, hosted in collaboration… pic.twitter.com/4cOM2eZAgX
Expanding Retail and Institutional Access in the U.S.
While the ETPs opened doors in Europe, the U.S. saw major momentum through centralized exchange listings. In July, Binance.US launched support for XDC (XDC/USDT pair), marking one of the most anticipated listings in the network’s history. It was followed by another major integration: Kraken, the second-largest U.S. exchange by volume, listed XDC (XDC/USD pair) in early September.
These listings made it significantly easier for both retail and institutional U.S. users to access and custody XDC. In parallel, the network expanded into retirement accounts through its listing on iTrustCapital, a crypto IRA provider. This allowed U.S.-based investors to include XDC in tax-advantaged retirement portfolios—an important step toward mainstream financial inclusion.
Assetera Partnership: Tokenized Securities Under EU Regulations
XDC also took a significant step forward in Europe’s tokenized securities market. In July, the network partnered with Assetera, a digital asset exchange regulated under MiFID II—the EU’s financial instruments directive. This collaboration was designed to bring tokenized equity and debt instruments to life using XDC’s blockchain rails.
Assetera enables fully regulated secondary trading of tokenized assets, which now can be issued and settled directly on XDC. This not only validated the network’s compliance credentials but also positioned it as a base layer for Europe’s evolving digital securities infrastructure. The goal: help real assets move digitally across borders with low friction and high transparency.
Assetera & XDC Network: A New Era for On-Chain Capital Markets
— XDC Foundation (@XDCFoundation) July 16, 2025
“This partnership is a pivotal moment in our roadmap to build the next generation of regulated, tokenized capital markets in Europe and beyond. With Assetera’s regulatory infrastructure and XDC’s scalable blockchain… pic.twitter.com/HZtM4MkYuo
DeFi, dApps, and Builder Tools
The Surge Program: Focused Incentives for Core DeFi Growth
In early 2025, the XDC Foundation launched Surge, a $10 million growth initiative to attract and support early-stage DeFi protocols building on XDC. Rather than operate as a broad liquidity mining program, Surge was designed to incentivize long-term, critical infrastructure—particularly for stablecoin liquidity, automated market makers (AMMs), decentralized lending, and gasless UX solutions.
Key recipients included:
- Prime Numbers Labs: expanded its NFT staking and DeFi ecosystem into lending and yield-bearing stablecoin vaults.
- 1Delta: deployed a low-gas AMM and leveraged trading protocol with native USDC support.
- TradeX: launched a modular suite of trade finance dApps offering invoice settlement and collateralized lending using tokenized real-world assets.
Surge funding supported both technical milestones and user acquisition campaigns. By targeting teams aligned with XDC’s long-term roadmap, the program helped activate high-utility protocols rather than short-term yield farms.
XDC Network Launches $10 Million “Surge” Program to Boost DeFi Liquidity
— XDC Network (@XDCNetwork) October 22, 2025
XDC Network has unveiled XDC Surge – a $10 million strategic incentive program designed to accelerate decentralized finance (DeFi) growth and liquidity across the ecosystem.
The initiative rewards liquidity… pic.twitter.com/s68mm0PMeY
Account Abstraction and Gasless UX
One of the most meaningful upgrades to user experience in 2025 came from the integration of ERC-4337 account abstraction across multiple wallet implementations. This enabled features like:
- Gasless transactions sponsored by dApps or external relayers
- Session-based authentication for multi-step workflows
- Smart contract wallets with built-in permissions and recovery
Projects like PillarX and PrimeWallet leveraged these capabilities to onboard users without requiring private key management or upfront token funding. This was especially valuable for onboarding institutions or new users unfamiliar with Web3 interfaces. For many DeFi protocols, integrating these smart wallet features became a baseline expectation rather than a luxury.
As stablecoins like USDC gained traction on-chain, account abstraction ensured users could engage with protocols and make payments even if they didn’t hold XDC for gas removing one of the biggest UX barriers in Web3.
Bridging Web2 & Web3 with #XDCNetwork!
— XDC Network (@XDCNetwork) February 13, 2025
In the latest episode of the XDC MENA Podcast, @satz_tr joins @REDausen to discuss XGate, a game-changing utility that integrates Web3Auth and account Abstraction.
Key Takeaways:
✅ How XGate combines Web3Auth & Account Abstraction to… pic.twitter.com/9r416232PT
A Developer Ecosystem Taking Shape
By the end of 2025, it became clear that XDC’s DeFi and builder ecosystem had moved beyond experimentation. There were stablecoin-enabled markets, real asset-backed lending flows, and tools supporting smart wallets and institutional custody. New dApps launched with gasless UX by default. SDKs and analytics tools reduced the barrier to entry for Solidity developers coming from other EVM chains.
With foundational layers now in place, 2026 is poised to bring composability between DeFi protocols and tokenized real-world assets—bridging capital markets and Web3 in a modular, scalable way.
Events, Community, and Developer Engagement
Conferences That Connected Builders and Institutions
XDC made its presence felt at major industry events, including Consensus 2025 (Toronto), TOKEN2049 (Singapore and Dubai), Trade Finance Global London, and DCENTRAL Tokyo. These conferences acted as bridges between developer communities, compliance professionals, and institutional capital.
At Consensus, the Contour acquisition was a central talking point. Discussions focused on how smart contracts and stablecoins could transform Letters of Credit and trade settlement. In Dubai, builders presented live applications that leveraged USDC on XDC for cross-border invoice payments and invoice factoring.
Rather than isolated meetups, these events created persistent relationships. Developers connected with compliance specialists. Tokenization startups met with custodians and auditors. This cross-pollination laid the groundwork for future collaborations and emphasized that building on XDC required both code and context.
XDC Network is going global this November 2025!
— XDC Innovation Lab (@XDCInnovLabs) October 31, 2025
We’re joining leading blockchain and fintech events across Asia, Europe, Australia, and the Americas — connecting with innovators shaping the future of digital finance and trade.
Catch us at:
• Nov 6 – Blockdaemon’s Brunch &… pic.twitter.com/2ATQ6kqsAZ
Regional Media: Telling Stories That Matter Locally
Beyond global conferences, 2025 saw the rise of region-specific content hubs. The XDC APAC Podcast Series brought voices from Southeast Asia to the forefront—highlighting payment integrations in Vietnam, fintech adoption in the Philippines, and regulatory updates across the region.
Meanwhile, the Inside XDC MENA series focused on blockchain’s role in Islamic finance, Shariah-compliant tokenization, and Gulf-based RWA projects. These podcasts, often hosted in local languages, made it easier for builders to connect with their communities and regulators to track ecosystem developments in culturally relevant formats.
These media efforts were more than storytelling. They helped localize the XDC narrative—moving from global concepts to grounded use cases in fast-growing economies.
Brazil is quietly becoming one of the world’s most advanced blockchain markets.
— XDC Network (@XDCNetwork) December 19, 2025
In our latest XDC MENA Podcast, our host @REDausen sits down with @DConsimo (Head of @xdc_latam ) and shares how:
• Brazil processed over $55B in stablecoin transactions
• PIX accelerated digital… pic.twitter.com/iN8x0lIUbY
Hackathons and Local Developer Education
Grassroots developer momentum also accelerated. In Ho Chi Minh City, a community-led hackathon brought together over 100 student developers to build smart contract applications on XDC using Solidity and ERC-4337. Many participants had no prior blockchain deployment experience—highlighting XDC’s ease of entry and low-cost environment.
Across Australia’s Gold Coast, another technical summit focused on institutional-grade DeFi tools. Participants explored account abstraction, custody tooling, and programmable compliance modules designed for finance-first markets.
In both events, education was paired with tangible infrastructure support: funded deployments, mentorship, and integration assistance. These events showed that XDC’s developer base wasn’t just expanding—it was diversifying in geography, expertise, and focus.
The XDC Engagement Hub: A Unified Gateway for Contributors
To tie these global efforts together, the XDC Foundation launched the Engagement Hub in late 2025—a platform designed to connect users, developers, and community advocates with opportunities to contribute to the network.
The Hub organizes engagement tracks by skillset:
- Technical (for developers interested in SDKs, dApp building, and protocol testing)
- Creative (for content writers, designers, and regional ambassadors)
- Operational (for translators, moderators, and event coordinators)
Each track includes suggested tasks, bounties, onboarding guides, and direct links to funding or grant opportunities. Contributors can track progress, build portfolios, and connect with other community members in their region or domain.
Importantly, the Hub also offers pathways into XDC’s grant programs, hackathons, and workshops—making it easier for self-starters to plug in without needing to be recruited. In doing so, it lowered the barrier to ecosystem involvement and opened the door for broader participation in governance and narrative shaping.
Looking Ahead to 2026
s 2025 ends, the XDC Network has moved from promises to delivery. Stablecoins like USDC are now native, real-world assets have been issued on-chain, and DeFi tools are live and growing. The core infrastructure is no longer in development—it’s in use.
In 2026, focus will shift from building to connecting. Composability between tokenized assets, DeFi protocols, and compliance tools will take center stage. Developers will refine gasless UX and smart wallets, while institutions expand product lines and explore secondary markets.
Success next year won’t hinge on volume alone. It will depend on how well XDC integrates real-world finance with open, decentralized systems. If 2025 proved XDC’s readiness, 2026 is where it scales.
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