ETC vs XLM
Ethereum Classic and Stellar scored on the same 25 variables, ranked against the same 251 tokens, with every gap between them shown.
Scoring pass 18 Sept 2026. Market snapshot 7 Oct 2026.
What separates them
ETC scores 90 of 250 and ranks 192nd of 251. XLM scores 108 and ranks 100th. XLM leads by 18 points, which is a real gap, though small enough that one variable moving would close much of it. ETC takes 2 of the 25 variables, XLM takes 17, and 6 are level.
The framework rates ETC PASS and XLM WATCH. Two tokens close enough to compare do not have to land in the same band, and where they do not, the divergence table below is where the split comes from.
No single variable separates ETC and XLM by as much as 3 points. The lead is broad rather than concentrated: XLM is ahead on 17 of 25 variables by one or two points each, which is what produces the composite gap without any one variable carrying it.
Both score 3 or below on Protocol Revenue, Revenue Trend, Buyback and Burn, Real Staking Yield, TVL Trend, BTC Alpha Potential. A weakness both sides share is not a reason to prefer either. It is a reason to check whether the category itself carries the problem.
XLM is valued at $7.01B against $1.32B for ETC, a 5.3x difference. The larger of the two also scores higher, so the market and the framework agree on the ordering here.
All 25 variables, head to head
Both tokens were scored by the same framework in the same pass, so the numbers are directly comparable. What a comparison adds over two separate pages is the gap: a 6 against a 6 is a non-event, a 9 against a 3 is the reason to hold one and not the other.
Cash flow
| Protocol Revenue | 2 | 3 | XLM +1 | |
| Revenue Trend | 2 | 3 | XLM +1 | |
| P/S Multiple | 4 | 4 | level | |
| Real Staking Yield | 1 | 3 | XLM +2 |
Supply
| Supply Inflation | 4 | 5 | XLM +1 | |
| Vesting Schedule | 5 | 5 | level | |
| Circulating / FDV Ratio | 5 | 5 | level | |
| Buyback and Burn | 1 | 3 | XLM +2 |
Ownership
| Smart Money Flows | 3 | 4 | XLM +1 | |
| Insider Selling | 6 | 5 | ETC +1 | |
| Holder Concentration | 5 | 4 | ETC +1 |
Traction
| TVL Trend | 2 | 3 | XLM +1 | |
| Active Users | 3 | 4 | XLM +1 | |
| Developer Activity | 4 | 5 | XLM +1 | |
| Network Growth | 3 | 4 | XLM +1 |
Position
| Market Share | 3 | 4 | XLM +1 | |
| Competitive Moat | 4 | 5 | XLM +1 | |
| Institutional Adoption | 4 | 5 | XLM +1 | |
| Exchange Depth | 6 | 6 | level | |
| Social Mindshare | 4 | 4 | level |
Risk
| Regulatory Safety | 5 | 6 | XLM +1 | |
| Catalyst Calendar | 3 | 4 | XLM +1 | |
| BTC Alpha Potential | 3 | 3 | level | |
| Team Execution | 4 | 5 | XLM +1 | |
| Treasury Runway | 4 | 6 | XLM +2 |
Bars read outward from the centre: ETC to the left, XLM to the right. The side that leads a variable is filled. Each score is 1 to 10 against the same definition applied to all 251 rated tokens.
Market and supply
| ETC | XLM | |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $8.32 | $0.2001 |
| Market cap | $1.32B | $7.01B |
| Circulating | 75.3% | 70.1% |
| Dilution to full supply | 1.33x | 1.43x |
| Off all-time high | -95% | -77.1% |
| To recover the high | 20x | 4.4x |
| Total value locked | not published | not published |
| Network | ETC | Stellar |
Price, market cap and all-time high from the CoinGecko snapshot fetched 7 Oct 2026. Supply shares are derived from circulating and eventual supply counts, which do not move with price. The 25 scores come from the research pass dated 18 Sept 2026.
Catalyst and risk on each side
ETC · PASS
PoW narrative revival; potential ETF speculation as Bitcoin alternative.
Low developer activity vs. ETH; 51% attack history concerns.
XLM · WATCH
Stellar's cross-border payment partnerships (e.g., MoneyGram); Soroban smart contract adoption, live on mainnet since early 2024.
Slow payment adoption vs. XRP; limited DeFi network; regulatory uncertainty.
Common questions
- Is ETC or XLM the better investment?
- On this framework XLM scores higher: 108 against 90 of 250, and it is rated WATCH against PASS. That is a ranking of fundamentals as recorded at the last scoring pass, not a price forecast, and ETC still wins 2 of the 25 individual variables against XLM.
- What is the biggest difference between ETC and XLM?
- Nothing separates them by more than 2 points on any of the 25 variables, which is unusual and means the two are close substitutes on fundamentals.
- Which is bigger, ETC or XLM?
- ETC is valued at $1.32B and XLM at $7.01B on the latest market snapshot.
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Research and analysis, not investment advice. A higher score is one framework applied consistently to 251 tokens, not a prediction that one asset will outperform the other.