Three established altcoins are drawing attention ahead of a potential market recovery: Hedera, Polkadot and Stellar. Each targets a different blockchain segment, but they share a focus on long-term infrastructure, enterprise adoption, interoperability and payments.
Stellar has joined five other blockchain organizations in asking the SEC to write a digital commodity definition directly into proposed federal regulations. The joint filing responds to the SEC’s proposed Regulation Crypto Assets framework and was submitted to SEC Secretary Vanessa A. Countryman. It was supported by the Stellar Development Foundation, Hedera, Aptos Labs, Ava Labs, the Cardano Foundation and Chainlink Labs.
The letter argues that Layer 1 networks are maintained and developed by network participants, covering applications, transactions, staking, mining and governance infrastructure. The signatories want regulators to separate a crypto asset’s status from investment contracts used to sell it. Under their request, an asset would not automatically become a security simply because it was sold through an investment contract, although the offering itself could still fall under securities laws.
The filing also addresses secondary-market transactions and the proposed safe harbor, questioning whether the draft adequately explains the safe harbor’s voluntary nature. It does not announce a final SEC decision on Stellar or XLM. Earlier, the SEC named XLM, XRP, LINK, HBAR and other assets as digital commodities in March, and the coalition wants that treatment reflected directly in final rule text.
Meanwhile, Hedera continues to build its enterprise-focused blockchain reputation through a governing council structure and low energy consumption. Polkadot remains centered on interoperability and its parachain model across decentralized finance, gaming and digital identity. Stellar is targeting faster and cheaper cross-border payments through financial technology partnerships.
For now, the regulatory request remains subject to SEC rulemaking and could be changed or excluded before final adoption. Still, the combination of enterprise adoption, interoperability development and payment-focused use cases keeps HBAR, DOT and XLM on watchlists as the crypto market prepares for a possible rally.
