72-Hour Sovereign Debt Rollouts Redefine Repo Testing

Stellar Repo Test Executes 72 Hourly Rolls Using Sovereign Debt

Ascend and M1X Global said on Oct. 23 that they completed an institutional repurchase agreement (repo) transaction using the Stellar blockchain, marking what the companies described as the first institutional repo executed on Stellar.

The firms said the trade used the Marshall Islands’ USDM1 sovereign bond as collateral, with financing provided in Circle’s USDC. The repo ran continuously for three days and included overnight and weekend financing through a series of automated renewals.

According to Stellar, the transaction executed as 72 automated hourly financing rolls over the 72-hour period. Smart contracts written for Stellar’s Soroban platform handled key operational steps, including financing, repayment, and collateral release, without a manual back office process. The parties said the repo was successfully repaid and closed.

• Collateral: Marshall Islands USDM1 sovereign bond
• Cash leg: USDC
• Automation: 72 hourly rolls managed by Soroban smart contracts
• Duration: Three days, including overnight and weekend periods

The companies said the transaction settled onshore in the United States through Peak Execution Services under a SIFMA Master Repurchase Agreement, a standard legal framework used in traditional repo markets. The notional size and repo rate were not disclosed.

Repos are a core piece of short-term funding in capital markets, typically involving the sale of securities with an agreement to repurchase them later at a higher price. In practice, they function as collateralized loans and rely on operational workflows for settlement, margining, and collateral management.

The Stellar pilot highlights how parts of that workflow can be programmatically managed onchain. Stellar said the test demonstrated 24/7 operation, automated collateral handling, and compliance checks, with network fees totaling less than one cent during the three-day period.

The development comes as Stellar’s role in tokenized sovereign debt has been drawing attention. Data cited from RWA.xyz shows Stellar leading Ethereum in tokenized non-U.S. government debt, with about $490 million in onchain sovereign instruments as of Aug. 20, 2026. Stellar has held the top spot in that category since early February, according to the same dataset.

For Stellar, the repo test adds an institutional finance use case to its existing positioning around cross-border, multi-currency settlement, where low fees and fast finality are often highlighted as design goals. The Oct. 23 transaction provides a concrete example of how sovereign debt instruments and dollar-denominated stablecoins can be used together in an automated, time-bound funding arrangement on a public blockchain.