Stellar Impersonation Index

Anyone can issue any asset code on Stellar. This counts how many actually do — measured on mainnet, updated 2026-08-24.

4,402accounts issuing these codes
3,553,255trustlines exposed to them
17codes with NO canonical issuer
20asset codes measured
The headline finding: BTC is issued by 600 separate accounts holding 133,871 trustlines between them. An asset code is not an identity — it is a label anyone can print. The only thing that tells you which one you hold is the issuer address.
CodeIssuing accountsTrustlines Can freeze / claw backVerdictLargest issuer domain
BTC600133,8712No Canonicaldead.apay.io
XRP600275,2465No Canonicalfchain.io
ETH569138,8510No Canonicalultracapital.xyz
GOLD530178,4915No Canonicalmintx.co
USDC4212,428,8343Canonical Foundcircle.com
USDT34748,8161No Canonicaldead.apay.io
SILVER338100,9492No Canonicalmetalsstellar.com
GBP16827,4395No Canonicalswisscustody.org
OIL14631,4817No Canonicalswisscustody.org
XAU12940,0455No Canonicalswisscustody.org
TSLA10230,9016No Canonicalelectric.indus.exchange
NVDA9219,7647No Canonicalgostocks.org
AAPL8516,6076No Canonicalgostocks.org
EURC6741,6232Canonical Foundcircle.com
BRL6315,3554No Canonicalntokens.com
XAG513,3796No Canonicalmetalinvest.org
SPY404,8957No CanonicalStellarETFs.com
QQQ315,2875No Canonicalmutualfunds.stellar-dex.io
NGNT138,9052Canonical Foundcowrie.exchange
YEN102,5160No Canonicalqazempire.org

Why this matters for tokenized real-world assets

Tokenized equities, treasuries and metals are being built on public chains right now. This index shows the impersonation is already in place before the real assets arrive: codes like SPY, GOLD and SILVER are issued by many accounts and, in several cases, none of them is canonical. Some of the largest issuers have auth_revocable or clawback_enabled set, meaning the issuer can freeze or take back a holder's balance.

“So where do I get the real one?”

That is the honest end of this measurement. A code on a public network proves nothing about what backs it. A regulated venue that lists the actual asset removes the identity question entirely — there is one BTC on an exchange order book, not 600.

Kraken — regulated exchange →

Disclosure: that is an affiliate link and Stellar Scout may earn a commission if you sign up, at no cost to you. It does not change anything measured on this page, and it is not advice to buy any asset. Cryptocurrency involves risk.

Method

For each code we enumerate every issuing account on Stellar mainnet via Horizon, count trustlines per issuer, attempt the SEP-1 stellar.toml handshake at each issuer's home domain, and read the issuer's control flags. A code is marked No Canonical when no single issuer is both dominant and domain-verified. Two limits stated plainly: a valid handshake proves domain control, not identity — an impersonator can publish a toml on a domain they own; and a legitimate issuer may publish no toml at all. Dominance is the forgery-resistant signal, because trustlines are expensive to manufacture and domains are not.

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