Stellar Price (XLM)
XLM to USD
$0.49
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About Stellar
Stellar Lumens, also known simply as “Stellar,” is an open-source, decentralized exchange network that runs on blockchain technology. It was created to boost global access to cryptocurrency and digital transactions. Lumens (XLM) are the Stellar blockchain’s native digital tokens.
In 2014, programmer Jed McCaleb, who co-founded the open-source payment platform Ripple Labs, and former lawyer Joyce Kim, launched Stellar Lumens. McCaleb and Kim wanted to start a network that could help people in financially strained parts of the world make affordable transactions. They also wanted to design a network that allowed people to store funds without access to traditional financial institutions such as banks.
To support Stellar’s development and growth, the Stellar Development Foundation also launched in 2014. This nonprofit organization maintains the network’s source code and facilitates communication with businesses using the network.
The Stellar Blockchain
Instead of relying on proof of work mining to verify its network, Stellar relies on a distributed system of ‘trusted verifiers’ to confirm transactions. Stellar servers operate across the globe, reinforcing some of the decentralized properties which many other cryptocurrencies utilize.
One thing that makes Stellar unique, in terms of blockchains, is that it was designed to quickly and easily interact with existing financial infrastructure. What that means is that the Stellar blockchain was created like a digital payment rail and a settlement layer rolled into one. People can conduct all manners of transactions, from sending money around the world in one fiat currency and having it arrive at its destination in a different fiat currency.
In October of 2021, MoneyGram announced a partnership with the Stellar Development Foundation. Through this partnership, transactions involving USD Coin (USDC) have become newly possible via the high-speed, low-fee Stellar network.
While other cryptocurrency projects often claim to be working on financial inclusion and opening developing economies to more financial activity, Stellar has firmly positioned itself to tackle this problem by creating the infrastructure to facilitate fast and low-fee global transactions.
