Stellar

Stellar is an open-source, decentralized blockchain network launched in 2014 by Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim through the Stellar Development Foundation. Its mission is to facilitate low-cost, fast, cross-border payments and digital asset transfers—particularly for unbanked populations and developing economies.
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The network’s native token, Lumens (XLM), is used to pay transaction fees (as low as 0.00001 XLM), meet account minimums (~1 XLM), and act as a bridge currency for foreign exchange transactions. Over 7.5 million accounts have been created on the network.

Key Features & Technology

Stellar runs on the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), which is based on a Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA). This consensus model enables rapid finality (2–5 seconds) without mining, using a web of trusted validator “quorum slices” instead.

Core features include:

• ⚡ Low-cost, high-speed transactions (~$0.000001 per transaction)
• 🔄 Built-in decentralized exchange with atomic cross-currency swaps
• 🌐 Anchors and gateways to bridge fiat and digital assets
• 🧠 Soroban, Stellar’s Rust-based smart contract platform, enabling dApps and DeFi
  

Ecosystem & Adoption

Stellar focuses heavily on real-world utility—such as remittances, merchant payments, and central bank digital currency (CBDC) pilots. Its ecosystem includes major partners like IBM, MoneyGram, Stripe, and local banks in Latin America and Africa.

The network also funds builders through the Stellar Community Fund and has committed over $100 million to ecosystem grants.

Strengths & Challenges

Strengths:

• Extremely fast, cheap, and energy-efficient
• Designed for financial inclusion and interoperability
• Backed by a mature nonprofit with strong industry alliances

Challenges:

• Validator concentration: Many SCP nodes are run by the Foundation itself
• Token distribution: Large early allocations raise centralization concerns

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