

Stellar (XLM) currently has a price of $0.17 and is down -5.52% over the last 24 hours. The cryptocurrency is ranked 19 with a market cap of $5.9B. Over the last 24 hours, it saw $175.6M of trading volume. The token has a circulating supply of 34.2B tokens out of a total supply of 50B tokens.
Stellar (XLM) is a cryptocurrency that serves as the native asset of the Stellar blockchain, designed to facilitate fast and low-cost cross-border transactions with its decentralized network. It aims to connect financial institutions and enable the seamless transfer of money globally.
Stellar is a cryptocurrency that offers fast and affordable transactions. Unlike traditional banking systems, which can be slow, Stellar enables near-instantaneous settlement of payments. This is possible due to its consensus algorithm, which quickly confirms and validates transactions. As a result, users can enjoy seamless and efficient transactions, making Stellar a practical solution for everyday use.
In addition to its speed, Stellar also stands out for its low transaction costs. Traditional payment systems often come with high fees, especially for cross-border transactions. However, Stellar's native cryptocurrency, Lumens (XLM), serves as a bridge currency that allows for quick and inexpensive conversions between different fiat currencies. This makes it particularly beneficial for individuals who frequently send money internationally or businesses with operations in multiple countries.
Another key aspect of Stellar is its focus on financial inclusion. It aims to provide affordable financial services to the unbanked population, particularly in developing countries. By leveraging blockchain technology, Stellar empowers individuals without access to traditional banking services to participate in the global economy. This inclusivity is made possible through partnerships with organizations, nonprofits, and financial institutions, creating a network that enables seamless money transfers and asset transactions.
Stellar is distinguished by its Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), a consensus algorithm that ensures distributed agreement within the network. Unlike traditional algorithms such as proof-of-work (PoW) or proof-of-stake (PoS), SCP employs a federated Byzantine agreement system. This system allows a group of trusted nodes to collectively validate transactions, eliminating the need for a central authority.
SCP enhances the security and reliability of the Stellar network. By utilizing the federated Byzantine agreement system, SCP ensures that consensus can still be reached, even in the presence of malicious nodes or network disruptions. This strengthens the network's resistance to attacks and safeguards the integrity of blockchain-recorded transactions.
Stellar was created in early 2014 by Jed McCaleb, the co-founder of Ripple. The development of the Stellar network began in collaboration with Joyce Kim, a lawyer and entrepreneur. The project aimed to use blockchain technology to provide a decentralized platform for sending and receiving money globally. McCaleb and Kim launched the network with the initial release of Stellar on July 31, 2014. Since then, Stellar has evolved and grown, becoming one of the leading blockchain-based platforms in the world.
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Stellar is a Layer 1 protocol optimized for low-cost, fast cross-border payments and asset tokenization. It targets financial inclusion by enabling money movement in corridors underserved by traditional banking, particularly in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America. The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) coordinates protocol development and ecosystem grants.
SCP uses Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA): nodes each define their own “quorum slice” (a set of trusted nodes), and consensus emerges from overlapping slices without requiring global agreement or energy-intensive mining. This enables 3-5 second finality and very low transaction fees (fractions of a cent) while maintaining Byzantine fault tolerance.
XLM has a fixed supply of 50 billion tokens (after SDF burned 55 billion in 2019, reducing total supply from 105 billion). SDF controls a large treasury and periodically releases tokens for ecosystem development and grants. The 2019 burn was a significant supply reduction event; no comparable burns have occurred since.
Circle issued USDC natively on Stellar, making it one of the primary settlement currencies for Stellar-based payment applications. MoneyGram and Stellar have integrated USDC as the settlement layer for cash-to-crypto remittance corridors, allowing users to deposit cash at MoneyGram locations and receive USDC on Stellar for cross-border transfer.
MoneyGram integration for USDC corridors is the flagship real-world deployment. Various African fintech corridors (particularly Nigeria, Ghana, Kenya) use Stellar rails for cross-border settlement. The Central Bank of Ukraine has explored Stellar for CBDC infrastructure. Adoption is real but concentrated in specific corridors rather than broadly scaling across global payments.