Overview
Stellar is a decentralized payment protocol designed for fast, low-cost cross-border payments and financial inclusion. Founded in 2014 by Jed McCaleb (co-founder of Ripple) and Joyce Kim, Stellar is operated by the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), a nonprofit. It settles transactions in 3–5 seconds with fees under $0.0001 and powers remittance corridors in Africa, Southeast Asia, and Latin America through the MoneyGram partnership and CBDC pilot programs.
Who Created XLM?
Stellar was created by Jed McCaleb and launched in 2014. It is a Layer 1 cryptocurrency using Stellar Consensus Protocol consensus.
Key Use Cases
Stellar is purpose-built for connecting financial institutions, payment processors, and individuals for cross-border value transfer. The MoneyGram partnership allows users to cash in/out of digital Stellar assets at 350,000+ MoneyGram locations worldwide. Multiple central banks have piloted XLM-based CBDCs on Stellar. The protocol's built-in anchor system allows fiat-to-crypto on/off ramps in any currency.
Key Features
- +3–5 second settlement with fees under $0.0001 — practical for remittance at any transaction size
- +Built-in DEX with path payments — atomic multi-hop currency conversion in a single transaction
- +MoneyGram partnership enables cash in/out at 350,000+ locations in 200+ countries
- +Nonprofit SDF governance reduces profit motive conflicts vs. Ripple Labs' corporate model
- +CBDC infrastructure: SDF has partnered with multiple central banks for national digital currency pilots
- +Soroban smart contracts (launched 2023) add Rust-based programmability to Stellar
Official Resources
Official website: https://stellar.org