DeFi, payments, tokenization, Soroban, governance, and project launches — curated daily from publications, project blogs, and community channels across the Stellar blockchain ecosystem.
Stellar addresses financial exclusion by enabling unbanked and underbanked populations to access digital financial services through on and off-ramps, asset tokenization, and partnerships with services like MoneyGram and Stellar Aid Assist, though 1.4 billion unbanked people globally means much work remains.
This article explains what anchors are on the Stellar network—organizations that bridge traditional banking systems to Stellar, enabling users to exchange fiat currency for digital assets. It covers anchor types, benefits, and how to become one through the Anchor Platform.
The Stellar Newsletter highlights upcoming events like Meridian 2023 in Madrid with Idris Elba, MoneyGram's USDC case study on Stellar, and Coinbase's integration with USDC on the network. It covers improvements to the Anchor Directory, wallet on/off-ramp integrations, Soroban infrastructure projects, and a new Soroban security bug bounty. Developer updates include proposed transaction changes and SCF submission best practices.
Beans is running a video contest offering $50 rewards for the 3 best videos showcasing how users are utilizing the Beans app and MoneyGram cash on/off-ramp functionality for real-world use cases like remittances and bill payments.
Argentina's economic instability and poor official exchange rates drive citizens to seek better alternatives for currency exchange. Beans, a non-custodial wallet on the Stellar blockchain, uses stablecoins like USDC to enable tax-free, market-rate conversions between USD and ARS, often surpassing the blue dollar rate. This allows faster, cheaper cross-border transfers with added features like free transactions and interest-bearing savings.
The Stellar Newsletter highlights Q1 achievements including Franklin Templeton's OnChain Fund surpassing $270M AUM on Stellar blockchain, SDF's strategic progress, and new board member Asiff Hirji. It covers partnerships like Arf, Cebuana Lhuillier, and blockchain remittances, plus Soroban smart contracts developments and community spotlights. Upcoming Meridian 2023 in Madrid is announced.
Vesseo, a mobile wallet for the unbanked, launched 'Send to Phone' using Stellar's SEP-30 protocol. Users can send USDC to non-Vesseo users via phone number with zero fees and instant settlement, enabling remittances without bank accounts.
Cebuana Lhuillier, the Philippines' largest microfinance provider, integrated with Stellar to offer blockchain-based remittances to 2,500 branches, enabling near-instant settlement and lower fees for cross-border payments.
FinClusive and Anclap launched a pilot program on Stellar demonstrating that blockchain-based remittances between the US and Colombia cost roughly half traditional methods (2.68% vs 5.36%), using stablecoins like USDC for faster, cheaper cross-border transfers.
AMA recap with MYKOBO CEO Seyi Akin-Olugbemi, issuer of the EURC Euro stablecoin on Stellar. He discusses his background in fintech, the motivation behind MYKOBO for financial inclusion in Africa, and why Stellar is ideal for value transfer. MYKOBO app supports EURC, USDC, XLM, and AQUA, all on Stellar, with upcoming liquidity pools.
Blend is a new liquidity protocol primitive for Stellar, enabling anyone to create insured lending pools with Soroban smart contracts. It provides lending and borrowing capabilities, adapting to market conditions while protecting suppliers via a backstop module. The protocol enhances Stellar's ecosystem for fintech, trading, DAOs, and DeFi applications.
Coinme integrated USDC on Stellar across its 40,000+ U.S. cash locations, enabling low-fee cash-to-digital conversions and near-instant peer-to-peer payments. The partnership brings financial inclusion to unbanked Americans through Stellar's efficient payment infrastructure.
MoneyGram won the 2023 FinTech Breakthrough Award for Best Use of Blockchain in FinTech, recognized for its on/off-ramp service on Stellar that bridges digital assets and local currency through MoneyGram retail locations worldwide.
Arf, a Swiss-regulated settlement banking platform backed by the Stellar Development Foundation, launched Arf Credit Line, offering unsecured USDC-based working capital financing for licensed financial institutions. The solution enables same-day cross-border settlements without pre-funding, addressing liquidity constraints in the payments industry.
Arf, a Swiss-regulated settlement banking platform backed by the Stellar Development Foundation, launched Arf Credit Line, offering unsecured USDC-based worki…
Arf, a Swiss-regulated settlement banking platform backed by the Stellar Development Foundation, launched the Arf Credit Line, offering unsecured USDC-based w…
EURC is a Euro-pegged stablecoin launched on the Stellar blockchain by UAB MYKOBO, offering secure, fast, and sustainable transactions. It has seen significant adoption with over 150k in circulating supply and substantial trading volume on Stellar's DEX. To celebrate its launch and MYKOBO's anniversary, zero transaction fees are offered throughout March 2023.
BP Ventures has launched three new open-source crypto wallets to facilitate company integration with the Stellar Blockchain. These include a white-label retail wallet supporting key SEPs, a compact command-line wallet, and documentation for Stellar Anchor integration. The initiative underscores BP Ventures' commitment to open blockchain networks.
This article explains why Stellar requires rigorous testing of blockchain upgrades before deployment to mainnet, and details how Stellar Supercluster—an automated testing framework—enables developers to validate code changes in simulated network environments.
The Stellar Development Foundation joined the CFTC's Global Market Advisory Committee as the only blockchain representative, positioning itself to advocate for stablecoins, remittances, and blockchain-traditional finance integration in U.S. regulatory discussions.
MYKOBO recaps its 2022 journey, from inception inspired by remittance challenges to launching Version 2 on the Stellar blockchain with EURC stablecoin. Key achievements include over 400 users, 155K EUR traded volume, and integration with Stellar protocols like SEP-6, SEP-24, and SEP-31. The company anticipates 2023 expansions like EURC swaps, new payment corridors, IBAN services, and debit cards.
The Stellar Newsletter highlights recent ecosystem developments including Soroban smart contracts live on Futurenet with a $100M developer fund and Sorobanathon. It covers Meridian 2022 on-demand sessions, Stellar Quest Live Series 5, bridge bounty grants, and the new Anchor Platform. Additional updates include stablecoin launches, SDF investments in NetXD and Wave, and community fund discussions.
Anthony Barker, CEO of BPV, spoke at the IPR Global Event 2022 panel on blockchain's future in payments and remittances. He shared insights on stablecoins, regulatory compliance, and integrating protocols like Stellar with traditional finance. The discussion highlighted blockchain's potential to enhance transaction security and efficiency for money transfer organizations.
Bitwage, a payroll platform for remote workers, integrated USD Coin (USDC) on Stellar to enable near-zero transaction fees for salary payments. The integration helps workers in Latin America and beyond receive wages faster and cheaper while reducing employer overhead.
MYKOBO announces a strategic partnership with Beans, a Stellar Community Fund #10 winner, to support EURC Euro on and off ramps. This enables Beans users to deposit/withdraw Euros easily and access IBANs soon. Both companies are built on Stellar for cheaper, faster cross-border payments, with integration launching in early Q4 2022.
Stellar announces Meridian 2022, its 4th annual conference in Rome (October 11-13), themed 'The Urgency of Doing.' The event will bring together developers, entrepreneurs, and policymakers to discuss blockchain solutions for real-world challenges like cross-border payments, financial inclusion, and regulatory frameworks.
BP Ventures won a $125,000 grant from the Stellar Community Fund for its solution enabling FinTechs to leverage USDC on the Stellar blockchain for payments. The platform integrates with MoneyGram's USDC services for seamless cross-border remittances. This highlights growing adoption of Stellar and USDC in the remittance industry.
MoneyGram and the Stellar Development Foundation launched a global on/off-ramp service enabling users to convert between cash and cryptocurrencies at MoneyGram locations. The service, powered by Stellar and USDC, is now available in Canada, Kenya, Philippines, and the U.S., with global cash-out functionality expected by June 2022.
MoneyGram launched an on- and off-ramp service for digital wallets in partnership with Stellar Development Foundation, enabling users to convert between fiat and cryptocurrency without bank accounts. The service rolls out in Canada, Kenya, the Philippines, and the US using Circle's USDC stablecoin, with Vibrat and Lobstr wallet integration.