Stellar Ecosystem
News

Stellar has been running its own Lightning Torch since June 2019, a community experiment that passes XLM around the world to demonstrate the blockchain's base-layer transaction efficiency. The torch, initiated by Wouter Arkink, has covered nearly 500,000 kilometers with zero transaction fees and introduced challenges like claiming countries and recruiting famous participants.

StellarTerm is an open-source trading client for the Stellar Decentralized Exchange (SDEX) with local key storage for enhanced security. It offers instant login via secret key, Ledger hardware wallet support, multisig accounts, and advanced trading features like real-time charts and notifications. Desktop apps are available for Windows, macOS, and Linux.

Franklin Templeton will use Curv's MPC wallet solutions to secure tokenized shares of its government money market fund on Stellar, enabling instant access and client autonomy over $700B+ in assets.

Saldo, a Mexican government-approved app, enables 20,000 migrant workers in the U.S. to send remittances home via Stellar's network using peso-backed stablecoins. At Stellar Meridian conference, builders emphasized regulatory compliance as essential for real-world adoption, contrasting with crypto's move-fast ethos.

Interstellar v4.0 (Voyager Update) released with major wallet improvements. New All-Spark feature enables asset transfers without trustlines or funded accounts. Comprehensive SEP6/24/10 anchor integration lets users deposit and withdraw directly in-app. Adds 11 new languages and enhanced security.

The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) announced a major restructuring at the Meridian event in Mexico City, burning 55 billion XLM to reduce total supply to 50 billion. They ended large giveaway programs and redirected remaining lumens to core development, ecosystem support, use-case investments, and targeted user acquisition. This new mandate focuses SDF on making Stellar the global payments standard through efficient, transparent spending.

The Stellar Development Foundation explains the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP) through a detailed walkthrough of how distributed consensus works. The article covers quorums, federated voting, nomination and ballot protocols, and provides a concrete example of how nodes reach agreement on transaction sets.

Gauntlet announced partnerships with Stellar, Celo, and Compound to provide consulting and stress-testing services. The firm will help Stellar prevent network disruptions, assist Compound with market risk modeling, and support Celo's stablecoin stability mechanisms.

The Stellar Monthly Roundup for September 2019 covers ecosystem updates including collaborations, AMAs, new hires at SDF, developer releases, community fund proposals, and ecosystem projects like Cowrie Systems and Bitbond. Highlights include the upcoming Meridian conference in Mexico City and a proposal to disable inflation. New features on stellarbeat.io and protocol upgrades prepare the network for future improvements.

Stellar has released Horizon v0.22.1 with support for Stellar-core v12.0.0 and Protocol 12. This update introduces path_payment_strict_send offers and disables the inflation mechanism. Users are urged to update their software ahead of the public network upgrade vote on October 28, 2019.

The Stellar Development Foundation proposed disabling the network's 1% annual inflation mechanism, arguing it no longer benefits ecosystem projects. Validators will vote on whether to accept the change in Stellar Core v12.

Major cryptocurrency exchanges formed the Crypto Ratings Council to rate digital assets on a scale of 1-5 based on securities likelihood. Stellar scored 3.75, indicating moderate securities risk, while Bitcoin scored 1 (lowest risk) and XRP scored 4 (highest risk).

Coinbase expanded XLM and LINK trading to New York residents after regulatory approval. Both tokens were previously unavailable in the state due to strict financial regulations, but are now accessible alongside other US jurisdictions.

Binance.US announced it will support Stellar alongside Bitcoin, Ethereum, XRP, and other cryptocurrencies at launch, with five additional assets including Stellar becoming available for deposits shortly after.

StellarX outlines how Anchors bridge fiat and crypto assets to the Stellar network, enabling faster, cheaper cross-border payments. Path payments let users send any asset and have it automatically convert to the recipient's preferred currency.

Stellar Lumens (XLM) surged 30% in 24 hours following the Stellar Foundation's announcement of a 2 billion XLM airdrop to Keybase users, worth over $120 million. The price jump surprised markets despite theoretical downward pressure from airdrops, signaling strong market interest in the token.

Mike Kennedy, creator of Zelle, became CEO of Interstellar, a Stellar-based blockchain payment platform competing with Ripple and Swift. Interstellar is crypto-agnostic and aims to enable faster, cheaper cross-border payments for banks without correspondent banking networks.

Stellar Development Foundation and Keybase announced a 2 billion XLM airdrop worth roughly $120 million, distributing 100 million XLM monthly to Keybase's 300,000 active users over 20 months. The partnership aims to introduce cryptocurrency to non-crypto-native users through an existing messaging platform.