The Sixth-Biggest Crypto: Stellar

The digital currency stellar has risen to the 6th position in market value, having just reached the 10th spot the previous day. CoinMarketCap reports that the value of Stellar surged 62.6 percent on Wednesday to 91.85 cents, momentarily surpassing the 150 percent barrier for the year. The statistics on the website also revealed that stellar now has a market valuation of $15.7 billion, making it the sixth-largest publicly-traded company even though that is competing with Bitcoin a backed currency.

CoinMarketCap reports that Ripple surged 18.5 percent to a new all-time high of $2.94 on Wednesday. A market capitalization of $112.5 billion places it second only to the more than $250 billion in value of bitcoin. A chief investment officer of cryptocurrency investment firm BlockTower Capital, Ari Paul, stated that Stellar was a “catch-up” transaction following Ripple’s recent increase. Last year, Ripple gained 35,500% to $2.30.

This year, it has increased by more than 25%. Paul explained that founded by ripple co-founder Jed McCaleb; Stellar is “quite similar” to ripple in terms of protocol. Since both stellar and Ripple are for quick and cheap transactions, they have benefitted from the rise in bitcoin fees.

Airdrops

On November 11, 2018, the airdrop officially got underway. In an official blog post, Blockchain.com stated that this was the largest airdrop in history. Over $120 million worth of XLM will be airdropped in September 2019 by the Stellar Foundation, the greatest airdrop to date. Keybase, a chat, and file-sharing software joined the alliance. Authenticated users on the site would be entitled to receive up to $500 worth of XLM in an airdrop over 20 months. According to a blog post published on December 10, Keybase could not screen the “hordes of phony persons” who attempted to register for the airdrop. Hence the airdrop was canceled.

A Deal with Transfer to Raise Prices

Stellar and Transfer To, an international money transfer platform, struck a significant contract mid-week, giving the cryptocurrency a considerable boost. Financial institutions worldwide use Stellar as a well-established DLT platform to facilitate cross-border transfers and payments.

Because of its ability to settle cross-border payments instantly and execute transactions, Stellar’s USP is the ability to reduce transaction costs and time delays dramatically. Customers may expect low-cost international payments and settlements thanks to the partnership between Transfer To (a mobile payments network for underdeveloped markets) and Stellar (a decentralized digital currency).

By pooling their affiliate networks, financial institutions, and digital financial service providers such as payment gateways, both companies will be able to expand their money transfer operations to more than 70 different countries across the world. (Also, check out our list of the best money transfer companies.)

Halal Certification for Stellar

Having examined Stellar’s qualities, features, and applications, SRB, an international Sharia advisory organization certified by Bahrain’s Central Bank (CBB), has published recommendations allowing Islamic financial institutions to deploy Sharia-compliant applications of Stellar blockchain technology.

Lumens, another cryptocurrency, are covered by the certificate as well. Stellar will grow into new areas where Islamic finance norms must be adhered to to provide financial services. It is now possible for Sharia-compliant products and services to be in nations such as Bahrain (Bahrain), Kuwait (Oman), Qatar (Saudi Arabia and UAE), and Indonesia and Malaysia (Indonesia).

However, Sharia-compliant DLT platforms are not limited to Stellar. In March, the World Sharia Advisory Committee awarded NOORCOIN a Sharia Certificate, making it the first utility token to achieve Sharia compliance. As reported by CoinTelegraph, a Sharia law expert to fintech firm Blossom Finance determined in April that Bitcoin was “usually legal” under Sharia law.

Stellar-based Stablecoin Project backed by IBM

IBM revealed in mid-July that it was supporting the “Stronghold USD” stablecoin project, which is on the stellar network’s blockchain. Star-owned cryptocurrency exchange Stronghold is introducing a new stablecoin called Stellar Dollar (SBDC). To be known as “Stronghold USD,” the FDIC-insured stablecoin’s assets will be guaranteed by a state-chartered trust firm that will hold the requisite reserves.

Federal Deposit Protection Corporation (FDIC) provides up to $250,000 in deposit insurance for commercial banks and savings institutions’ customers. IBM and Stronghold USD will work together to see if it can use the IBM Blockchain Platform in business networks. Jesse Lund, worldwide vice president of IBM Blockchain, says that “the digitalization of real-world assets utilizing blockchain can drastically revolutionize many sorts of financial transactions undertaken throughout the world.”