Are you considering the option of investing in Stellar (XLM)? If so, you better take the time to learn as much as you can from the token and the entire ecosystem.
Cryptocurrencies are much more than just a digital coin you can use to purchase items or pay for services depending on the specific token we’re talking about.
Unfortunately, most people don’t take the time to learn this and instead invest in them without knowing the main use.
Although they remain consistent in terms of usage, it is never a bad idea to focus on them individually.
Thus, we decided to lend you a hand and review Stellar (XLM) before you decide to purchase even one, or is it even possible to acquire one or two? After all, you need to know how much it costs first.
There are many details to review, and we will be going in deep with them.
What Is Stellar? – History & Network
First, we need to go over the usual but very necessary division: Stellar isn’t exactly the same as XLM.
Instead, XLM or Stellar Lumens is the native cryptocurrency of what we know as Stellar. Thus, we need to consider a primary definition of the platform.
The Stellar payment network is blockchain-based that follows the same decentralized option that allows users to create, send, and trade multiple types of cryptocurrency.
The goal is to bring together all financial systems around the globe under one network.
Stellar, like other blockchain-based platforms and exchanges, is distributed across multiple servers. Stellar’s activity is not tracked by one source.
Focusing on its history, Stellar was founded by Jed McCaleb in 2014. He left Ripple (a platform he co-founded) to start a new financial system.
Along with Joyce Kim, a former lawyer, they were building this next network. Steller is intended to be a platform that can be used every day.
Soon after, Stripe CEO had teamed up with Kim and McCaleb to establish the Stellar Development Foundation, and this is when the project officially launched in July 2014.
Stellar has seen many growth spurts, such as the announcement by Mercado Bitcoin in 2014 that it was using the platform and it had over 3 million accounts registered.
Since then, it has built a network that includes Moneygram and Flutterwave.
Stellar Development Foundation released an updated protocol with a new consensus algorithm, which was live in November 2015.
Lightyear.io is a for-profit entity owned by Stellar. It was launched in May 2017 as the commercial arm. Lightyear Corporation purchased Chain, Inc in September 2018, and the combined company became Interstellar.
But What Is XLM or Stellar Lumen?
After the history and explanation of the blockchain technology and network, we can enter the part of the token itself.
Although Stellar is open to all forms of money and cryptocurrency assets, it does offer its own digital currency known as Lumens or XLM.
As the native tokens of the network, they are basically its foundation to allow users to operate and meet cryptocurrency transactions.
Most often, Lumens can be used to pay Stellar transaction fees.
The protocol converts money sent via Stellar to Lumens and then to the desired currency.
If you need a clear example, Stellar can convert money sent in dollars to recipients in Mexico to Lumens. The recipient can then receive the payment as pesos.
The entire process takes just seconds and allows you to send or receive money anywhere in the world.
Stellar was designed to allow digital currency representations. However, it also includes a built-in token called the lumen. This token is used to fulfill a specific role within the network.
Stellar is designed to require that every account has a limited number of lumens.
The lumen requirement for most accounts is minimal. A few is enough.
What Is Lumen or XLM Used for?
Although we explained it briefly above, the use of XLM needs a deeper look since every token is essential to operate within the network.
Stellar’s basic design for its ledger system resulted in the need to purchase lumens, which are used to cover the payments and use of the network.
But the purpose of using it as the payment or transaction fees option is to avoid spam or nonsense, so the ledger doesn’t get filled with them.
Thus, XLM helps to create the smallest amount of friction to discourage bad actors or frivolous players from solving this problem.
As deterrent costs, the platform and its creators decided to impose a minimum balance on each account as well as a small per-transaction charge.
The minimum balance at the moment is 1 lumen, and the minimum per transaction fee is 0.00001 lumen. These fees are small enough that Stellar can be easily accessed but large enough to discourage bad behavior on a large scale.
To avoid any preferences in currencies during the use of the platform, the network was given its own currency to meet the requirements.
In all the accounts available on the ecosystem, each one uses lumens for minimum balance requirements and to pay transaction fees.
The natural and pleasant side effect of having a network token to facilitate money movement between users is that it makes this a more enjoyable experience.
Lumens are a means of exchanging assets that might otherwise be inaccessible because everyone needs them.
Now, it is important to add here that XLM cannot be acquired through cryptocurrency mining or awarded by the protocol on the network, unlike other tokens.
The supply was set at 100 billion lumens in the beginning. However, in 2019, this was reduced to 50 billion in a consensus with the community.
Today, about 20 billion are available or part of the circulating supply while the Stellar Development Foundation retains the rest to continue developing Stellar.
How to Buy Lumens or XLM
If you are thinking about investing in this token, you will find it useful to operate on the network only.
However, this doesn’t mean it is a poor or bad investment.
Since lumens cannot be mined, you will need to purchase them via different exchanges or using the Stellar network.
For people in the USA, Coinbase and Kraken are the main options to acquire XLM with dollars.
If you want a more direct approach, the native exchange, Lobstr, allows you to purchase lumens on the Stellar network.
Other exchanges also support XLM and allow you to purchase it.
Overall, lumens are also used to save money and use it whenever someone accepts them as payment.
Of course, you have to evaluate whether this investment is worth your time and money since not all users have the same uses in mind.
That being said, XLM is very cheap.
At the moment of writing this, the price stands at $0.371, and although it is increasing and has seen a peak of over $1, it isn’t the biggest currency in terms of value for now.
On the other hand, its price volatility is less than regular currencies, so you can have a better chance of acquiring it without losing money.
What to Expect from Stellar (XLM)
Since Stellar’s primary focus lies on emerging economies in areas such as remittances or bank loans to people who are not within reach of the banking services, it has a lot of potentials.
After all, Stellar does not charge individuals or institutions to use the network.
It also supports distributed exchange. This allows users to send money in certain currencies, even though they may have credits in another currency.
The network then converts the forex. A partner institution, such as a bank, can allow the receiver to withdraw their equivalent currency.
Stellar is a cross-border payment and transfer system that connects financial institutions. It aims to reduce transaction costs as well as time lags.
It is similar to Bitcoin in that it works as a cross-border transfer and payment system. However, the consensus protocol is what makes Stellar unique.
Stellar’s current form is the result of a 2014 block that created the Stellar Consensus Protocol.
Stellar then became an open-source system. This protocol restricts transaction authentication to a small number of trusted nodes rather than making it available to the entire network.
Every node in the network chooses a group of trusted nodes. A transaction is approved when all of these nodes have authenticated it.
The Stellar network’s shorter approval process allows transactions to be processed faster and transaction costs to be kept lower by using this method.
So, put simply, the network wants to provide more payment options and transactions without requesting users to pay high commissions nor have to deal with unreliable exchanges.
Where We Choose to Invest Our Money
Although cryptocurrency isn’t our preferred method of investing money, it’s not a bad idea to spend on it. Actually, we have it among our strategies and methods to change our money and bet for a profit.
We decided to invest in them because cryptocurrencies are expected to grow dramatically in 2022.
For us, it can be difficult to ignore this cryptocurrency market cap when you get up every morning and take a look at each currency’s value.
Of course, not all tokens or cryptos will be worth the investment. However, there are good chances you will be able to make more than you think.
Now, we are not fans of how volatile the cryptocurrency market is and how we have to pay attention to the prices every hour.
Besides, XLM might not be the best option to invest in unless you will put the Stellar network to use for your transactions.
Thus, we recommend going for the investment in this decentralized cryptocurrency if you find it functional.
However, we would recommend that you invest in real businesses after considering cryptocurrency. Instead of betting on it as your main source of profit, just have it as a secondary one.
In our case, we like to bet in remote options that bring the opportunity for passive income. One of our favorites is definitely lead generation.
This option isn’t risky, and you don’t have to bet on your luck.
It is possible to generate leads more efficiently and easily than most people think.
If you work hard and have a good attitude, you can easily make thousands of dollars. Your ROI is guaranteed as well, and you won’t be dealing with a volatile market or depending on a network.
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