Should You Invest In Stellar?

1. Cryptocurrency traders: Since Stellar is one of the top cryptocurrencies in the world, traders and investors who focus on cryptos should consider investing in it, as part of a well-balanced portfolio.

2. Blockchain believers: The main use of the Stellar platform is in the field of finance, one of the earliest industries to embrace blockchain. Therefore, those who believe that the phenomenon will expand, and more businesses will embrace the tech, could buy XLM.

3. Day traders: As with all cryptos, the XLM chart could display significant price swings over the course of a single day. Therefore, traders often try to capitalize on these movements in the hope of generating short-term gains.

4. Technology for social change enthusiasts: One of Stellar’s missions is to help reduce global poverty and offer solutions to societies which do not have access to banking services. Investors could buy Lumens as a way of helping Stellar promote their social agenda.

Like so many other cryptocurrencies, Stellar burst onto the scene in 2017, showing massive gains and reaching a market cap in the billions. While fueled by the crypto bull run, there are other various factors that could impact the XLM coin price. Since it was created first and foremost to support real-world applications, its price is exposed to both crypto-related and non crypto-related influencers:

1. Bitcoin: The first cryptocurrency still has a firm grip on the market. Despite hundreds of new altcoins introduced since its launch, Bitcoin is still the most influential crypto, and when it shows volatility, it could often stir the entire market with it.

2. XRP by Ripple Labs: Since the way how Stellar works is similar to the Ripple Labs protocol, it is reasonable to believe that the two are perceived as linked by some investors. Therefore, news or price movements relating to one, could impact the other.

3. Mainstream adoption: The Stellar protocol could be used for various financial applications. Therefore, whenever it is adopted by a well-known company, it could increase its credibility and might result in an increase in Stellar Lumens price.

4. Social impact: One of Stellar’s main agendas is to help the less privileged gain access to financial services. Therefore, the organization’s success could come in ways other than financial gain, such as showing progress in promoting social change.

The Stellar protocol enables the transfer and exchange of different currencies and cryptocurrencies, using Lumens as a bridging currency. Moreover, since it is blockchain-based, it is also built in a way that ensures parties on both sides will get the best exchange rate possible. The platform automatically locates the best rate for each transaction and charges XLM fractions as a fee, resulting in each transaction costing less than a cent in commission.

Therefore, it has attracted quite a lot of attention in the tech and financial world, securing some interesting partnerships. For example, IBM has chosen Stellar as the platform on which to base its cross-border payment solution. The solution aims to drastically reduce the time it takes to transfer money from one country to another, and has garnered attention from some major financial institutions.

Stellar was founded in 2014, supported by the nonprofit organization, Stellar Development Foundation. The founding members of Stellar are far from anonymous in the tech world. The co-founders are Jed McCaleb, founder of the popular P2P file-sharing solution, eDonkey, and Joyce Kim, a veteran venture capital executive.

Originally based on the Ripple Lab protocol, the network later forked into its own formation. In 2015, Stellar underwent a complete overhaul, changing its base code and creating an entirely new server-based consensus algorithm for approving transactions. Each server on the network can approve transactions every 2-5 seconds and and each change is logged on a public ledger updated at the same rate. This ensures both fast transaction times and real-time tracking of each XLM token’s owner.

Like many other cryptocurrencies, Stellar had a stellar year in 2017, dramatically rising in value and reaching a market cap in the billions of dollars, positioning itself as a top 10 cryptocurrency.