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Stellar Development Foundation hosts a panel discussion on blockchain investing in EMEA, announcing a 12-week accelerator program for founders building on Stellar in payments, DeFi, and RWA. The program runs through October with a demo day at Stellar's Meridian Conference in Lisbon.

Arcane Finance, Splice, Lumexo, and Chain Patrol discuss Stellar's competitive edge in payments, yields, security, and privacy. Speakers highlight Stellar's practical consensus, fast settlement, low fees, compliance-ready infrastructure, and the importance of honest risk communication for sustainable growth.

Boundless, a Web3 platform built on Stellar using Soroban smart contracts, launched to solve trust issues in project funding by releasing funds in milestones rather than lump sums. The platform supports hackathons, crowdfunding, bounties, and grants for both technical and non-technical contributors across the African builder community.

Hosts recap December highlights in the Stellar ecosystem, including Stellar House Miami event, Protocol 25 (X-Ray) testnet launch for ZK privacy, and tools like Smoothie Capital. Lightning round covers Marshall Islands UBI on Stellar, RWA milestones over $1B, Blend integrations, and upcoming events. Emphasis on DeFi growth, developer tools, and community initiatives.

Justin Benjamin from Normal Finance discusses crypto market updates, including Bitcoin at $97K and Ethereum stagnation, while highlighting opportunities in layer twos, DeFi, AI, and real-world assets as emerging sectors with 10x potential.