Stellar and Ripple, both born from the same 2014 fork, are competing to replace SWIFT in cross-border payments. Ripple secured Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank while Stellar partnered with IBM on Blockchain World Wire, but both face a bear market downturn.
Stellar and Ripple share a common origin: Jed McCaleb forked Ripple's code in 2014 after disagreeing with the company's for-profit direction, creating Stellar as a decentralized alternative. While Ripple remains centralized and focused on XRP adoption through RippleNet, Stellar has evolved with IBM backing to challenge SWIFT's dominance in cross-border transactions. Recent wins include Ripple's partnership with Saudi Arabia's National Commercial Bank and SBI Holdings' MoneyTap launch in Japan, while Stellar and IBM launched Blockchain World Wire to connect financial institutions using stablecoins and cryptocurrencies. Despite handling $5 trillion daily, SWIFT faces real competition from both networks, though both coins have dropped 75% in the bear market.