Stellar Ecosystem
News

Tori Samples, co-founder of Leaf Global Fintech (now BOSS Money Africa), discusses her journey building blockchain solutions for financial inclusion in Africa. She recently joined the Stellar Development Foundation as Senior Product Manager, leading work on Stellar Aid Assist for humanitarian disbursements.

Stellar was designed for interoperability, enabling low-cost transfers of all asset types across traditional finance, different blockchains, and web applications. Unlike Bitcoin or Ethereum, Stellar facilitates value movement between all systems rather than replacing them.

Wirex has integrated XLM and USDC on Stellar into its non-custodial wallet, marking the first such wallet without seed phrase vulnerability to support Stellar. The integration expands Wirex Wallet's blockchain support to nine networks.

USDC addresses inefficiencies in cross-border payments with regulated, on-chain settlement. Four use cases—remittances ($1B+ via SDF partnership), B2B payments, liquidity provision, and global financial access—demonstrate institutional adoption at scale.

The Stellar Development Foundation is heading to the World Economic Forum in Davos to showcase Stellar Aid Assist, a blockchain-based aid disbursement system now being piloted by UNHCR and IRC to deliver cash assistance to displaced persons in Ukraine without requiring bank accounts.

UNHCR launches a blockchain-based cash assistance pilot in Ukraine using Stellar, Vibrant wallet, and USDC stablecoins to distribute humanitarian aid to war-displaced Ukrainians. Recipients can convert funds to local currency and withdraw via MoneyGram.

Airtm CEO Rubén Galindo Steckel discusses how blockchain and cross-border payments can enable Latin Americans to participate in the digital economy, reducing dependency on unstable local governments and creating income opportunities without migration.

GMO Trust launched GYEN, the world's first regulated JPY stablecoin, and ZUSD on Stellar, enabling fast, low-cost cross-border transactions with 1:1 fiat backing and monthly audits.

SDF launched the Anchor Platform at Meridian, a new product that reduces development time for fintechs integrating into Stellar by translating existing APIs into SEP-compliant interfaces. Bitso and Red Chapina are already using it for cross-border payments.

Anthony Barker, CEO of BPV, spoke at the IPR Global Event 2022 panel on blockchain's future in payments and remittances. He shared insights on stablecoins, regulatory compliance, and integrating protocols like Stellar with traditional finance. The discussion highlighted blockchain's potential to enhance transaction security and efficiency for money transfer organizations.

Wirex now supports USDC on Stellar, enabling 5 million users to save and spend the stablecoin via crypto-enabled debit cards with rewards up to 8% in WXT tokens across 39 countries.

The cryptocurrency industry needs clear regulatory standards for stablecoins, similar to USDA organic certification. Without enforceable definitions, consumers lack protection and the term risks losing credibility as tokens like UST collapse.

Beans, a non-custodial wallet enabling zero-fee international payments on Stellar, shares insights on winning the Stellar Community Fund Round 10. The app leverages Stellar's fee sponsorship and on/off ramps to simplify cross-border transactions for mainstream users.

LINK, a Nigerian fintech that won Stellar Community Fund Round 10, uses Stellar's anchor infrastructure and NGNC stablecoin to enable fast, cheap cross-border payments across Africa. The company has integrated four businesses with $825k MRR and plans to scale its P2P platform to 50+ countries.

Bitwage, a payroll platform for remote workers, integrated USD Coin (USDC) on Stellar to enable near-zero transaction fees for salary payments. The integration helps workers in Latin America and beyond receive wages faster and cheaper while reducing employer overhead.

Stellar Protocol 19 enables payment channels through CAP-21 and CAP-40, allowing off-chain transactions at 1.19 million payments per second while maintaining cryptographic security. Starlight demonstrates this capability with only three on-chain transactions needed regardless of channel activity.

SDF launches Stellar Ramps, a suite of open standards enabling applications to connect to a global network of on and off ramps provided by Stellar anchors, making it easier for users to convert fiat to digital assets and vice versa.

This article explains how to integrate the Stellar Network into SME businesses, focusing on public-key cryptography, federation for human-readable addresses, and QR code support in Stellar wallets. It highlights Stellar's advantages over Ethereum ENS and compares it to Bitcoin's bip 0021 payment URIs. Examples include smart anchors like Flutterwave for simplified bank integrations.

MYKOBO announces a strategic partnership with Beans, a Stellar Community Fund #10 winner, to support EURC Euro on and off ramps. This enables Beans users to deposit/withdraw Euros easily and access IBANs soon. Both companies are built on Stellar for cheaper, faster cross-border payments, with integration launching in early Q4 2022.

USDC on Stellar is now live on Ledger Live, enabling users to securely send, receive, and buy USDC through Ledger hardware wallets. This integration expands network participation and brings low-cost cross-border payments to Ledger's millions of users.

The Stellar Development Foundation released its Q2 2022 report highlighting progress on three strategic pillars: Protocol 19 went live enabling payment channels, Project Jump Cannon smart contracts advanced with WASM, and ecosystem funding reached 10.5M XLM across 15 projects through the Stellar Community Fund's 10th round.