DeFi, payments, tokenization, Soroban, governance, and project launches — curated daily from publications, project blogs, and community channels across the Stellar blockchain ecosystem.
The Stellar Development Foundation announced the winners of a global challenge that received over 250 submissions from 20+ countries. The top three visionary ideas include The Crypto Oracle's education funding platform, José Toscano's biometric crypto wallet, and 8 other finalists spanning payments, real estate tokenization, carbon credits, and more.
The BuildOnStellar event in Chile was a resounding success, showcasing innovative proposals for a more inclusive financial future on the Stellar blockchain. Highlights include projects in blockchain education, local community solutions, and presentations from Hoops Finance on key features like user authentication and AI integration. The community is invited to stay connected for future events and opportunities.
The Stellar Development Foundation and UN Development Programme announced a strategic partnership to deploy blockchain solutions for financial inclusion, sustainable development, and humanitarian aid across emerging economies.
Ghanaian fintech Seevcash integrated DeFindex's white-label DeFi yield infrastructure on Stellar in just one week, slashing development time from 12+ months and reducing code by 50%. Post-marketing, TVL spiked 433% to $13K with 24 active users earning yields on stablecoins. The SDK enabled gasless transactions via Stellar sponsorship, building trust in unbanked markets.
Anke Liu and Anna Whitson-Diaz from the Stellar Development Foundation discuss how blockchain technology bridges gaps in financial inclusion and empowers communities globally.
The Stellar Development Foundation launched #BetterOnStellar, a global campaign inviting innovators to share ideas for blockchain solutions across finance, creativity, and access. Winners share $30k in USDC awards, with the top entry earning $10k.
This guide explains how Ghanaian users can withdraw stablecoins like USDC and USDT from Binance to Ghanaian Cedi via mobile money or bank accounts using Bingtellar. Bingtellar is a web3 payments platform that supports Stellar, Solana, and BEP20 networks for seamless conversions. It offers speed, convenience, security, and fair rates as key benefits.
Tala launched a non-custodial crypto wallet powered by Stellar, enabling financially underserved communities in Peru and beyond to securely manage digital assets with low fees and fast transactions.
Airtm, a global payments platform serving 2.5 million users, has scaled stablecoin payouts to enterprise customers using Bridge's Stablecoin Orchestration API on the Stellar network. Since launching in March 2024, nearly 50% of Airtm's enterprise payout volume now flows through Stellar-based USDC transfers, processing $1.2 billion in total stablecoin volume in 2024.
This article showcases real-world impact stories from the Stellar ecosystem, highlighting how stablecoins and blockchain technology are enabling financial inclusion in emerging markets. It features projects like Decaf, MoneyGram Access, Félix, Bitso, Vibrant Wallet, and ClickPesa that are bringing payments, remittances, and microfinancing to unbanked and underbanked populations globally.
Puntored, a Colombian fintech serving low- and middle-income populations across Latin America, raised $2M from the Stellar Development Foundation's Enterprise Fund to expand its technological capabilities and enable cross-border transactions via the Stellar blockchain network.
Soroswap.Finance, the first DEX on the Soroban Blockchain in the Stellar ecosystem, announces the listing of $NGNC, a Naira-pegged stablecoin natively supported on Stellar. This enhances liquidity, FX utility, and cross-border payments for Nigerian users. Users can trade, add liquidity, and swap NGNC with assets like XLM, BTC, ETH, and USDC.
The Stellar Development Foundation released a documentary called 'The Onchain Effect' showcasing how blockchain technology is solving real-world financial problems. The film tells the story of an Australian entrepreneur in Colombia who uses Stellar and the Decaf wallet to safely pay his employees in USDC, eliminating the need to carry dangerous amounts of cash.
Fernanda Orduña Rangel, co-founder of Decaf, shares her journey from industrial engineer to blockchain developer building financial inclusion solutions on Stellar. Decaf enables users in Latin America and Africa to hold value in USDC and invest, addressing real-world financial exclusion and inflation protection.
Vesseo, a Stellar-based digital wallet by SDF subsidiary Sunship, reported 282% growth in monthly active users and 186% growth in transactions year-over-year, with Argentina accounting for 93% of its user base as high inflation drives adoption across Latin America.
Etherfuse, a tokenized real-world assets platform, raised $3 million in seed funding co-led by White Star Capital and North Island Ventures, with participation from the Stellar Development Foundation. The company is tokenizing emerging market government debt on Stellar and Solana blockchains, starting with Latin American sovereign bonds.
This guide explains how Ugandan users can withdraw cryptocurrency from Binance to Ugandan Shillings (UGX) via Mobile Money or bank accounts using Bingtellar, a web3 payments platform. It provides a detailed step-by-step process, highlighting Bingtellar's advantages over P2P methods. The article mentions Stellar as one of the affordable blockchain networks for low-cost transfers.
This article explains how to send money to Uganda using USDC on the Stellar Network via Bingtellar, a platform for affordable cross-border payments in Africa. It highlights low fees, accessibility, and security as key advantages over traditional remittances. A step-by-step guide demonstrates transferring USDC from wallets like Revolut to recipients who receive Ugandan shillings instantly.
Decentralife interviews Bernardo Garcia, co-founder of Félix, a WhatsApp-based payments platform using AI and blockchain to enable cheap remittances for U.S.-based Latino immigrants to Latin America. Celebrating 10 years of the Stellar ecosystem, Garcia shares his immigrant journey and motivation to solve high-fee cross-border payment issues. Félix simplifies sending money via chat, delivering fast and affordable transfers.
Bingtellar has been awarded an Activation Grant from the Stellar Community Fund to enhance its global payments infrastructure on the Stellar network, targeting cross-border payments in Africa. The grant supports expanding features, stablecoin utility, and connecting underserved Africans to the global economy. Bingtellar leverages Stellar's blockchain for fast, low-cost remittances, akin to 'TransferWise on Web3'.
Stellar Surge is a developer community program designed to engage African engineers and startups building on Stellar and Soroban, offering learning resources, innovation support, and funding opportunities including access to the Stellar Community Fund.
Stellar Aid Assist is a blockchain-powered aid disbursement system launched on the Stellar network that enables transparent and efficient delivery of cash assistance to vulnerable populations. The initiative, deployed with UNHCR in Ukraine, marks a year of impact in demonstrating Stellar's real-world humanitarian applications.
The Stellar Development Foundation visited Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya in February to meet with ecosystem builders, creators, and fintech innovators. The trip highlighted local solutions addressing payment challenges, financial inclusion, and creative economy opportunities across Africa.
The Stellar Development Foundation collaborated with Friends With Benefits to host an Art Basel event that raised funds for Casa Tochan, a migrant shelter in Mexico City. The event featured artist Daniel Fila (Krave) creating a live graffiti mural symbolizing financial freedom and creative liberation, aligning with Stellar's mission of financial inclusion.
Beans App and Blend Capital partnered to bring DeFi to underserved markets via Stellar's Soroban platform. Users can now convert physical cash to crypto through MoneyGram, earn yield on Blend's lending pools, and withdraw back to fiat, eliminating traditional banking intermediaries.
This article explains how Stellar's blockchain technology enables fast, low-cost cross-border payments by combining a frictionless blockchain pathway with local anchor partners for currency conversion. It contrasts Stellar's approach with traditional SWIFT wire transfers and highlights key advantages including settlement in seconds, minimal transaction costs, and full transparency.
The Stellar Development Foundation published a comprehensive paper examining how blockchain-based solutions advance digital financial inclusion, addressing the 1.4 billion unbanked adults globally and highlighting blockchain's role in reducing cross-border transaction costs and enabling access to formal financial services.
