DeFi, payments, tokenization, Soroban, governance, and project launches — curated daily from publications, project blogs, and community channels across the Stellar blockchain ecosystem.
This article explores blockchain technology's role in promoting financial inclusion, particularly for the 1.4 billion unbanked and underbanked adults globally. It includes perspectives on open systems and the Stellar Development Foundation's treasury response to financial access challenges.
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.
Stablecoins are projected to reach $3 trillion by 2028, with major players like Circle, PayPal, Ripple, and JPMorgan expanding adoption through partnerships and regulatory clarity. MoneyGram is launching a Stellar blockchain wallet for cross-border payments in early 2024.
Beans App and Boss Money wallet have integrated with the Stellar Disbursement Platform, enabling global bulk payments and financial access across 185+ countries and 10+ African nations respectively.
The Stellar Development Foundation announced its support for the World Economic Forum's Humanitarian and Resilience Investing Initiative, positioning itself as the sole blockchain organization in the initiative. SDF aims to leverage blockchain technology to address poverty and insecurity affecting 2 billion people globally while advancing its mission of inclusive financial infrastructure.
Beans, a non-custodial payments app on Stellar, announced major updates including a redesigned UI, support for Nigerian Naira and USD bank deposits/withdrawals via new partners Link and Kado, an in-app QR scanner, and a new support page. The app has doubled its user base over three consecutive months.
Professor Olayinka David-West examines financial inclusion barriers affecting 1.4 billion unbanked adults globally, arguing that digital solutions and ecosystem collaboration are essential to mainstream financial access across all socioeconomic levels.
The Stellar Development Foundation commissioned The Block to research cash-to-crypto on-and-off-ramps globally, highlighting how these access points serve as critical entry points to the digital asset economy on the Stellar network.
GetPaid is a Stellar-powered marketplace connecting African digital professionals with global companies, enabling cross-border payments in multiple currencies with fast settlement and low fees. The platform leverages Stellar's Anchor platform and SEP standards to provide accessible financial services to freelancers, creators, and traders in Kenya, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
Fonbnk is a fintech platform that enables financial inclusion in emerging markets by converting prepaid mobile airtime into USDC on the Stellar network, providing seamless on and off-ramps for cash-based economies across Sub-Saharan Africa.
Stellar leads all blockchains with 322,000 off-ramps and 475,000+ total cash-to-crypto ramps globally, with particular strength in underserved regions like Africa, Asia, and South America where traditional finance infrastructure is limited.
Bitso integrated Stellar's Anchor Network to enable USDC payments to Argentina, Colombia, and Mexico, leveraging blockchain to improve cross-border settlement times and costs for businesses and remittances.
Meridian 2023, Stellar's fifth annual conference, returns September 26-28 in Madrid with the theme 'Unlocking Human Potential.' Actor Idris Elba will open the event, which celebrates builders creating real-world blockchain solutions for financial inclusion.
The Stellar Development Foundation explains why on and off-ramps are critical infrastructure for crypto adoption, highlighting how they enable conversion between fiat and digital currencies. SDF emphasizes that accessible ramps are essential for financial inclusion, especially for the 2 billion unbanked workers globally who rely on cash.
Argentina's economic instability and poor official exchange rates drive citizens to seek better alternatives for currency exchange. Beans, a non-custodial wallet on the Stellar blockchain, uses stablecoins like USDC to enable tax-free, market-rate conversions between USD and ARS, often surpassing the blue dollar rate. This allows faster, cheaper cross-border transfers with added features like free transactions and interest-bearing savings.
Mary Saracco, Co-Founder and CFO of Latamex, shares her founder journey building Latin America's largest fiat gateway on Stellar. Her experience at the World Bank and frustrations with cross-border banking friction inspired her to create blockchain-enabled financial services for her home region.
SCF Kickstart bootcamp concluded its first 2023 cohort, supporting 30 Web3 startups building on Stellar and Soroban. CashAbroad won first place with $15,000 XLM for its LATAM cross-border payment platform, followed by Ripe and uils as runners-up.
SDF celebrated Consensus 2023 in Austin, showcasing Stellar's real-world utility beyond payments. CEO Denelle Dixon discussed blockchain's role in humanitarian aid, while the team highlighted Stellar Aid Assist and partnerships with major players like Franklin Templeton.
Cebuana Lhuillier, the Philippines' largest microfinance provider, integrated with Stellar to offer blockchain-based remittances to 2,500 branches, enabling near-instant settlement and lower fees for cross-border payments.
AMA recap with MYKOBO CEO Seyi Akin-Olugbemi, issuer of the EURC Euro stablecoin on Stellar. He discusses his background in fintech, the motivation behind MYKOBO for financial inclusion in Africa, and why Stellar is ideal for value transfer. MYKOBO app supports EURC, USDC, XLM, and AQUA, all on Stellar, with upcoming liquidity pools.
Rubén Galindo Steckel, CEO of Airtm, discusses how his Stellar-powered platform enables Latin Americans to participate in the global economy through fast, low-fee dollar accounts and flexible cash-out options, breaking down barriers to international financial participation.
Mercado Bitcoin and Stellar successfully tested a Brazilian CBDC on public blockchain, demonstrating delivery versus payment transactions with digital real. The pilot was part of Brazil's Central Bank LIFT Challenge to explore digital real use cases.
TASCOMBANK released findings from its electronic money pilot on Stellar, recommending blockchain adoption for Ukraine's payment system. The report highlights benefits including transparency, security, low costs, and high throughput for issuing hryvnia-nominated electronic money.
