Stellar Ecosystem
News

Advanced Payment Solutions joins Armenotech and Tempo France in a Stellar-based fintech ecosystem to bridge traditional and digital finance, with plans for CBDC projects and a Euro-nominated stablecoin.

Thomaz Texeira, CEO of nTokens, discusses building fintech solutions on Stellar in this founder interview. He explains how blockchain democratizes finance globally and why smart contracts will enable programmable money for underserved markets.

MoneyGram won the 2023 FinTech Breakthrough Award for Best Use of Blockchain in FinTech, recognized for its on/off-ramp service on Stellar that bridges digital assets and local currency through MoneyGram retail locations worldwide.

Arf, a Swiss-regulated settlement banking platform backed by the Stellar Development Foundation, launched Arf Credit Line, offering unsecured USDC-based working capital financing for licensed financial institutions. The solution enables same-day cross-border settlements without pre-funding, generating $150 million in on-chain USDC volume within four months.

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.

BPV announces its Spring 2023 events schedule, highlighting attendance at major fintech and blockchain conferences in Stockholm and beyond. They promote their enterprise non-custodial Stellar wallet, Anchor in a Box, and invite meetings or demos. Events include STHLM Fintech Week, MONEY Live, Pay 360, and Paris Blockchain Week.

MYKOBO recaps its 2022 journey, from inception inspired by remittance challenges to launching Version 2 on the Stellar blockchain with EURC stablecoin. Key achievements include over 400 users, 155K EUR traded volume, and integration with Stellar protocols like SEP-6, SEP-24, and SEP-31. The company anticipates 2023 expansions like EURC swaps, new payment corridors, IBAN services, and debit cards.

The Stellar Development Foundation released its Q3 2022 report highlighting major progress: Soroban smart contracts launched on futurenet, a $100M adoption fund was announced, Meridian 2022 conference drew 380+ attendees, and the Anchor Platform entered final testing.

SDF invested $10 million in NetXD Inc., a Web3 platform for asset securitization and digital asset custody. NetXD will build on Stellar, leveraging its compliance features and native capabilities to enable embedded finance for businesses.

The Stellar Development Foundation announced a $5 million investment in Wave, an African mobile money app serving over 10 million users across five countries. The investment supports Wave's integration with Stellar to expand affordable financial services across Africa.

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.

Vitreous, a transparent fundraising platform built on Stellar, won SCF #10. The platform uses Stellar's low fees and anchor network to enable global fundraising with community-enforced accountability through public transaction visibility.

Stax, an African fintech app, received $500,000 from the Stellar Development Foundation's Matching Fund to build a non-custodial USDC wallet on Stellar, enabling offline payments via USSD for users with limited mobile data.

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.

SDF's Marketing Grants Program has distributed over 1 million dollars to Stellar ecosystem projects since its January relaunch. The program supports user acquisition and growth through paid media, events, PR, and marketing resources for qualified projects aligned with financial inclusion.

Wyre integrated with MoneyGram's new on/off-ramp service on Stellar, enabling users to convert between fiat and cryptocurrency through MoneyGram's global retail network. The service offers zero fees for the first 12 months and supports cash-out functionality worldwide.

Nium and the Stellar Development Foundation announced a partnership enabling businesses to send fiat payouts to 190 countries via Stellar without pre-funding requirements, leveraging Nium's API and regulatory licenses across 40+ countries.

Alfred Pay, a Stellar Community Fund winner, is building a LATAM-focused remittance platform using USDC on Stellar. The fintech operates as both an anchor and consumer wallet app, launching anchor services in the Dominican Republic this June with plans to expand across Latin America.

Novatti Group announced the launch of AUDC, an Australian Dollar-backed stablecoin on the Stellar blockchain. The 1:1 AUD-backed digital asset will integrate into Novatti's payment solutions, enabling faster, lower-cost domestic and cross-border transactions with support from the Stellar Development Foundation.

Newton, a Canadian crypto trading platform with 450,000 users, now supports USDC deposits and withdrawals on Stellar, offering near-zero transaction fees and instant settlement alongside multichain USDC support.

SDF, MoneyGram, and Techstars launched a three-year startup accelerator program focused on blockchain-based cross-border payments solutions for Latin America. The program will select up to 12 FinTech startups for a 13-week mentorship initiative, with applications opening July 25.

Tribal, a fintech platform serving SMBs in emerging markets, raised $60 million in Series B funding led by SoftBank Latin America Fund. The company plans to expand across Latin America, building on its cross-border payment system with Bitso and the Stellar Development Foundation.

Tribal, a B2B fintech platform for emerging markets, raised $40 million in debt funding from the Stellar Development Foundation and Partners for Growth, including $20 million in Stellar USDC to provide cheaper capital access to SMBs across Latin America.

Tascombank, Ukraine's oldest commercial bank, will pilot a digital hryvnia on Stellar using Bitt's digital currency management system. The test will cover payroll, peer-to-peer, and merchant payments with support from Ukraine's Ministry of Digital Transformation.

DFS Labs and SDF hosted a blockchain bootcamp in Africa with nine companies building on Stellar. Three companies earned $15,000 for ready-to-deploy solutions (HoneyCoin, Stax, Bonafide), while six earned $5,000 for demonstrating rapid technology adoption in their workflows.