Stellar Ecosystem
News

Stellar upgraded to Protocol 18, adding native AMM functionality to the blockchain. This enables liquidity pools for cross-currency payments without smart contracts or high gas fees, making Stellar one of the earliest Layer 1 blockchains with protocol-native AMMs.

YieldBlox, from the Script3 team, aims to address Stellar ecosystem challenges like poor capital efficiency and weak incentives by introducing money markets for lending and borrowing. It enables passive users to earn interest on deposits while active users leverage assets, boosting liquidity and productivity. Additionally, it provides fintech platforms with revenue models through yield delegation and staking incentives.

Protocol 18 upgrade vote on Nov 3rd will bring automated market maker (AMM) functionality to Stellar. SDF collaborated with ecosystem projects like Settle Network, Ultra Stellar, and Stellarport.io to ensure AMM features launch immediately upon validator approval, democratizing liquidity provision and enabling new financial services use cases.

Flutterwave launched two new remittance corridors between Europe and Africa on Stellar, partnering with TEMPO to offer cost-effective money transfers using Stellar USDC, expanding Pan-African digital payments infrastructure.

Flutterwave launched two new remittance corridors between Europe and Africa on the Stellar network, partnering with TEMPO to enable cost-effective money transfers using Stellar USDC. The expansion aims to strengthen Pan-African digital payments infrastructure and reduce remittance costs to sub-Saharan Africa.

YieldBlox announces updates to its YBX airdrop due to bot activity, introducing day-zero staking with a 10x multiplier for genuine users and staggering payouts over six weeks. The testnet beta saw over 472,000 YBX farmed, revealing key insights into user strategies and protocol improvements on Stellar. Upcoming changes include UX enhancements, smart contract fixes, and mainnet launch by late November.

Protocol 18 will introduce automated market makers (AMMs) to Stellar through deep protocol integration. The article explores the design decisions behind AMMs, including how they leverage existing path payment operations to avoid coordination problems and provide seamless liquidity routing for developers.

Grayscale Stellar Lumens Trust began trading on OTCQX under ticker GXLM, alongside new Grayscale trusts for Horizen and Zcash. This marks the first time XLM is available as a publicly-quoted security on a U.S. market.

Aquarius shares a progress update on their Stellar-based project, highlighting a successful airdrop using claimable balances that reached 272,980 wallets with over 918 million AQUA claimed. They've developed a Rewards Engine and Voting Tool to boost liquidity on the Stellar DEX (SDEX), with testing starting soon and community voting to follow. The protocol will integrate with upcoming AMMs, advancing their roadmap ahead of schedule.

The Stellar Development Foundation announced a $40M investment in Tala, a fintech company serving unbanked populations in Kenya, Mexico, India, and the Philippines. Tala will expand its digital banking platform to offer borrowing, saving, and payments using Stellar assets and USDC stablecoins.

The Stellar Development Foundation launched Stellar Next-Gen, an educational initiative partnering with universities and organizations worldwide to develop blockchain talent and foster financial inclusion through courses, hackathons, and mentorship programs.

The Stellar Development Foundation is partnering with academic institutions worldwide to build the next generation of blockchain developers. SDF VP Justin Rice explains the initiative aligns with the platform's mission to democratize access to financial infrastructure by empowering builders and creators.

MoneyGram announced it will use Stellar blockchain to enable USDC stablecoin payments and near-real-time settlement for its customers, with rollout beginning this year and international expansion in 2022.

MoneyGram partners with Stellar Development Foundation to enable crypto payouts in local currencies using Circle's USDC stablecoin, integrating MoneyGram's network with Stellar blockchain for cross-border payments and settlement.

Stellar's built-in asset issuance capabilities, compliance features, and consensus protocol make it well-suited for central bank digital currencies. The network offers security and control comparable to centralized systems while enabling interoperability on a public blockchain.

Arf and Tempo Payments launched a Stellar-based payment corridor from Europe to the Philippines using Circle's Stellar USDC, enabling compliant cross-border transactions with near-zero fees and instant settlement.