DeFi, payments, tokenization, Soroban, governance, and project launches — curated daily from publications, project blogs, and community channels across the Stellar blockchain ecosystem.
Mobius Network raised $35 million in a token presale on Stellar, exceeding its $25 million goal. The smart contract platform plans to facilitate machine-to-machine micropayments and will launch its full ICO on January 18, 2018.
Pundi X, a cryptocurrency POS provider, partnered with Stellar to become an Indonesian Rupiah anchor on the network, enabling faster and cheaper cross-border payments while supporting XLM in its retail payment platform.
Kik announced plans to migrate its Kin token from Ethereum to Stellar, citing Ethereum's scaling limitations and high transaction fees. CEO Ted Livingston stated Stellar's design is better suited for Kin's needs, with testing beginning by end of December and a potential Q2 rollout.
IBM and Stellar announced a partnership settling real cross-border payments using lumens as a bridge currency across Pacific currencies. The platform integrates private and public blockchain, with IBM handling transaction clearing while Stellar's blockchain conducts settlement.
Stellar, IBM, and KlickEx announced a blockchain-based cross-border payments solution now processing live transactions across 12 currency corridors in the Pacific Islands, Australia, New Zealand, and UK, dramatically reducing costs and settlement times.
The Stellar Development Foundation and Luxembourg House of Financial Technology published a 40-page white paper analyzing ICOs, covering technical elements, regulatory frameworks, use cases, and global regulatory developments to educate policymakers and industry leaders.
Stellar Development Foundation launched a Partnership Grant Program offering up to $2M USD per grant in XLM to incentivize development of high-impact projects, with primary focus on anchors and exchanges to promote financial inclusion.
Lightyear.io counsel Em Lindsay clarifies three common misconceptions about ICO legal compliance: utility tokens can still be securities, the Howey test isn't the only framework courts use, and regulatory compliance extends beyond securities law to taxes, consumer protection, and AML requirements.
Stellar offers a superior platform for ICOs compared to Ethereum, featuring built-in token issuance, a decentralized exchange, lower fees, faster transactions, and enhanced security for projects that don't require complex smart contracts.
Tutorial on issuing custom tokens on Stellar, demonstrating how to create, distribute, and manage tokens like the example HUG token with fixed supply and built-in exchange capabilities.
Stellar co-founder Jed McCaleb launched Lightyear.io, a for-profit company to help financial institutions integrate Stellar's open-source payments network. The move acknowledges that traditional banks are essential to building a global financial system.
Stellar.org announced a second lumen distribution program offering 16 billion lumens (16% of initial supply) to bitcoin holders, with claims opening June 27, 2017. The giveaway reflects Bitcoin's influence on Stellar's design and aims to build community ownership of the network.
Tempo Money Transfer integrated with Stellar blockchain to enable remittances from Europe to the Philippines via Coins.ph, allowing customers to send funds using just a recipient's name and phone number with 3-second settlement times.
Stellar announced partnerships with ICICI Bank, Tempo Money Transfer, Flutterwave, and Coins.ph to build cross-border payment solutions using its blockchain infrastructure, targeting remittances and international money transfers with reduced fees.
Coins.ph, Flutterwave, ICICI Bank, and Tempo Money Transfer have integrated with Stellar, enabling near-free remittances and cross-border payments across Southeast Asia, Africa, and India. The Philippines now has 22,000 cash-out locations for Stellar-based transfers.
Stellar cofounder Jed McCaleb discusses how banks are exploring blockchain partnerships to stay competitive, noting that understanding the technology and managing compliance remain the biggest hurdles for financial institutions adopting distributed ledger solutions.
Deloitte integrated with Stellar to launch a Digital Bank application enabling instant cross-border payments for consumers and businesses, with transactions resolving in around 5 seconds and plans for multiple financial institution partnerships by 2017.
Stellar co-founder Jed McCaleb is taking on a more public role after his co-founder's resignation, focusing on enterprise adoption. Barclays and Deloitte are building payment prototypes on Stellar's network to serve underbanked populations in Africa, with Nigeria as the initial target market.
Stellar.org announced the Stellar Build Challenge, a grant program offering awards across four categories: Anchors, Applications, Exchanges, and First-Time Submissions. Winners will be announced October 1, 2016, with funding from unclaimed lumens.
Joyce Kim, co-founder of Stellar, resigned as executive director in May 2016, passing the role to co-founder Jed McCaleb while remaining as board chairperson. Kim cited slow legal changes and specialized product design as factors in her decision, planning to explore microfinance work in developing regions.
Stellar.org outlines a three-phase strategy to achieve financial inclusion: building the Stellar network infrastructure, establishing anchor partnerships to connect financial institutions, and creating a platform for developers to build financial services for underbanked populations.
Stellar.org announced a lumen giveaway program for Bitcoin holders, reserving 19 billion lumens (19% of initial supply). Starting July 5, 2016, Bitcoin holders can claim lumens proportional to their BTC holdings through a claim page or participating exchanges.
Stellar partnered with Oradian, a fintech providing core-banking software, to launch instant money transfers across 200 microfinance branches in Nigeria, serving 300,000+ clients in rural areas with affordable, real-time payments replacing traditional cash delivery methods.
Stellar Core has been upgraded with significant code improvements, now 50% smaller and faster while maintaining security through the Stellar Consensus Protocol. Developers can upgrade their accounts and begin building financial services on the improved network.
Stellar Development Foundation released an upgraded distributed network codebase with improved security, scalability, and modularity. The new version introduces batching operations and multisignature accounts, enabling developers to build financial services like crowdfunding without scripting.
Stellar network upgrade launching in November will rebrand stellars to lumens and require user account upgrades. The nine-month development effort delivers a safe, scalable, and accessible network for global financial services.
Stellar celebrated its first anniversary, growing from two cofounders to a 16-person team while launching the Stellar Consensus Protocol, building global partnerships, and establishing a thriving developer community across multiple continents.
A legal dispute over $1 million in XRP held by Bitstamp involves Ripple Labs, Stellar Development Foundation, and founder Jed McCaleb. The case centers on whether McCaleb breached a settlement agreement by selling XRP through his cousin, with both parties seeking the frozen funds and disagreeing on jurisdiction and discovery procedures.
