Stellar is an open-source, public network that lets its users store and conduct digital transactions of money. The platform leverages the power of blockchain technology to decentralize transfer of payments in a faster, energy efficient and highly affordable manner.

Stellar Lumens (XLM) is the native token within the Stellar network. Also known as Lumens, XLM tokens make it possible for Stellar's users to send and receive money across the world in a faster manner than traditional fiat currencies.

Lumens or XLM offer an extremely low-cost method to conduct almost real-time cross-border transactions, letting Stellar compete with established global payment providers. Unlike other services that charge high transaction fees, a transaction of any amount on the Stellar network costs only 0.00001 XLM, which works out to a few cents.

Stellar payment network is a promising project in the blockchain space, thanks to its partnership with IBM on the World Wire project. The initiative lets mainstream financial institutions leverage Stellar's blockchain for conducting transactions using bridge assets such as stablecoins.

You can learn more about Stellar (XLM) at our BYDFi Blog.

Stellar was co-founded by Jed McCaleb, the original CTO at Ripple, along with his partner Joyce Kim in 2014. The team formed the non-profit organization Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) with a goal to improve financial access and inclusion. Stripes CEO Patrick Collison was a co-collaborator on the SDF, investing $3 million in exchange for 2 billion XLM tokens.

Stellar aims to ramp up the adoption of crypto assets over fiat currencies, with a key focus area being low transaction costs. The blockchain protocol aims to make it easier for moving money across borders without the hassles of centralized financial infrastructure that is costly from the perspectives of time and money.

After a ledger fork in 2014, Stellar updated its consensus mechanism to Stellar Consensus Protocol. The brains behind this consensus algorithm which rolled back hours of transactions was chief scientist at Stellar Development Foundation, David Mazières.

At the time of launch, the SDF created a total of 100 billion XLM tokens with a 1% annual issuance rate. This annual issuance rate was removed from Stellar in October 2019 as the team of developers felt that it did not benefit the protocol.

The Stellar protocol uses Lumens or XLM primarily to prevent fraudulent behaviors within its ecosystem. Each account created on the network requires a minimum balance of 1 XLM while the minimum transaction fee has been set at 0.00001 XLM.

XLM serves as the native asset of Stellar. Users who wish to make transactions using Stellars infrastructure can do so by converting their existing capital into XLM which then gets transferred to the intended recipient. The recipient can then convert XLM back into fiat or their choice.

Stellars XLM token facilitates transactions within the network. It functions as a medium of exchange, letting users transact otherwise illiquid assets using its technology.

Stellar also issues grants in the form of XLM coins to developers who can create and implement applications for its technology and further the adoption of its ecosystem. In addition, it serves as a store of value which can be traded on leading cryptocurrency exchanges in addition to the Stellar network.

Stellar is unlike most of the other blockchains in the market that support smart contract functionality and let developers create dApps. It focuses solely on easing digital payments and fostering the use of digital currencies for transactions in place of fiat currency.

The Stellar network is primarily a platform that allows users to transfer payments globally with the power of cryptocurrency. With this in mind, the open network already has partnered with leading companies such as MoneyGram and IBM.

Its partnerships with mainstream businesses give Stellar an edge over several of its peers and could indicate potential for growth in XLM's price and market cap. Looking forward, an increased adoption of the Stellar payment network technology among more financial institutions and possibly even governments looking to design CBDCs on its infrastructure could make Lumens an interesting crypto to invest in.

Stellar Lumens is among the top digital assets, enjoying a high trading volume on top exchanges, but has been overlooked amid the trend of dApps and Web 3.0 related cryptocurrencies. However, a look back at the XLM price history over the years reveals that it holds much promise to head to more highs in the future.

It is impossible to quantify and offer an accurate XLM price prediction in the coming months and years, owing to the highly volatile nature of digital assets. However, we can review the Stellar price history for some guidance on this.

From an all time low of $0.001227 on 18 November 2014, XLM price has made its way to an all time high of $0.9381 on 4 January 2018. This journey has been filled with several ups and downs, which have continued since then as well.

In 2016, Stellar price gained more than 58%. 2017 - the year of the crypto assets' bull run, was especially good for Stellar Lumens. The XLM token ended 2017 after making gains of over 14,400%. In 2018 and 2019, the Stellar price and market cap took somewhat of a beating, sliding lower by over 77% and 61% respectively.

However, the market sentiment turned upbeat after that, with Stellar price ending 2020 higher by more than 182%. It also eked out over 100% gains in 2021, powered by an uptick in trading volume across the cryptocurrency market.

Here are the two most popular ways to get XLM:

Trade XLM

Trade Stellar crypto against other digital assets to profit from changes in market conditions and volatility. You can buy or sell XLM after carefully analyzing the XLM price chart to grow your Stellar (XLM) holdings. Check the live price of Stellar coin, XLM market cap, circulating supply, 24-hour trading volume, and the latest crypto news before trading XLM in the crypto market.

Earn Passive Income on BYDFi

Grow your XLM holdings safely and in a risk-free manner with BYDFis Crypto Lending feature. Visit this page to lend liquidity in XLM and earn attractive daily interest over seven days, 14 days, or 28 days.

Stellars XLM stands apart from most of the other popular cryptocurrencies as it cannot be mined or staked for generating rewards. Stellar utilizes its unique consensus mechanism, the Stellar Consensus Protocol or SCP, in which the XLM coins play no role in achieving consensus.

The total supply of XLM remains fixed as mentioned above, and while the SDF has burned some tokens in the past, it insists that it has no plans to do so in the future.