ARCIPEDIA · COIN · L1

Plain English

Stellar is a 2014 fork of the Ripple protocol by Jed McCaleb (also a Ripple co-founder). XLM is the native token. The network targets cross-border payments and stablecoin issuance — most notably hosting Circle’s USDC alongside Ethereum and Solana.

How it actually works

Stellar uses the Stellar Consensus Protocol — federated, trust-based agreement among validators. Confirmation in 3–5 seconds, near-zero fees. Anchors (regulated entities) issue fiat-backed tokens on the network. Soroban smart contracts launched 2024, enabling more DeFi functionality.

What it means for you

XLM is the conservative payments-rail alternative to XRP. For HNW positioning, it is a smaller, less institutional story but with cleaner regulatory positioning (Stellar Development Foundation is a non-profit). USDC settlement on Stellar is genuinely useful in emerging markets where Stellar anchors exist.

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Educational content only. Not investment, tax, or legal advice.