CANBERRA, Australia – Stellar (XLM) steadily soars this year despite the bearish market environment. Debuting in the cryptocurrency world last year, the fledgling native asset of Stellar, the Lumens or XLM, stuns bears as a dark horse relative to Ripple (XRP).
Trading at $0.39 at the time of writing, XLM is set to climb higher with initiatives by its developers including its chief technology officer, Jed McCaleb. The deployment of the Lightning Network and the increasing role of SDEX are set to strengthen the Stellar platform further.
A facilitator of dApps and smart contracts, Stellar’s shortened time span of making cross-border transactions from a couple of days down to a matter of a few seconds has boosted XLM’s value to greater than 14,000%. This promoted the coin to one of the best-performing virtual currencies.
In addition to the surge in value of the XLM, increased visibility to investors and the likelihood of widespread adoption are probable due to its recent partnerships with major FinTech firms. These developments may help Stellar march ahead of its rival, Ripple.
First of, Ripple will be dwarfed by Stellar with the IBM deal. IBM, a prestigious tech company, is set to propel Stellar as a game changer in the banking and finance sector, revolutionizing cross-border financial transactions. This power partnership exposes XLM to numerous central banks.
Second, top-notch accounting consultancy firm Deloitte is another tailwind for Stellar. Commencing in 2016, their collaboration centers on promoting blockchain education, resolving digital banking woes, as well as the eventual mainstream adoption of the XLM.
Finally, through the Industrial Credit and Investment Corporation of India (ICICI) bank, Stellar will be instrumental in civilizing the massive, unbanked Indian population who are just starting to engage in digital currencies.
Given these important tie-ups forged by Stellar, three factors have made it attractive: the strong and secure ecosystem, speedy transactions, and highly inexpensive costs.
Ripple may be on the top five cryptocurrencies in Coinmarketcap.com, trading at $0.91 at the time of writing, while XLM is on the eighth position. Yet, possibilities of further promotion for Stellar (XLM) are in sight given the power partnerships it has on the cards.