Stellar is an infrastructure of distributed transactions with open source code. It is suitable for creating public financial instruments. Using Stellar, the developers can create Stellar web wallet, banking instruments, smart payment systems. This list is not limited by these options. The main advantage of the blockchain is the ability to produce new tokens for ICO. It is much easier to write a code on Stellar than on Etherium. You can use any programming language instead of using a special one.
The main function of the XLM tokens is to serve as an extra instrument for exchanging currencies. All the operations are performed through the system interface.
The history of its development
The founders of Stellar are Joyce Kim and Jed McCaleb. It was founded in 2014. The project was a fork of Ripple. The reason for its creation was connected with crypto community indignation. The users didn’t like the principals of Ripple performance. At the time of its creation, the project had closed source code. The greatest part of tokens belonged to the developers. The servers were owned by Ripple Labs. All these principles contradicted decentralized ideas.
In 2013 Ripple team opened its source code. The level of indignation decreased. Yet, a part of the developers insisted on a fork. It was necessary to solve other problems with the platform. So, the result of these actions is the appearance of Stellar.
In the beginning, the project used an old Ripple protocol. Since 2015 it has been working on a separate Stellar protocol. Since that time, the popularity of the project has been increasing.
Key characteristics
If you look carefully at the currency, you may find some important characteristics. These features make the currency attractive for investors:
- The confirmation usually takes 3-5 seconds;
- It supports 1000 transactions per second;
- It can be used for sending or exchanging any currency, active or tokens;
- An open-source code;
- The usage of SCP instead of Proof of Work;
- Simple and clear API;
- Multilevel and smart contracts;
- Decentralized distributed database;
- 100B XLM created;
- The inflation of 1% a year.
The network Stellar doesn’t use intellectual processing. It means that all the tokens are available at the start of the system. The majority belongs to Stellar.org. It spreads the tokens in the following way. 50B XLM is for small companies and clients. 25B XLM is for non-commercial organizations and other enterprises. 20B XLM belongs to BTC and XRP holders. 50B XLM is saved in Stellar.org for operations.
Technical realization and peculiarities
The majority of applications cooperate with Lumens through API Horizon. It provides a simple way of transactions. It gives the chance to check the balance and subscriptions easily. The basis of the cryptocurrency is connected with HTTP. So, you can work with the Horizon through the web-browser. You can use a command line, using your favourite programming language.
XLM support JavaScript and Java to set the connection with Horizon. It also has a range of SDK for different programming languages. Every Horizon server connects to the web line Stellar Core. This software checks and submits every transaction through Stellar Consensus protocol. The network itself has many connected Stellar Cores. They are being run by organizations and users from all over the world. Some of them are available for cooperation, and some are just for network support. The distributed technology makes the network stable and safe.
Stellar Pros and Cons
As a result of changes, XLM has the following advantages:
- Equal rights for all the users of the system;
- Fast transactions (up to 1000 per second);
- An open-source code, maximal decentralization;
- Safety, that is achieved by encoding and using autonomous units;
- Integration support with other projects and financial systems.
As for inconveniences, one can notice that the level of smallest transactions is limited by 0,5 XLM. One must have this sum on his account. Due to the fact, that the price of the token is small, it is not a serious problem for users. It doesn’t scare potential clients from using it.
Stellar Wallet information
The most popular way of keeping XLM is online Stellar wallet. It can be downloaded from GitHub. It is available for different operating systems versions. The list of wallets is in the tab “Lumens” – “Wallets” on the official website. There are different types of wallets available:
- Desktop Stellar wallet: BlockEQ, Foxlet, Ledger.
- Mobile wallets: Clockchain, Lobstr, InterStellar.
- Web Stellar wallet: Astral, Ledger, Saza.
This list is not limited. There are lots of multi-currency wallets available now. They support Stellar Lumen. For example, it can be Exodus. If the user clicks the link “Account Viewer”, he will be transferred into a light online Stellar wallet. If you want to create a new private key, press the button “Generate”. You can get a Secret Key or a Public Key. The first is a private instrument, and the second is a public address for getting tokens.
For further usage and login, the user must use a Secret Key. You can activate it with 1 XLM transfer on a public address. Stellar Account Viewer is a convenient and simple official Stellar wallet. You can get, keep and transfer cryptocurrency there.
Conclusion
The system doesn’t have mining. So, it means that all the crypto tokens already exist. Some of the clients think about it as an advantage, the others consider it to be as a disadvantage.
Lumens is a rather serious project. Now it has even more clients than Ripple Labs. At the same time, the experts are very accurate about its spreading. Ripple has a great number of banks and corporations that support it. It is hard to predict currency behaviour. Certain conclusions can be done when the tendency will have become positive. Another key factor is signing contracts with big world corporations. Though the number of such companies is not big, it is interesting for some investors. Such development is interesting and demanding.
