{"id":543,"date":"2022-03-18T11:53:30","date_gmt":"2022-03-18T11:53:30","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/?p=543"},"modified":"2022-03-18T11:53:30","modified_gmt":"2022-03-18T11:53:30","slug":"stellar-lumens-investment","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/stellar-lumens-investment.html","title":{"rendered":"What are Stellar Lumens (XLM), and how good is it as an investment?"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">While some fall and disappear, some, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, are soaring to their all-time highs. While Lumen may not be the most popular altcoin, you can&#8217;t help but wonder what all the noise is about and how XLM outperforms millions of altcoins to secure its place in the top 50 cryptocurrencies by market capitalization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What would you say if I told you that you could understand everything you need to know about Stellar Lumens in 10 minutes?<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you have some free time, let&#8217;s figure it out.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>After reading this article, you will learn:<\/b><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What is the difference between Stellar and Lumens? How they really work.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What the Stellar network is and whether it&#8217;s worth investing in XLM like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Bitcoin\" rel=\"dofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bitcoin<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> and altcoins.<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Will Stellar be successful in the future, or is it just one of the many altcoins that will soon disappear.<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<h2><b>What is Stellar?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The terms Stellar and Lumens have always been used synonymously by crypto users. But the truth is that they mean different things.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The name Stellar refers only to the network, the protocol, the system, and the community as a whole. Lumens (XLM), on the other hand, is Stellar&#8217;s own digital currency that powers the network.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The cryptocurrency is used to send, receive and trade with other assets. The confusion may have started because the cryptocurrency was originally known as Stellar (STR), but it was later renamed Lumens or XLM.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stellar and Lumens were born in 2014, when <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/jed-mccaleb-biography.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Jed McCaleb<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, founder of Mt.Gox and co-founder of <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ripple_(payment_protocol)\" rel=\"dofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ripple<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">, launched the Stellar network system with former attorney Joyce Kim. The nonprofit Stellar DevelopmentFoundation was created in collaboration with Stripe CEO Patrick Collison to formally launch the project in July.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">After raising $3 million in seed funding from Stripe, Stellar was finally released as a decentralized payment network and protocol with its native currency, XLM. In August 2014, Mercado Bitcoin, Brazil&#8217;s first Bitcoin exchange, announced that it would use the Stellar network.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Great, now you&#8217;re starting to understand the concept.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Oops&#8230; that&#8217;s not all.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The next thing you need to know is how it all works.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>How does the Stellar network work?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-546 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stellar-howgood-intext-picture.jpg\" alt=\"Stellar logo and cubes\" width=\"1023\" height=\"531\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stellar-howgood-intext-picture.jpg 1023w, https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stellar-howgood-intext-picture-300x156.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stellar-howgood-intext-picture-768x399.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1023px) 100vw, 1023px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The network is an open-source payment technology, technically similar to another popular altcoin, Ripple (XRP), but less centralized, allowing for faster and easier transactions.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stellar is essentially a decentralized network of servers on a blockchain that operate independently. This means that it is distributed among all the interconnected nodes of the Stellar network without control from a centralized source. The network synchronizes and reaches consensus, allowing the registry to be distributed evenly. The key element is that anyone can simply set up a verification node (server) with Stellar Core, where the verification process is performed using the Stellar ConsensusProtocol (SCP).<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Think of SCP as the Stellar algorithm for transaction verification. This allows the network to scale faster and more efficiently than most PoW blockchains such as Bitcoin. The highlight of the Stellar network is that transactions take place in a more decentralized way, using &#8220;anchors&#8221;.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">These anchors are organizations that people trust to be responsible for their deposits; they issue credits on the blockchain for those deposits. These anchors function as bridges between different currencies and the Stellar blockchain. Thus, all monetary transactions performed on the Stellar network (not including XLMs) are in the form of credit issued by anchors.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Ultimately, this reduces the cost and time required for cross-border transfers. (<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/functionality-of-stellar-platform.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">more<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400\"> about Functionality of the Stellar\u2019s platform)<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>What are XLM Lumens used for?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Lumens (XLM) is Stellar&#8217;s native cryptocurrency. It serves several functions on the network, mainly it is used to pay users transaction fees and acts as an intermediary allowing users to trade between multiple currencies quickly, easily and at the lowest possible cost. For Lumens to work as it should, users must maintain a minimum XLM balance in their accounts.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">It&#8217;s worth noting that XLM has a decentralized protocol built right into it. Any payment in different currencies can be routed through its order book, eventually the desired currency will arrive.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Since the primary use of XLM is to settle cross-border transactions for both individuals and financial institutions, Stellar has also partnered with IBM, which has helped Lumens gain significant traction as a blockchain-based cross-border money transfer.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let&#8217;s take an example.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Sarah (the sender) wants to send her mother (the recipient), who is in China, $50 as a money transfer. Let&#8217;s assume she chooses traditional wire transfers. In that case, she would be charged an average transaction fee of 7.1%, resulting in a final transfer of $46.25, not including currency exchange fees.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But if she chooses Stellar, it will turn her dollars into Lumens, and then the order book will turn Lumens into yuan. Sarah&#8217;s mom can get an almost exact amount of dollars in just five seconds.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">So this concept is similar to Ripple? Yes, it is similar. However, there are differences that you may not be aware of.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>The difference between Stellar and Ripple<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"alignnone wp-image-544 size-full\" src=\"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stellar-howgood-intext-picture2.jpg\" alt=\"Stellar and Ripple coins\" width=\"1000\" height=\"667\" srcset=\"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stellar-howgood-intext-picture2.jpg 1000w, https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stellar-howgood-intext-picture2-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-content\/uploads\/2022\/03\/stellar-howgood-intext-picture2-768x512.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 1000px) 100vw, 1000px\" \/><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The basic operation of Stellar is similar to most decentralized payment technologies. However, it is fundamentally different from Ripple, although both XRP and XLM are open source and rely on distributed ledger technology.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">What sets them apart is that they target different groups of customers. Unlike Ripple, which works with well-known banking institutions and consortiums, Stellar focuses more on individuals and emerging markets and has many options for using its technology. Some of these include cash transfers and distribution of bank loans to non-banks. Various partnerships with banking institutions and payment processing platforms around the world allow people to use Stellar&#8217;s network for local and international transactions at virtually no cost.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In fact, the Stellar brand itself &#8220;helps&#8221; rather than &#8220;profits&#8221; from the people.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">In terms of organization size, Ripple tends to be a larger organization with more capital. After all, Stellar targets a smaller pool of users compared to Ripple.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you&#8217;re deciding whether to invest in XLM or XRP, you&#8217;ll want to know that Ripple has a protracted lawsuit with the SEC, which could affect prices. So does the removal of XRP from major crypto exchanges like Coinbase, Crypto.com and others, which also has an impact. Naturally, this will lead to a decrease in its potential trading volumes.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>XLM price and future forecasts<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">The price of XLM is determined by the rate at which the Stellar network spreads. The network offers a wide range of functionality that may or may not be reflected in the price of digital currency, but the more Stellar is used, the higher the price of Lumen will be. Stellar&#8217;s blockchain is one of the best and is obviously driven by its partnerships with well-known tech titans such as IBM, Flutterwave and French Tempo Money.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">At its all-time high, XLM hit $0.93. Since then, its price has fluctuated, and as of the current time (March 2022) is around $0.18. However, the stable performance of the coin and the growing adoption of the Stellar platform have led to optimistic price forecasts for 2022 and beyond.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Analysts believe the price will likely be in the $0.20 to $0.30 range. While Coinswitch sees XLM soaring to $1 by 2025. However, if it goes backwards, the coin will probably drop to about $0.05 and stay there for a while before moving up.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">According to Coinmarketcap, XLM was trading at $0.34050 during bitcoin&#8217;s bullish run. It currently ranks 30th in market capitalization.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>How much can XLM grow? Could it reach $100?<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Of course, XLM is not the brightest star. Nevertheless, it tends to do well in crypto, despite all the ups and downs, which is pretty typical for all cryptos. Naturally, this has led investors and crypto-enthusiasts to wonder how far the coin can go.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">If you look at XLM&#8217;s long-term price forecasts, they vary widely. Some even suggest a rise to $5 to $10, which is a rise of more than 500% even relative to the historical high. However, more moderate estimates range from $1 to $3. In the end, if you&#8217;re going to diversify your portfolio, XLM still generates substantial ROI.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Although $100 seems like an unreasonable target price, XLM is still a fantastic long-term investment. Nevertheless, its price is unlikely to soar above $100. After all, Stellar is here to help, not profit. Also, since Lumens supply is increasing at a fixed rate of 1% per year, it helps fight inflation and protects its holdings.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">We can conclude that XLM is an altcoin that is not going nowhere. In fact, it has gained mass distribution and is now listed on almost every exchange.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>How will Stellar come to success in the future?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">XLM&#8217;s strength lies in the Stellar network and its current partnerships. The platform already has an impressive list of partners and has even been integrated into Samsung Mobile.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Let&#8217;s face it, partnerships are an integral part of any crypto project because they drive adoption and are a testament to the real utility of the XLM coin. Here are a few of the companies Stellar is partnering with:<\/span><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/IBM\" rel=\"dofollow\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">IBM<\/span><\/a><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Smartlands<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Stripe<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">HTC Exodus<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Franklin Templeton<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Flutterwave<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Wirex<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Baracoin<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Novatti Group<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Saldo<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Tempo<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Bitbond<\/span><\/li>\n<li style=\"font-weight: 400\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">SureRemit\u00a0<\/span><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">This is just one of the reasons why XLM is in the top 50 of all altcoins. It is very well established, has tremendous support, and its technology helps solve one of the major problems of today&#8217;s world &#8211; providing financial services to the public without banks. Even reputable companies like Deloitte are now providing services on the Stellar network.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Back in 2017, 30 banks confirmed that they had agreed to use Lumen blockchain for cross-border transfers. Payment service Stripe has also expressed interest in hosting Stellar on its platform.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Is there any possibility of a collapse?<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">XLM is a great long-term investment because it&#8217;s not going anywhere anytime soon. But it is unlikely that this cryptocurrency will dethrone Bitcoin or Ethereum.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">But!<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">Even Elon Musk believes in cryptocurrency, which means that the hopes that Stellar Lumens will live on are very real. Although Lumens is becoming a go-to payments token, there hasn&#8217;t been much information recently about its development. However, that certainly doesn&#8217;t mean anything if you believe in it. It&#8217;s only a matter of time before this cryptocurrency proves itself.<\/span><\/p>\n<h2><b>Conclusion<\/b><\/h2>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">XLM doesn&#8217;t seem like the worst investment in 2022, although the platform still has plenty of room for growth and development. The coin has established some strong partnerships, it has a strong community behind it, and that makes a strong case for a significant price increase.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400\">However, no one can know anything for sure about the future, especially against the backdrop of the turmoil that this year has brought.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><iframe loading=\"lazy\" title=\"Why Stellar XLM Can Easily Hit $5 In 2022\" width=\"500\" height=\"281\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/i667-i8rnsA?feature=oembed\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen><\/iframe><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<div class=\"mh-excerpt\"><p>While some fall and disappear, some, such as Bitcoin and Ethereum, are soaring to their all-time highs. While Lumen may not be the most popular altcoin, <a class=\"mh-excerpt-more\" href=\"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/stellar-lumens-investment.html\" title=\"What are Stellar Lumens (XLM), and how good is it as an investment?\">&#8230;<\/a><\/p>\n<\/div>","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":545,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8,2],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=543"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":548,"href":"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/543\/revisions\/548"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/545"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=543"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=543"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/stellar-wallet.org\/arts\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=543"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}