Stellar launched to much hype back in 2015. Since then it has been developing and growing on the sidelines while some other platforms get all the attention. It remains a solid project that to date has processed over 450 million transitions on its Blockchain.
The protocol is a decentralized open-source finance platform. This means that, even though it has a native coin, the Lumen, it is not focused on forcing the use of its native coin on developers launching projects on the network. Stellar is very coin/token neutral and encourages all types of assets to be hosted on the platform.
The main mission of Stellar is to bring financial services to the unbanked. In order to fulfill this mission, the protocol is focused on being as versatile as possible for an open and transparent finance future. This is what most of the projects on the network follow.
The focus on financial solutions of the Stellar project is of particular importance for developing nations such as Nigeria. The old financial institutions are lagging behind, and the amount of money needed to modernize them is considerably huge. Blockchain, on the other hand, is able to bring modern financial services at a fraction of the cost of the traditional systems.
This is why Stellar is so important in Nigeria. It is developing and deploying cutting edge financial products in developing markets. These new products can be accessed by anyone with a basic knowledge of cryptocurrencies and Blockchain. The power of this new economic model will be the key to the future.
To understand the basics of cryptocurrencies and Blockchain, check out the top 16 courses and books to become a crypto expert in this article posted on the Remitano forum.
Let’s get to it... In no particular order here are the top projects on Stellar -
AnchorUSD
This is a saving platform capable of accepting deposits in USD for United States residents. The savings accounts offer annual interest rates of up to 8% on different assets. Besides the US dollar, Anchor USD accepts deposits in Bitcoin, Ether, XRD, Lumens, Litecoin, Bitcoin Cash, and many other cryptocurrencies and even some tokens like Basic Attention Token (BAT).
The platform charges zero fees for deposits of both FIAT and crypto-assets. AnchorUSD also supports individual deposits of up to 2500 USD in value. It also works as an exchange for swaps between USD and crypto pairs, or crypto to crypto.
Additionally, AnchorUSD has launched its own FIAT based stable coin called the USDX on the Stellar network. The USDX is one of the best stablecoins in the market. It is not hosted on the Ethereum network and it is showing great acceptance by the crypto market at large.
The USDX is of particular importance for Nigerians. The most popular stablecoins right now are on Ethereum are crypto such as Tether, TUSD, USDC, etc. But right now, gas fees on the Ethereum network are really high, so using these stablecoins can be very expensive.
USDX is a far more affordable alternative by going through the Stellar network. It is very important to learn about these possibilities so as not to become totally dependent on one protocol running on one network.
SatoshiPay
Satoshi Pay is a micropayment platform aimed at small cross-border financial transactions. It started all the way back in 2014 and was in development alongside the Stellar network. The business model of the company has made them one of the cheapest options for international payments.
All of the transactions are secured via the Stellar Blockchain. This has created a space for secure and fast micropayments for both individuals and businesses. These products have their own web wallet named Solar Wallet which is capable of holding Lumens, assets native to Stellar as well as other cryptocurrencies.
The company has remained solid since its founding. It has annual profits averaging 3 million US dollars since its creation. In May 2020, it raised an additional 550,000 USD to continue development and business expansion.
This cross border payment network focused on Business to Business solutions is crucial for Nigerian startups. Based in Berlin, the company has already actively invested in Nigeria via a seed fund in VeggieVictory, Nigeria’s very first food-based company.
Kelp
Kelp is a free and open-source trading bot aimed at working within the Stellar network. It has a fully customizable interface, allowing users to set up spot price buy and sell orders. It is also capable of copying orders and trading patterns from different exchanges in the protocol.
Stellar Expert
This is Stellar’s top Blockchain explorer. It is a complete platform for exploring network usage, transaction times, assets locked, price history, and any statistics of the Stellar network. Stellar expert offers API calls for network statistics and has become the main source of information regarding the protocol. It is completely open-source and its GitHub repository is often updated with documentation of new features and future developments.
DSTOQ
DSTOQ is a peer-to-peer stock exchange platform using Blockchain technology. It uses the principle of tokenization, where users can convert real-world assets, such as stocks and bonds, and trade them using the platform. Since this is a purely on-chain decentralized exchange anyone in the world has access to these assets to buy and trade freely.
The platform created a global censorship-resistant market for securities and equities open to anybody in the world. This is huge for people living in developing countries such as Nigeria with small, or non-existent, local stock exchanges.
This opens the ability for businesses all over the world to raise capital from a global pool of investors. By issuing new stocks on the platform, these companies can grow without having to depend on local markets for money.
DSTOQ also leverages the Stellar technology and offers low transaction fees for trading on the platform. With clearing time as low as five seconds, DSTOQ is poised to revolutionize the world of investing.
This is a huge opportunity for Nigerians looking to enter the global investment market. Also, DSTOQ has zero fees, so it is economically viable to use for small amounts. Of course, this means anyone, anywhere can buy bonds, ETFs, stocks, and other types of financial assets that were previously out of reach for most people in the world.
Tempo
Tempo is a remittance service built on the Stellar network. Cross border money transfers are one of the biggest businesses on the planet. It has been dominated primarily by players such as MoneyGram and Western Union. These companies take large fees per transaction and are very slow.
Tempo aims to change all of that by offering instantaneous transactions at low fees to the entire world. Right now it is being tested in the Philippines with global launch soon to follow. The next expansion market for Tempo is Africa. Certainly, Nigeria is a very attractive market for remittances and this makes it a primary launching point for the platform.
TillBilly
This is a point-of-sale system built entirely on Blockchain. The project is looking to reduce transaction fees charged by today’s system on credit and debit card purchases. These are very expensive fees, not only for the buyer but also for the store owners, as the transaction fees severely lower their expected profits. Transactions on Tillbilly would be fully traceable on the Blockchain and clearance time would be reduced to seconds instead of the days it now takes.
Oradian
Oradian is a low-cost payment network and is one of the most promising fintech startups. This project runs completely on the Stellar network and has cut the costs of transferring money significantly in Nigeria and other developing countries. The company, which has grown considerably since its launch three years ago remains one of the best implementations of Blockchain in a developing nation.
The future of Stellar seems to keep getting brighter with every development. The platform hosted a large number of Decentralized Finance (DeFi) projects before the concept even went mainstream. Stellar has been quietly building momentum and it seems ready to explode. Many of the protocols launched on Stellar have been running for years, and have been pushing adoption to the masses.
Find out more about DeFi and everything you need to know about this project on this recent Remitano post.
In fact, many of its users are completely unaware that these services are actually using Blockchain technology. The integration has been that good and Stellar is one of the best projects to watch in the future as great things are expected from them.
