Stellar (XLM) was the strongest growing coin in the top 10 of CoinMarketCap, adding more than 10% to reach a price of $0.23. The latest bout of market recovery saw Bitcoin regain above $7,000. Curiously, altcoins started growing not only in dollar terms, but in BTC prices as well.
But in the case of Stellar, trading volumes remain relatively low, putting the recovery in question. A spike of around 10% for all coins is not too much by the standards of crypto markets, and even in the stronger cases, worries about the next downturn are always present.
The XLM market price may ensure that Stellar soon displaces EOS from position six, if the current trends continue. Yet XLM has remained relatively flat for days, while other coins have had more robust, though temporary, recoveries. At the moment, the XLM/BTC pair is still in the top 10 on Binance.
The XLM asset has often been compared to Ripple (XRP), both for its large supply, growth from sub-penny prices, but also the potential to handle payments by tokenizing real-world assets.
Thus, Stellar may be positioning itself as a fintech coin, with the potential to serve decentralized exchanges, and also banks. For now, the tests and performance have been small-scale.
Stellar is also making the rounds for international acceptance, spreading to the CryptoMKT exchange and getting traded in Brazil, Chile and Colombia. Additionally, the Stellar team is active in presenting on fintech conferences across the globe.
Stellar and Central Banks
Much has been made about the IBM (NYSE:IBM) tests on the Stellar network. There are expectations that central banks could test Stellar, and even use it for issuing fiat-backed crypto coins. However, similar announcements have been made about Ripple as well.
So far, the story has not managed to lift Stellar trading to its December and January levels. In the long run, XLM may see a different price range, but first, the project would have to prove the use case with central banks is viable.
Jesse Lund, Blockchain and Digital Currencies director at IBM, believes that fast on-chain settlement is the answer. This may mean Stellar fits the description of a fast network with real-time on-chain settlement, instead of using other systems to settle off-chain, which revert back to “monopoly money”, as Lund calls them.
This article appeared first on Cryptovest
