What Is Stellar Blockchain? What Are Its Features?

Triston Martin Updated on

Stellar is an open-source, decentralized payment method that facilitates quick, cross-border transactions among all currencies. It works with blockchain technology. Its native currency is Lumen (XLM). Lumen is the currency that runs the Stellar network as well as all of its activities. It's similar to Ether which is the digital currency that is the basis of the Ethereum network. This article is an overview and offers an in-depth look at what is stellar blockchain and its features.


What Is Stellar?


Stellar is a decentralized platform where users can build, exchange, send and trade various cryptocurrencies. It was founded in 2014 and was launched in 2015 to bring all the world's financial systems together in one place. As with other decentralized platforms and exchanges that utilize Blockchain technology, Stellar can be found on several servers. That means the activities performed by Stellar are not supervised by one source.


Features of Stellar Blockchain



· Decentralized, Open Database


Stellar differs significantly compared to its parent Ripple by using an open and decentralized network. That means Stellar is not governed by a central authority, like people employed by a particular institution. Multiple nodes independently verify and record transactions in the ledger of the platform. Stellar offers a unique way to reach a consensus between the nodes, referred to as the Federated Byzantine Agreement (FBA).


The whole network agrees instead of waiting to confirm a transaction until the contract is signed. Individual nodes choose other nodes they consider trustworthy. They will choose other nodes that they consider trustworthy. When there is a quorum (actually with multiple quorums referred to by the term quorum slice) within these nodes, the transaction will be recorded in the ledger.


· High-Speed Confirmation Time


The configuration of Stellar's verification process, in conjunction and the fact that Stellar does not permit mining (the company manages the supply and aims to increase the quantity by one percent every year), results in transactions happening at much quicker speeds than others blockchain technology like bitcoin. On average, a Stellar transaction takes between three and five seconds, and the system is able to process thousands of them simultaneously, making it highly adaptable.


· Multi-Currency Transactions



One of the major draws for Stellar is its seamless transactions across different currencies. If someone wants to exchange USD to EUR, Stellar will search for someone seeking to exchange EUR to USD and then complete the exchange.


If no one is seeking to exchange EUR to USD, Stellar will find an exchange chain that is available to those who want to exchange USD to EUR so that the transaction happens. For instance, someone could be seeking USD to trade for BTC, BTC in exchange for ETH, and ETH to exchange for EUR. Stellar can eventually guarantee that a customer's USD is exchanged for EUR by processing all of those transactions.


· Lumen


Lumens, Stellar's own currency, are also available. The currency plays a crucial function in helping cross-border transactions. When peter in Chicago would like to transfer funds in the direction of Jacob in Warsaw and back, he'll need to consider how much money is transformed into Polish Zloty.


With Stellar, Peter can have his USD taken from his account into the platform's network, which is where it will be converted into Lumens. Then, Stellar will look for the most favorable exchange rate for Lumens into zloty. If it locates and has processed the transaction, the cash is transferred as zloty into the account for Peter in Warsaw. This all happens in just a few seconds, and at a minimum transaction cost of 0.00001, the XLM is 0.000001 USD.


Conclusion


Stellar is a payment system that accepts multiple currencies as a backend, which is utilized by thousands of users each day. Since Joyce Kim and Mc Caleb created Stellar Development Foundation in 2014 and Stellar Development Foundation at the end of 2014, there's an unquestionable fact that Stellar has gone from growth to growth. Stellar definitely has a lot of potential, and its rapid growth is something people ought to keep an eye on. The quality of alliances they've made is impressive and among the notable names include Deloitte, IBM, Stripe, as well as others. With a stellar team and such an impressive set of advisors and alliances, Stellar is witnessing steady growth in blockchain technology.