In the midst of the growing attention in digital assets, one of the largest stock exchanges in the U.S, NASDAQ, has announced that they will enter the crypto-trading space soon. NASDAQ has singled out a number of major cryptocurrencies that will be listed on the anticipated cryptocurrency exchange platform, and among them is Stellar Lumens.

XLM has showcased good performance in the market in recent days and NASDAQ is betting on it. So, does this evident confidence in XLM mean that Stellar has what it takes to catch up with Ripple? The most straightforward distinction between the two is that Ripple was created to transform the banking sector by revolutionizing cross-border payments while Stellar was designed to improve on the short cumming of Ripple. Could the anticipated listing on NASDAQ mean that XLM is finally in a position to compete with Ripple?

If the price of XLM is anything to go by, Stellar has transformed itself over time into a huge investor hub. The real world usability of Stellar’s blockchain and the prices of XLM against the USD are some of the factors contributing to the growing popularity. The trading volumes of XLM have been growing impressively as more cryptocurrency exchanges list the coin.

Since XLM got listed on OKEx, Hong Kong’s largest cryptocurrency exchange, the coin has been on the rise. Several partnerships have been some of the key drivers in the stability of XLM in market. Stellar has been building collaborations with major institutions around the world in more or less the same pace as Ripple. For instance, Stellar has partnered with IBM to work on the Hyperledger project that will make cross-border payments fast, easy and secure. On the other hand, Ripple has been working on a similar project with Santander Innoventures, the Fintech arm of Santander group.

So when talking about connecting bank payments and building a blockchain that enables systems to move money from one place to another quickly, while allowing developers to build their custom APIs or Application Programming Interfaces, Stellar seems to be on the lead.

Stellar can provide the tools for developers to integrate into the Stellar blockchain network by configuring the systems into a customized decentralized network. In principle, Stellar connects people to low-cost financial services that help fight poverty while maximizing individual potential.

Stellar is ranked at the 8th position by market capitalization of approximately $5.4 billion, given the latest trading value of $0.29 against the USD. On the other hand, Ripple is 3rd with a market capitalization of approximately $24.11 billion, given the current trading value of $0.61 against the USD.

Considering this numbers, it seems like Ripple has an edge in term of the large market cap, higher trade value and higher trading volume in the past 24 hours. On the other hand, Stellar seems to have an edge when it comes to global adoption as it targets millions of unbanked individuals. The potential is there for Steller to catch up in the last mile stretch.