The Stellar distributed exchange model is growing, with a new platform and following trade volume rise.

The Stellar Lumens Decentralised Exchange, Stellarport, is now up and running. The Stellar distributed exchange has been active for a while now and can be accessed in various ways (such as the StellarTerm interface), but Stellarport might be one of the more convenient all-in-one options, also offering a Stellar wallet.

At the time of writing, the bulk of Stellar trading looks like XLM:MOBI pairs, but all the native Stellar ecosystem tokens are present, including Smartlands (SLT), SureRemit (RMT) and fiat currencies in the form of CNY.

You can find Stellarport here, but note that Stellarport is not part of the Stellar Foundation. It's essentially a separate company that's decided to build on the Stellar system. This is par for course, but worth noting anyway.

What is the Stellar Decentralised Exchange?

A decentralised exchange is a distributed marketplace. Users around the world hold their own funds and then trade them directly with each other as needed. The funds don't pass through the exchange and there's no intermediary. Decentralised exchanges are basically matchmaking services for users and vehicles for useful features and user interfaces.

The Stellar Decentralised Exchange is different to most decentralised exchanges, such as those that run on the Ethereum ecosystem, because there's only one "official" decentralised exchange that holds user listings, but it can be accessed in different ways.

This helps combine some of the benefits of a central trading system (high volume, deep liquidity, many options, etc) with the benefits of a decentralised system (cost-effectiveness, security, reliability).

Think of it as a magical online bazaar that's everywhere and nowhere, with different doors that lead to it. Stellarport is a brand new door, but the marketplace itself already existed. More doors mean more people might be getting into it and buying and selling there.

Distinctively, this exchange also includes its own wallet system for users and generally seems to have been designed with an emphasis on user-friendliness and accessibility. The landing page gives users only three options.

Stellar's 2018 roadmap suggests a focus on its decentralised exchange, and systems like Stellarport could help the ecosystem grow. The lack of a pleasing trading interface was previously regarded as one of the Stellar's bugbears. StellarTerm came along and presented a nicer option than the bare bones original, and now Stellarport has entered with an alternative that some people might prefer. More options for a wider range of users always seems like a good thing.

Stellar (XLM), Mobius (MOBI) and Smartlands (SLT) trade volumes all seem to have jumped since Stellarport's launch, according to CoinMarketCap, especially against the backdrop of a relatively stagnant cryptocurrency market, which might suggest that a lot of people are trying Stellaport.

Plus, at this stage it might be healthier for cryptos to detach themselves from bitcoin's market impacts. The growing Stellar model of a "central" decentralised exchange might suggest an effective path.

What to expect:

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Disclosure: At the time of writing the author holds ETH, IOTA, ICX, VEN, XLM, NANO, SALT