Stellar (XLM) is on the move. The sixth leading crypto coin has surged a rough 7% over the last 24 hours. Along the way, Stellar also hit a cool $3.18 million in volume transaction.

For crypto bears who fear the landscape of cryptocurrency- present and future- entrepreneur and Bitcoin (BTC) advocate Charlie Shrem has some bullish insights to share.

Speaking to Yahoo Finance at the MoneyShow conference in San Francisco last week, Shrem advised: “Any crypto you’re going to buy, hold for five years.” ‘Lock’ down your crypto investment, and odds are in your favor of coming “out ahead in five years.” Why? Shrem says, “…because usually, these bull and bear markets go in two-year cycles.”

“I always tell people if they want to get into crypto, ‘How much money, if you lost it right now, would you be OK with?’ ‘$500,’ they tell me. So invest $500 in a basket of crypto, and then just have fun with it… Just learn what makes them different.”

Using the screener platform at Coinwatch.com, we tapped fresh crypto market insights. Let’s explore.

It’s true that crypto winter took a hammer to the market’s bull momentum. A coin like Stellar went from a robust $0.88 on January 2 to a wild low by July 12: $0.18. A whopping just under 80% in value dusted- in the zap of six months. Needless to say: 2018 has been a time of bated breath for Stellar investors.

That said, don’t forget nature of cryptocurrency’s double-edged volatility. It’s the same rollercoaster ride that saw Stellar vault 331% from $0.204 on December 21 to its best high to date.

Today, the coin has hooked $0.23. This marks a solid nearly 13% jump from December 21- from before crypto craze sent XLM exploding. By July, Stellar overtook Litecoin (LTC) as the sixth biggest crypto coin- and today boasts a $4.2 billion market cap. Coinwatch.com also highlights very bullish news sentiment circling Stellar.

A crypto master like Shrem understands the world of crypto; enough to not be rattled by any breaks in momentum. Shrem notes, “It’s during these bear markets…it’s when things die, things are born and rebuilt.”

Stellar’s native asset XLM helps power money moving across the globe- and allows transactions from different currencies to be conducted swiftly, and in secure fashion. The blockchain network has the potential to steal back momentum when the market turns bullish again. After all, the network now has the backing of tech giant IBM (NYSE:IBM). IBM is raring to utilize Stellar for its first-ever crypto token via public blockchain.

Meanwhile, Stellar could prove to be a threat to third leading crypto – and second leading altcoin Ripple (XRP). Keep in mind, both coins pose like-minded solutions in the crypto-verse. Ripple co-founder Jeb McCaleb went on to found Stellar. Ripple also offers the capacity for cross-border payments.

Yet, Ripple carries some legal drama baggage along with its name, as the team attempts to separate the ‘Ripple’ name from the XRP token. Ripple’s challenges boil down to categorizations of whether the coin should be judged as ‘security.’ Which coin will leap to the forefront as top pick for banks?

Moreover, though 2018 has not been the most bullish for the crypto market, Stellar just pulled off quite the feat: a milestone of 1 million active accounts. Until recently, the crypto player has racked up more than 3,300 assets; 25 million payments; and a colossal 8 million trades, as per the official Stellar Lumens Twitter channel.

The first half of 2018 also saw Stellar spring for an M&A move: the acquisition of San Francisco-based start-up Chain, which specializes in building blockchain tech for the financial sector. In other words, the sixth leading crypto coin can now broaden its roots, broadening access to a slew of financial industries. This expands Stellar’s capacity for the digital transferring of money along with additional assets.

Bottom line, in a year of crypto winter, Stellar’s been fighting through the frost- and already stole one altcoin’s spot in the crypto space. This coin has an opportunity to keep climbing its way up to the top.

Should you add Stellar to your investments list? The crypto market is always shaking things up. We used the screener platform at Coinwatch.com to stay up to date on Stellar’s real-time data.

This article was written by Julie Lamb.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.