In the crypto world apart from the recent plunge that Bitcoin has been through, much has been going on in the sidelines. Take for example, Stellar the 15th top currency in the coin market cap and our subject of discussion today!

Maybe similar in geeky terms but way far off generally, the Stellar we are about to talk about is as exciting as the aforementioned Hollywood movie. Like almost every other cryptocurrency we have introduced you to, Stellar is also a decentralized, hybrid blockchain that is fully open-source.

It is organization that exists to smooth cross-asset transfers of value, including payments. Once incorporated into the Stellar Network, you will join an open, global financial network. The network where you will be able to interact with anyone and everyone. Even interact in the payment networks, or banks; which will have equal access and economic participation.

Just like PayPal, Stellar simply goes on that line of working. Hence to begin with the usage of the striking platform, you would need to upload funds to an anchor on the network. Just like a bank would do, this anchor, acts the similar way by storing your wealth and then giving you credit on cards in its stead.

The need for this anchor might be confusing and may sound like not needed. The anchors, are linking points between the any currency and the Stellar network .

This set up is so smooth that it hardly takes up your precious time, like any bank transfer using Pay Pal would require. It also streamlines cross border payments.

Stellar Lumens Coins (XLM)

Lumen; a lumen is a unit of the digital currency, the innate asset of the Stellar network. By asset, we refer to a value stored on the ledger. This very property is important for the platform to carry out its functions. Easy cross border transactions and those between two different crypto currencies, it is deemed useful.

Why should you invest in Stellar?

Apart from the recent updates of Stellar making it to 1USD in record time, there are some other couple of cool features it offers which are tempting enough to make you invest in the cryptocurrency.

Distributed Exchange

Stellar also gives its users the choice of putting exchange orders onto the public ledger to trade other currencies. What’s interesting here is that the user gets to determine the rates, hence the transactions do not go through any network implied fixed rates that Stellar applies to personal transfers. If you wanted to exchange, say GBP for EUR, you’d place an order in Stellar’s orderbook. It will include cryptocurrency and fiat trading pairs as well.

Multi-currency Transactions

The smooth flow of money across borders, without any hassles, is what we have seen Stellar aims to promise. To make this happen Stellar uses the following techniques;

Funds with a previous offer are converted by Stellar which also facilitates the exchange that too automatically. It can also use Lumens in its stead as the middle way exchange. In the global market place, the funds from one currency are converted to the Lumens which are then transferred to the user and converted to his desired currency.

Current Market standing

Despite being only listed on exchanges in the midst of this year, Stellar (XLM) has seen 6, 300% in gains which is really impressive for a new network such as them.

Stellar (XLM) currently sits at number15 with a market capitalization of roughly 5 billion USD, all of this growth was this year alone. A lot of institutions have publicly expressed their support for this network which is quite amazing in itself.

Stellar is being traded at $0.24 USD at the moment and before the 6000% gains it was being traded quite below a cent.

Apart from the strong standing, Stellar has made partnerships with IBM, SatoshiPay EXCH.ONE, Klick-Ex, Mobius and HashCash. This only stands to strengthen its position in the crypto market.

We will see Stellar (XLM) on the $1 USD by as early as late January, given the current fantabuluos growth both in value and connections.

Where and How to buy Stellar Lumens

XLM and STR both tickers are used while trading the Lumens. Bittrex, Poloniex, and Binance have the most Stellar Lumen’s trading volume, so you can get them there.

Following is a brief guide to let you know how to buy Stellar Lumens via Binance.

First we need to set up a wallet to store the Stellar Lumens coins you’re about to buy. Go to the Stellar Wallet Github. Choose the download that works for your computer.

Run the wallet executable file. Your wallet will open.

Click ‘Create New Account’. Then ‘Create Empty Account’. Give it an obvious name and click save.

Enter a password that would be hard to guess. Press ‘Encrypt’. Your new wallet file will now be saved, as whatever name you gave it.

A new Stellar wallet address would be given to you. Copy this down somewhere safe. You’re also given a Secret Key to your wallet. Copy this Secret Key down and keep it somewhere private and safe. Once you’ve saved your Key, click ‘Yes, I saved my secret key’.

Now it’s time to exchange your crypto coins for Stellar, if you already have them, follow through, if not please make the purchase before proceeding.

We’ll use the site Binance to exchange your Bitcoin for Stellar Lumens. Click here to go to Binance, and click ‘Register’ on the top right menu.

Enter your email and password. Click ‘Register’. You will be sent an email to confirm your email address. Click the link in the email.

Press ‘Login’. On the login form, enter the email and password you just used to sign up, then press ‘Login’.

Hover your mouse over ‘FUNDS’ on the top menu and click on ‘Deposits Withdrawals’.

This screen displays any coins you have stored on Binance, obviously none at the moment. Type ‘Bitcoin’ in the search box. Press ‘Deposit’. Copy this address.

Return to Coinbase. Click ‘Accounts’ from the top menu, find your Bitcoin wallet listed on the left. Click ‘Send’.

In the ‘Recipient’ box, paste the Bitcoin wallet address we just copied from Binance. In amount, type how much Bitcoin you wish to send. Click ‘Continue’.

Once the Bitcoin shows in your ‘available balance’ we’re ready to trade for Stellar Lumens. Go back to the exchange; Binance.

There are two ways of buying coins: A ‘Limit’ order, and a ‘Market’ buy. Market buy is the simpler of the two options we’ll go with that. Click the ‘Market’ option Above the Buy ‘XLM’ button.

In the input box marked ‘Amount’ you now need to fill in how many XLM you’d like to buy. Press the buy button. Your order will be filled immediately.

Press ‘Funds’ along the top menu, then ‘Deposits Withdrawals’. In the search box, type XLM. You will now see your new XLM in your XLM wallet.

Click the ‘Withdrawal’ button. In the boxes that appear, fill in this information: Label: Write ‘My wallet’. Address: Put the wallet address that you copied from Stellar Desktop Client wallet.

Amount: Press the ‘Max’ button to send all your XLM. Once you’re sure all this information is correct, press ‘Submit’.

An email would be sent to you, go back to your Stellar Desktop Client wallet. You will see your coins appear in your wallet balance. Wallah you have successfully bought Stellar Lumens!!

Hope you have a good time investing in Stellar. Stay tuned for more of latest updates on crypto world.