Stellar is a payment and asset network whose native currency is the lumen, or XLM. Lumens pay network fees and meet account reserve requirements. Dollar tokens and other issued assets on Stellar are separate claims or tokens, not XLM and not automatically redeemable through every wallet.
payments Stellar
Stellar
(XLM)
Stellar is a payment and asset network whose native currency is the lumen, or XLM. Lumens pay network fees and meet account reserve requirements. Dollar tokens and other issued assets on Stellar are separate claims or tokens, not XLM and not automatically redeemable through every wallet.
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What is Stellar?
Answer sources checked
20 answers source-reviewed with Codex assistance. Reviewed . This review covers the answers, not exchange listings or the rest of the page.
How does Stellar work?
Stellar nodes agree on ledger updates using the Stellar Consensus Protocol, based on federated Byzantine agreement. Nodes choose trusted quorum sets rather than winning mining races or weighting votes by staked XLM. Payments, asset exchange and smart contracts operate within this ledger system.
Source 1
Who created Stellar?
Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim co-founded Stellar, according to the foundation's first-year account. David Mazieres developed the Stellar Consensus Protocol, a separate technical contribution from founding the organization. The open-source network is not a service where a founder individually approves each XLM transfer.
What is Stellar used for?
XLM is used for Stellar transaction fees, account reserves and value transfers. Stellar also carries issued assets and supports asset conversion and applications. Holding XLM does not create a redemption right against a stablecoin issuer or guarantee that a local payment provider accepts it.
Where can you buy Stellar?
Check an exchange or on-ramp's official site for XLM availability, your regional eligibility and native Stellar withdrawals. A platform supporting a Stellar-issued stablecoin does not necessarily support XLM trading. Review whether deposits use a shared address and require a memo before moving funds.
Stellar exchange reference guides
Before you buy| Exchange | Observed pairs | Catalogue status | Checked (UTC) | Checklist |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Coinbase | XLM-BTC, XLM-EUR, XLM-USD + moreCoinbase Exchange public spot catalogue, not Coinbase Advanced or retail account eligibility | Reported open | Check route | |
| Binance | XLMBNB, XLMBTC, XLMBUSD + moreBinance.com global public spot catalogue; not Binance.US or regional/account access | Reported open | Check route | |
| Kraken | XLMEUR, XLMGBP, XLMUSD + moreKraken international public currency spot pairs plus Support full names and public canonical-to-altname metadata; not regional, retail, funding or account eligibility. | Reported open | Check route | |
| OKX | XLM-EUR, XLM-TRY, XLM-USDC + moreOKX public SPOT instruments joined to the first thirty-eight global ALL market pages plus three existing category pages. Only explicit SPOT rows with matching API trade ID and base symbol supply names; stocks, swaps and unknown products are excluded. Bounded identity coverage, not regional/account, funding, contract or withdrawal eligibility. | Reported open | Check route | |
| Bybit | XLMBTC, XLMUSDC, XLMUSDTBybit global public crypto SPOT instruments with empty symbolType only, joined to the provider-declared CoinGecko ID mapping and exact symbol/full name on its English price page. Price-page coverage is bounded; unmatched identities stay unknown. Not regional, account, funding, contract or withdrawal eligibility. | Reported open | Check route | |
| KuCoin | XLM-BTC, XLM-ETH, XLM-USDC + moreKuCoin global public spot symbols and asset names, not account or withdrawal eligibility | Reported open | Check route | |
| Gate.io | XLM_BTC, XLM_USDTGate global normal spot currency-pair catalogue and embedded full names from api.gateio.ws; premarket excluded; not Gate.US/EU/Dubai, account, region or funding eligibility | Reported open | Check route | |
| Bitstamp | xlmeur, xlmusdBitstamp public spot market and currency catalogue, not account eligibility | Reported open | Check route | |
| Binance.US | XLMUSD, XLMUSD4, XLMUSDTBinance.US public spot exchangeInfo plus its own price-page JSON-LD full names and ticker identifiers; not Binance.com, One Click Buy, state, funding or account eligibility. | Reported open | Check route | |
| MEXC | XLMBTC, XLMUSDC, XLMUSDTMEXC public spot exchange information; API permission is separate from catalogue membership and account access | Reported open | Check route | |
| Phemex | sXLMUSDC, sXLMUSDTPhemex public product and currency-name catalogue; only explicitly spot-typed products considered | Reported open | Check route | |
| Bitget | XLMUSDC, XLMUSDTBitget classic public spot catalogue joined to literal names/symbols from the first ten English price-table pages, each bound to its canonical and successful page-specific hydration query. Bounded name coverage, not all price pages or regional/account, contract, funding or withdrawal eligibility. Price presence alone is not a listing. | Reported open | Check route | |
| HTX | xlmbtc, xlmeth, xlmhusd + moreHTX global public spot symbols plus complete currency full-name settings; explicitly tagged ETPs excluded; API status is not regional/account, retail, contract/network or funding eligibility | Reported open | Check route | |
| Poloniex | XLM_BTC, XLM_USDTPoloniex public spot markets and currency metadata, not account or withdrawal support | Reported open | Check route | |
| BingX | XLM-USDTBingX public spot symbol catalogue joined to exact full names/tickers from forty page-bound English price JSON-LD lists. First page has an explicit root collection URL; later pages require their own collection URL. Bounded name coverage; price presence alone is not a listing. Not derivatives, account, region, contract, funding or withdrawal eligibility. | Reported open | Check route | |
| Upbit | BTC-XLM, KRW-XLM, USDT-XLMUpbit Korea public spot market list; not Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand or account eligibility | Listed; execution unknown | Check route | |
| Bitfinex | XLMUSD, XLMUSTBitfinex public exchange-pair configuration and currency labels; not derivatives or account access | Listed; execution unknown | Check route | |
| LBank | xlm_usdtLBank public spot accuracy catalogue joined to literal names/symbols on the first ten English price tables. Query pages share the root canonical but must bind the exact current-page number and link. Bounded identity coverage; execution status remains unknown. Not account, regional, funding, contract or withdrawal eligibility. | Listed; execution unknown | Check route | |
| Independent Reserve | XLM/USDIndependent Reserve public USD spot market summaries for every checked valid primary code plus full-name currency configuration; AUD/NZD/SGD, regional entities, leverage and account eligibility not checked; pair order-entry status not supplied | Listed; execution unknown | Check route |
How to buy Stellar
Plan your purchaseHow much Stellar?
How can you buy Stellar safely?
Verify native XLM and Stellar network support, review all purchase and withdrawal charges, and test the route with a small transfer. Copy any required destination memo exactly. Do not buy a similarly named issued asset or assume that Stellar support means an account has no reserve requirements.
Can you buy a fraction of Stellar?
Yes. XLM divides into stroops, with one stroop equal to 0.0000001 XLM. Platform order minimums can exceed this seven-decimal base unit. Stellar accounts also have minimum balance requirements, so the smallest representable fraction is not necessarily a usable new account balance.
How much does it cost to buy Stellar?
The cost of buying XLM includes the executed market price, spread and platform or payment fees. Withdrawing can add a separate charge, while a self-custody account must satisfy Stellar reserve requirements. An account reserve is not the same thing as a trading fee.
How much is one Stellar worth?
XLM is Stellar's native lumen, not a dollar-pegged asset issued on Stellar. A market quote for XLM can change even when a payment application also supports dollar-denominated tokens. Stellar accounts need XLM for reserves and fees, so the market value of a balance is not necessarily the amount available to spend. Use a recent quote for valuation and inspect account requirements separately before withdrawing to a new wallet.
Is Stellar a good investment?
XLM can lose substantial fiat value despite its role in payments and network fees. Liquidity, consensus assumptions and application risks remain; issued stablecoins add their own issuer and redemption risks. Neither payment partnerships nor account utility establish personal suitability. This is not financial advice.
Compare two order previews
Use XLM credited after buying fees and spread. Extra USD charges must exclude fees already included in the total. Enter 0 only when confirmed.
Which quote delivers more XLM?
Enter your order-preview numbers or use the labeled example. Unknown charges are never treated as zero.
Stellar wallets & storage
How do you get a Stellar wallet?
Choose a wallet supporting native XLM on Stellar's public network, obtain it from the official publisher and back up its recovery method. A new account needs funding sufficient for network reserve rules. Issued assets may require trustlines, but receiving native XLM is not the same asset setup.
How can you store Stellar securely?
Protect Stellar signing secrets or recovery material offline and inspect transaction operations before approving them. A transaction can contain more than a simple payment, so check account or signer changes carefully. Keep the reserve requirement in mind and distinguish self-custody from a provider-controlled account.
Sending & cashing out Stellar
Match your networks
For XLM, copy the exact network names shown in your apps. This compares your entries, not a verified list of supported networks.
Enter both network names
Copy the exact network name shown for this asset in each app. No supported-network catalogue is assumed here.
How do you send Stellar to another wallet?
Select native XLM, verify the Stellar destination and include the exact memo if the receiving service requires one. Preview the amount, fee and operations before signing. A new destination may need account creation rather than an ordinary payment, and issued assets follow different trustline rules.
How long does a Stellar transfer take?
An XLM transfer must be applied to a closed Stellar ledger, while an exchange can take longer to credit it. Check whether the operation succeeded, not just whether a transaction record exists. Missing memos, account requirements or service review can delay access without a guaranteed resolution time.
How much does it cost to send Stellar?
Stellar fees are paid in XLM and depend on operation count, inclusion demand and, for smart contracts, resource consumption. A simple payment and a contract invocation therefore need not cost the same. Account reserves and platform withdrawal fees are separate from the transaction's network fee.
Can you cash out Stellar for real money?
You may sell XLM through a platform or supported payment route that accepts your country and fiat payout method. Confirm deposit address and memo requirements first. An anchor's issued fiat token has separate redemption terms; receiving it is not automatically a completed bank cash-out.
Is Stellar traceable?
Stellar payments, transaction metadata and account activity are publicly inspectable. Memos can expose additional information, and services can link addresses to verified customers. Public ledger data is not automatically a legal identity, but ordinary XLM transfers should not be treated as anonymous cash.
Supply, mining & staking
What is the maximum supply of Stellar?
Stellar's inflation mechanism ended in 2019, and a subsequent supply reduction left approximately 50 billion lumens in existence. The project states that no more will be created under those rules. This is not the currently circulating amount; foundation holdings and distribution remain separate measures.
Source 1
Can you mine Stellar?
No. XLM is not mined, and Stellar's consensus does not use proof of work. Nodes use federated Byzantine agreement to confirm ledgers, rather than earning newly issued lumens for hashing. A service advertising XLM mining is not describing Stellar's native validation mechanism.
Can you stake Stellar?
Stellar has no native XLM staking reward mechanism because its consensus is not proof of stake. Holding or locking lumens does not earn protocol validator rewards. Yield products or liquidity positions on Stellar are separate application or custody arrangements with their own loss and withdrawal risks.