The cryptocurrency industry continues to suffer from a liquidity problem. Investors looking to buy into the market must go through a byzantine process – unless they’re looking to buy one of the top currencies. Greater adoption requires greater access, and Stellar Lumens (XLM) now joins the short list of cryptocurrencies with a fiat currency pairing. The Stronghold USD project – based entirely on Stellar’s platform – will allow investors to purchase a stablecoin that can be traded directly for XLM.
While this is inarguably good news for Stellar Lumens, the mercurial mood of the cryptocurrency market continues. Stellar’s price has remained volatile, and the market is struggling to overcome the bearish first half of the year. News of Stronghold, Coinbase and Tempo all considering XLM gave the project a boost – but the price surge was ultimately short lived.
Stronghold USD
Users looking to enter the cryptocurrency market must do so through a fiat gateway. While many exist, their legality and scope are often limited. Instead, major players that have managed to secure government backing decide which coins will gain a USD trading pair. Coinbase and Gemini are the top two gateways in the United States, and should receive partial credit for the success of coins like Ethereum and Litecoin.
Now, the Stronghold USD system has created a market on-ramp solely through the Stellar platform. Fiat assets invested in the Stronghold service produce instances of their own stablecoin – a coin that represents real world assets at a 1:1 ratio. These coins can immediately be traded for XLM. Their easing of the on-ramp process will allow new investors to flock directly to the Stellar Lumens economy. XLM rival Ripple (XRP) has yet to achieve this goal, despite widespread success in the financial backend sector.
Coinbase Rumors and Tempo Backing
The Stronghold project is powerful news for Stellar, but still depends on new user’s willingness to adopt the platform. In contrast, Coinbase’s announcement that they are exploring the addition of XLM does not have that issue. The Coinbase platform is the top ‘kingmaker’ in cryptocurrency, with any asset added to the exchange immediately rising in price. Even rumors alone have been known to cause price spikes – as seen with the Ripple rumor earlier this year.
Finally, cryptocurrency payment project Tempo decided to base their remittance system on the Stellar network. In direct competition with some aspects of Ripple, Tempo is hoping to use Stellar’s decentralized exchange as an answer to RippleNet – providing immediate liquidity for a variety of trading pairs. While Ripple generally serves larger banking companies, Stellar – and by extension Tempo – seek to better augment the ability of the average user to send remittances home.
Article By: Adam Stone
