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Monthly RoundUp
Why does it feel like the year gets the busiest just as it’s about to end? We’re well into November, and the month started off with the biggest update to Stellar since its inception. On November 3rd, Stellar validators voted to upgrade the public network to Protocol 18, which added the ability to create Automated Market Makers (AMMs) and democratized liquidity provision on the blockchain. The level of coordination and collaboration between SDF and the Stellar ecosystem to pull off a successful Day 1 post-upgrade has been nothing short of spectacular, and I’m eager to see the long-term impact of AMM functionality on liquidity for Stellar.
To further our goal of fostering and developing sustainable use cases on Stellar, SDF made three large announcements: 1) we made an $40M Enterprise Fund investment in Tala, a mission-driven fintech, 2) Flutterwave launched two new payment corridors with TEMPO on Stellar, and 3) we are partnering with MoneyGram International to integrate its network with Stellar. Tala, Flutterwave, TEMPO, and MGI are prime examples of how companies can harness the power of blockchain technology and stablecoins to increase financial access and inclusion, building a stronger and more inclusive financial infrastructure supported by digital payments.
We also recently debuted our latest case study of Vibrant, a wallet app developed by a team at Sunship, Inc., a subsidiary of SDF. By employing Stellar, Vibrant makes it possible for Argentines experiencing inflation to purchase and hold USDC quickly, cheaply, and easily. Since its launch, Vibrant has grown substantially, clearly demonstrating high demand for consumer products offering greater access to financial services.
In the spirit of continuing conversations with potential partners and broadening the Stellar ecosystem, we went to Money 20/20 hosted in Las Vegas, and wow – what a whirlwind of a weekend! Stablecorp, Circle, Tala, Wyre, and MoneyGram joined us on stage as we talked about all things payments-related – think stablecoins, digital assets, bridging financial systems, and more. We walked away feeling great about the conference and clearly can’t wait to jump back in because…
Meridian 2021 is next week! Join us November 17 & 18 for an action-packed agenda with engaging speakers, top-of-mind content, the latest demos on Stellar, and more. We’ve been hustling to put together the final touches and bring the Stellar community together for our biggest event of the year. Can’t wait to see you all there!
denelle
Meridian 2021 is next week and will serve as a forum for experts in finance, policy, and technology from within and beyond the Stellar community to discuss exciting developments on the network and in the broader industry. This event is virtual and free for everyone and will take place November 17 and 18.
On Nov. 3 Stellar validators voted to upgrade the network to Protocol 18, which adds Automated Market Maker (AMM) functionality to the Stellar protocol. This makes Stellar one of the earliest Layer 1 blockchains with a protocol-native feature for AMMs. Liquidity pools can be created on Stellar without requiring smart contracts — the most common AMM implementation to date — and without the high gas fees transactions require on other networks.
The Stellar Development Foundation rides its strong momentum from the previous quarter into the third quarter as it executes on the three strategic pillars of its 2021 roadmap: supporting the robustness and usability of Stellar, helping Stellar be the blockchain people know and trust, and fostering and developing sustainable Stellar use cases for cross-border payments and securitized assets.
This is SDF’s largest investment to-date since launching the Enterprise Fund in fiscal year 2020, more than doubling total funding so far in 2021. With this investment, the Stellar network extends its global reach deeper into four countries and millions of Tala users.
Flutterwave, a global payments technology company, has launched new remittance corridors between Europe and Africa on the Stellar network. Working with TEMPO, Flutterwave is leveraging the Stellar network and Stellar USDC to simplify remittances in Africa.
In a recent roundtable discussion, Nick Gilbert at SDF was joined by longstanding ecosystem participants Settle Network, Ultra Stellar, and Stellarport.io to weigh in on the impact of AMMs upon the Stellar ecosystem, how greater liquidity on Stellar will enhance their products and services, and what features they’re building to leverage AMM functionality.
There is still time to submit your project to the 9th round of the Stellar Community Fund! We’ve allocated almost 4M XLM to distribute based on community vote, and anyone building a project on Stellar, whether an experimental hackathon-style proof of concept, or an established product you’re looking to scale, is welcome to apply between now and Nov. 21.
Stellar’s asset clawback feature is just one of many features required to propel institutional adoption of digital assets. The importance of the clawback and how it is used further demonstrates the value of these emerging technologies in protecting, if not enhancing, market integrity in the digital asset ecosystem.
SDF is excited to announce a new investment track within the Enterprise Fund – the Matching Fund – to help fund more early stage companies (pre-Series B) interested in building on Stellar. What does this mean? The Matching Fund will match up to $500,000 USD in investment made by a lead investor in a company and processes deals through an expedited process.
SDF has announced the launch of Stellar Next-Gen, an initiative to foster the growth and development of tomorrow's business leaders and developers. SDF will collaborate with universities and other educational institutions worldwide to support and promote efforts that further SDF's mission to create equitable access to the global financial system.
Vibrant is a wallet app developed on Stellar by a team at Sunship, Inc., a subsidiary of the Stellar Development Foundation. By employing Stellar, Vibrant makes it possible for Argentines experiencing inflation to purchase and hold USDC quickly, cheaply, and easily.
In designing the Stellar protocol, developers are confronted with decisions about when complexity is warranted and which parties will bear the cost. Those decisions are handled on a case-by-case basis, seeking good outcomes for developers and users, while trying to leave the door open to further improvements.
This meeting focused on CAP-21, which generalizes transaction pre-conditions, and paves the way for building payment channels on Stellar.
This week reviewed the final changes to CAP-38: Automated Market Makers in advance of the November Protocol 18 Upgrade vote.
Denelle Dixon (SDF) on Sam Conner
Justin Rice (SDF) on Sam Conner
Reminder: Beware of “Hard Fork” Scams, Impersonators, and “Giveaway Scams”. We will never ask for your private keys, and we will never ask you to send us cryptocurrency. Learn more about how to protect yourself and your accounts in our Security guide.
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