Stellar’s native cryptocurrency – lumen (XLM) – is trading at its highest level since 5 June, pulled by bullish sentiment across the market.Cryptocurrency prices bottomed out on 20 July, when XLM reached its lowest level since January.It’s since gained more than 84%.What is Stellar and what’s the outlook for the lumen as cryptocurrency markets continue to rebound? Is there further potential for upside, or is it time to sell short ? In this article, we look at the recent developments in the Stellar network and latest XLM price forecasts.Stellar lumens connect financial institutions Launched in July 2014, Stellar aims to narrow the gap between cryptocurrencies and traditional finance.The blockchain enables fiat currencies and other assets to run in parallel with each other and cryptocurrencies, making it easier to transfer fiat currency into crypto.It was based on the Ripple Labs protocol – the Stellar blockchain was a hard fork , or split, from the Ripple blockchain, and the code was re-written.The lumen , or XLM coin, is the network’s native coin.
Users must hold a minimum balance of one lumen and pay a minimum transaction fee of 0.00001 lumen.According to the Stellar site : “These are small enough to keep Stellar widely accessible, but big enough to discourage large-scale bad behaviour.” The low transaction fee aims to allow users to transfer money quickly without incurring extra processing costs.Stellar has partnered with some of the biggest companies in finance and tech, including Deloitte, IBM (IBM) and Stripe, as well as a dozen financial institutions and payment processors in Asia and Europe.Financial institutions around the world can settle payments and issue assets on the decentralised and scalable network.In its latest partnership, on 13 July, Asian cryptocurrency exchange platform Liquid Group added multi-chain support for Stellar’s USDC stablecoin.The company said: “By bringing multi-chain support for selected cryptocurrencies, Liquid is looking to increase interoperability, solve issues arising from recent spikes in blockchain fees, and improve service levels for their customers.” Stellar has approached US-based global payment remittance giant Moneygram International (MGI) about a potential takeover in partnership with private equity firm Advent International, Bloomberg reported on 21 July.The project’s developers are also working on a major upgrade to the Stellar lumens demo wallet, the company said on 14 July.The wallet is an open-source application that allows developers to test the blockchain protocols.
It replicates the user experience of creating or importing an account, adding assets to the account and performing transactions.A log shows the interactions between the wallet and the network as well as tips to show users what they can do on the Stellar network.The team behind the developments said: There;s a Stellar Community Fund (SCF), providing support to developers for projects that help build out the ecosystem.Over several rounds each year, the fund awards 12 million XLM coins to various projects based on community votes.The current round is accepting submission until 22 August, with voting to be held on 13–26 September.On 25 June, a technical proposal that would see Stellar enable automated market makers (AMMs) was deemed ready for implementation.But development work continues and the blockchain’s validators will not vote on whether to upgrade the network to accept the change “for several months”.Improving liquidity through proposals such as AMMs and integration with additional over-the-counter (OTC) liquidity solutions is part of the 2021 roadmap for Stellar lumens’ future growth.
The roadmap also aims to “invest in technical and procedural changes that make the network even more safe and resilient” and “foster use cases that have clear value for end users and can demonstrate a path to a viable business model”.Stellar lumens price predictions: is there room for further gains? The XLM price traded above $0.40 on 15 and 16 August for the first time since 5 June as the market rebounded following a sharp selloff in May.The price had reached $0.7965 on 16 May at the peak of the cryptocurrency rally, its highest level since it hit an all-time high of $0.9381 on 4 January, 2018.But can the price continue advancing higher? Short-term technical XLM price analysis from CoinCodex shows that general sentiment for XLM is neutral, with 25 indicators giving off bullish signals and five showing bearish signals.The site said on 20 August: “According to our current Stellar price prediction, the value of Stellar will drop by -17.77% and reach $0.299838 by August 25, 2021.” With XLM trading around $0.356, there was resistance at $0.379 up to $0.414 and support at $0.344 down to $0.309.The Stellar crypto forecast from algorithm-based site Wallet Investor predicts that the XLM price will reach $0.416 by the end of August, rising to $0.537 by the end of 2021, $0.787 by the end of 2022 and $1.534 by the end of 2025.The XLM price prediction from DigitalCoin puts the coin’s value at an average of $0.570 in 2021, rising to an average of $0.658 in 2022, $1.14 in 2025 and $1.67 in 2028.In the meantime, the XLM forecast from Gov Capital is bearish for the short term, projecting that the price will pull back to $0.360 by the end of 2021.
But it expects the price to rise to nearly $0.40 in January 2022, ending the year at $0.590 – lower than both the Wallet Investor and Digital Coin forecasts.It expects the gains to accelerate towards the middle of the decade, ending 2025 at $1.748.The Stellar lumens projection from Coin Price Forecast is more cautious.
It puts the price at $0.40 by the end of 2021, $1.08 by 2025 and $1.42 by 2030.It’s important to keep in mind that cryptocurrency markets are extremely volatile, making it difficult to accurately predict what a coin’s price will be in a few hours, and even harder to give long-term estimates.As such, analysts and online forecasting sites can get their predictions wrong.We recommend that you always do your own research, and consider the latest market trends, news, technical and fundamental analysis, and expert opinion before making any investment decisions.And never invest more than you can afford to lose.
Where and how to buy Stellar lumens in 2021 If you are looking to invest in the coin now, you can buy it via cryptocurrency exchanges like Coinbase, Kraken and Binance.If you intend to hold the coins, you can transfer them to a secure software or hardware wallet.Alternatively, you can trade XLM using contracts for difference (CFDs) on Capital.com.CFDs allow you to speculate on short-term price fluctuations without having to buy the actual coin.Trading CFDs offers the opportunity to try to benefit from both bullish and bearish price action.If you expect the XLM price to rise, you can open a long position; and if you think it will drop, you can open a short position and still make a profit on the trade if the price moves lower.Trade Stellar to US Dollar – XLM/USD CFD Notice that with Capital.com, you can trade XLM not only against the US dollar but also bitcoin .As a leveraged product, CFDs are designed to maximise gains, which can be large on volatile products such as cryptocurrencies.
However, you should be aware that using leverage also increases the size of the loss if the price moves against your position.Make sure you understand how CFDs work and do your own research before you begin, and never invest money you cannot afford to lose.
Learn more about cryptocurrency CFDs with our comprehensive guide .Create an account on Capital.com to stay on top of the latest Stellar lumens news, price analysis and forecasts and spot the best trading opportunities.* Note that CFD trading on cryptocurrencies is currently not available in the UK under FCA regulations.FAQ Whether XLM is a good investment for you depends on your personal investing circumstances and goals.Cryptocurrencies are highly volatile investments, making them riskier than other asset classes.You should evaluate the level of risk you are prepared to accept before investing.
Never invest money you cannot afford to lose.Forecasters expect the XLM price to go up over the long-term.The market’s short-term direction will, to some degree, depend on sentiment over the broader cryptocurrency industry.Keep in mind when reading these estimates that analysts’ predictions can be wrong.Which forecasters you choose to believe is down to your own research and view of market conditions.Read more: Bitcoin price prediction: will it surge to $100k? .
