Stellar: Revolutionizing Global Payments and Financial Inclusion with Lightning-Fast Blockchain Technology
In a world where sending money across the globe can be a slow and costly process, imagine being able to do it in seconds for less than a penny. That's the promise of Stellar, a blockchain designed to revolutionize payments and financial inclusion.
Raja Chakravorti, Chief Business Officer at the Stellar Development Foundation, shares how Stellar's low-cost, instant-settlement network is transforming lives and attracting heavyweights like Franklin Templeton and the United Nations. For high net-worth individuals and family offices, Stellar isn't just a blockchain—it's a ticket to a smarter, more inclusive financial future.
Chakravorti's journey to Stellar spans decades of financial innovation. He started on Wall Street in the 2000s, working in structured finance and mortgage-backed securities at two of the largest financial institutions. After eight years at PayPal and stints at fintechs, he joined Stellar, drawn by its mission to make money move at the speed of email.
Stellar was designed 11 years ago by our founder, Jed McCaleb, to minimize transaction costs and settlement time. With transactions settling in 3–5 seconds at just 0.005 cents each, Stellar delivers a payment rail that outpaces traditional systems. But speed isn't the whole story. Stellar was built with tokenization and asset controls in mind, offering features like freeze and clawback for mistakes—perfect for traditional institutions.
Stellar's mission is financial inclusion at a global scale, ensuring technology serves people, not just profits. From aiding the unbanked to powering investment funds, Stellar is transforming the way we think about money and its potential to empower people everywhere.
Who uses Stellar? While institutions like Franklin Templeton leverage Stellar's infrastructure, the real end users are everyday people, especially in the Global South, where banking access is scarce. A lot of people don't have a safe place to put their money or earn yield, but Stellar changes that by offering digital bank accounts and yield-bearing assets like tokenized Mexican sovereign debt through partners like Aave.
A standout use case is Stellar's partnership with the United Nations to deliver aid in crisis zones like Argentina and Ukraine. The UN approached Stellar with a problem: delivering aid is tough when correspondent banking fails or people are unbanked. Stellar's solution? Instant aid delivery via U.S. dollar-backed digital assets, offsetting currency volatility. With a global Stellar Anchor Network, including 450,000 MoneyGram locations across 150+ countries, users can off-ramp digital currency into cash seamlessly.
In conclusion, Stellar is more than just a blockchain—it's a powerful tool for financial inclusion and empowerment. With its low-cost, instant-settlement network and focus on real-world applications, Stellar is transforming the way we think about money and its potential to serve people everywhere.
