Stellar Price Forecast Bullish As XLM Price Spikes
As you can tell, our headline is somewhat rhetorical. The Stellar Lumens price, in fact, already went ballistic this morning. At the time of writing, Stellar Lumens is trading for about $0.45 apiece after the XLM price jumped more than 13% overnight. We’ve been bullish on this crypto since early January, predicting it to be the next cryptocurrency to explode. The upsurge has only reinforced our XLM price forecast for 2018.
The XLM to USD rate may not be as overwhelming as the XLM to BTC rate, which is up about 3.99% as I pen this piece. Alternatively put, Stellar is performing better than Bitcoin, the bellwether cryptocurrency which drives sentiments in this space.
So what, exactly, is causing the surge in prices? While there are some tailwinds playing in favor of cryptos, in general, there’s one particular reason why Stellar has ended up under the spotlight. I’ll discuss that shortly. First, let’s take a quick look at what’s driving the renewed investor optimism in cryptos this morning.
A quick look at the breakdown of volume by markets shows money is pouring in from Asia–more precisely, South Korea. Nearly half of the XLM trades in the last 24 hours took place in the South Korean won.
For the record, the South Korean government, although continuing to dilly-dally on the issue of crypto regulations, has once again sent out an indication that a complete ban is currently not on the cards. (Source: “Crypto Trading Ban Downplayed by South Korea After Backlash,” Bloomberg, February 13, 2018.)
But why all the enthusiasm for Stellar? Quite frankly, this may have to do with the fact that Stellar is being touted as the “next big thing,” or, as we say it, the “next Ripple.” A quick look at its year-to-date price performance may help you wrap your head around our claim.
Chart courtesy of TradingView.com
Mind you, Ripple became a popular choice for investors when the bull market in cryptos kicked in. Its catchy sales pitch and cheap price attracted new buyers in droves.
Ripple has been promoting itself as the top choice of banks, but Stellar has emerged as a potent threat that’s reaching out to a much wider audience. Stellar is not only shaking hands with banks, but also corporations and people.
Just to be clear, Ripple is a technology aimed at decentralizing cross-border payments to make them cheap, swift and uncensorable. Stellar is doing exactly the same, only better. Stellar Lumens has a slight edge for charging much lower fees than Ripple.
This is why Stellar is turning heads. A recent mention by digital payments company Stripe Inc, and its ongoing partnership with International Business Machines Corporation (NYSE:IBM), have brought Stellar to the center stage.
For reference, Stripe has just ended support for Bitcoin–the only crypto it entertained on its fiat currency platform–citing reasons that Bitcoin is getting expensive and slow to use. Stripe has shown interest in replacing Bitcoin with some other cryptocurrencies. Stellar received a special mention.
Plus, we’ve discussed before why Stellar Lumens stands a better chance at reaching the mainstream than Ripple, because of its partnership with IBM.
IBM is taking Stellar mainstream through its blockchain-based cross-border payments network, which is currently in the works. About 12 gateways have already been set up in countries around the globe, and the network is continuing to expand as it develops.
Even though Ripple boasts more partnerships, Stellar may be able to reach more people than Ripple because it’s targeting the masses directly.
Analyst’s Take
Ripple may be riding on the coattails of banking sharks, but Stellar’s unique partnership with IBM may allow it to reach the mainstream earlier than Ripple. This is why Stellar makes a good case for mass adoption, and makes us bullish in our Stellar price forecast for 2018.
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