Today the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) released its Q1 2024 report. In the first quarter of 2024, Stellar launched smart contracts. Soroban is a developer-friendly, Rust-based smart contracts platform designed for scale and sensibility. The total supply of real world assets held on Stellar also topped $533 million. The total payments volume expressed on Stellar in Q1 was $1.6 billion. Stellar continues to be an industry leader in low transaction costs, with an average transaction cost of $0.000065.
“Stellar kicked off the new year with the launch of smart contracts, marking the biggest change on the Stellar network since it launched a decade ago,” said Stellar Development Foundation CEO Denelle Dixon. “The Stellar Community Fund awarded $3.2 million to projects being built on Stellar and that funding will help grow the Stellar community and support projects that will bring real world utility to the Stellar network. Tokenized assets continue to grow on Stellar as more financial institutions recognize the advantages of tokenized assets and the power Stellar gives them to issue and control those assets. The year is off to a great start and we look forward to gathering with the Stellar community on October 15-17 in London to celebrate what we have accomplished and the exciting projects being built on Stellar.”
SDF is committed to a future proof and sustainable Stellar. Stellar’s low transaction fees, smart contract capability and the Stellar Community Fund are critical parts of building a sustainable Stellar network that is enabling real world utility today and will grow as blockchain technology is adopted more widely.
Financial inclusion and real world utility are integral to SDF’s mission. SDF is focused on everyday financial services because we want to help build a global financial system that includes everybody. Asset tokenization, on and off-ramps, and wallets are all key parts of the network that are providing real world utility to people across the globe. SDF is also pushing for increased adoption of the utility that Stellar Aid Assist and the Stellar Disbursement Platform (SDP) are providing to organizations engaged in humanitarian work, like the United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR). To date UNHCR has used Stellar Aid Assist to disburse more than $2.2m to internally displaced people in Ukraine.
SDF also believes that a trustworthy technology stack is the best kind to advance adoption of blockchain technology. That is why SDF has collaborated with the ecosystem to make sure not only that Soroban is the best smart contract platform, but also that it is secure. This quarter, the Stellar Development Foundation has focused on the technical capabilities and third party services necessary to establish smart contracts on Stellar as a leader in safety. That’s why SDF launched the Soroban Audit Bank as part of SDF’s ongoing commitment to promoting high standards for smart contract security throughout the Stellar ecosystem. The program is distributing up to $1 million dollars in security audit credits in coordination with six top-tier audit firms. Audit credits have been used for 15 projects thus far.
SDF leaders have traveled across the globe and conducted listening sessions in Ghana, Nigeria, and Kenya to hear directly from Stellar community members in places too frequently left out of the global financial system. At Meridian 2024, October 15-17 in London, SDF will convene our community to celebrate what we’ve achieved and look ahead to what we will build next on Stellar.
About Stellar
Stellar is more than a blockchain. Powered by a decentralized, fast, scalable, and uniquely sustainable network made for financial products and services and a thriving and passionate ecosystem that includes a non-profit organization driven by a mission, Stellar is paving the path to unlock the world’s economic potential through blockchain technology. Built with speed and low costs in mind, the Stellar network provides builders and financial institutions worldwide a platform to issue assets, and to send and convert currencies in real time creating real world utility. Founded in 2014, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) supports the continued development and growth of the Stellar network and also serves the ecosystem of NGOs, corporations, universities, small businesses, governments, and solo entrepreneurs building on the Stellar network through tooling, funding and strategic collaborations. Together, Stellar is where blockchain meets the real world.
About the Stellar Development Foundation
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization that supports the development and growth of Stellar, an open-source network that connects the world’s financial infrastructure. Founded in 2014, the Foundation helps maintain Stellar’s codebase, supports the technical and business communities building on the network, and serves as a voice to regulators and institutions. The Foundation seeks to create equitable access to the global financial system, using the Stellar network to unlock the world’s economic potential through blockchain technology. For more information, visit stellar.org/foundation.