Stellar has a zero-fee cryptocurrency exchange and trading platform
Cryptocurrency platform StellarX launched by Interstellar has fully launched, which marks an exit from the beta testing phase for an exchange which is based on Stellar’s universal marketplace and Stellarx blockchain. What's more? The platform charges no fees for all transactions or trading.
With it, users are able to load fiat and exchange it for any cryptocurrency and then trade the cryptocurrency on an open market. It is not a decentralized exchange though although all the transactions take place on-chain and are broadcasted publicly to anyone. It works more like a GUI that provides a publicly-accessible Stellar trading environment. However, because it allows a user to keep keys for their cryptocurrency and to trade from their own wallet and the fact that it settles transactions on-chain, means it may feel a lot more like a DEX.
The network charges a flat fee per each transaction as an anti-spam measure but the fee is so low (0.00001 XLM) that they later refund it out-of-pocket for every trade made on the blockchain. The "network fee refund policy" works by accumulating the fee refunds and paying them out each week. The exchange is supporting 2,500+ cryptocurrency , meaning almost every single cryptocurrency out there.
As an open-source protocol for cryptocurrency to fiat transfers, Stellar's XML is 6th largest cryptocurrency in terms of market capitalization. The app features an in-built automated clearing house that lets users to deposit fiat currency directly to start trading cryptocurrencies. For instance, users can deposit U.S. dollars directly from a U.S. bank account and there are other fiat options such as euro, Chinese yuan, Hong Kong dollar, the British pound.
Currently, there are tokens for Euros, Philippine Pesos, Nigerian Naira, Chinese Yuan, Hong Kong Dollar, and the British Pound. Further, the platform will add in-app deposits and withdrawals for these tokens when their issuers support their standards. The exchange will also be adding other kinds of assets, such as bonds, stocks, Carbon Credits, real estate, and commodities.
A co-creator of StellarX wrote that zero-fee was possible because Stellar's consensus mechanism requires no work or stake and therefore no capital to function. The target is to "redefine how assets move around the world" and the DEX is hoping to be the “most popular place to trade in the world”.
It is expected that the exchange will accelerate adoption of XLM. They hope to start supporting Forex stablecoins and also anticipate to be a local exchange for many countries. The company will also launch program this fall to payout 100k XLM to top market makers each week.
