How to buy Stellar (XLM) in Australia

Stellar (XLM) is the 33rd largest cryptocurrency by market cap, valued at US$3,242,460,174.

Stellar is a highly volatile asset capable of major price swings in a single day. Today XLM is trading for $0.111889 USD, which is higher than yesterday's trading price of $0.1054410579 USD. Over the past year, Stellar's price has seen an increase of 21%.

So before you buy Stellar, make sure you understand these unique risks as well as its legal and tax status here in Australia.

If you're ready to get started, read on for step-by-step instructions on how you can use to buy Stellar.

Where to buy Stellar in Australia

Find an exchange to buy, sell and trade XLM by comparing deposit methods, supported fiat currencies and fees. Select Go to site to sign up directly with the exchange.

What is Stellar?

Launched in 2014, Stellar Lumens is a cryptocurrency that aims to offer fast and affordable cross-border transactions. Its distributed payments network ensures that transactions are processed within 2 to 5 seconds, for a tiny fee, typically a fraction of a cent.

On launch, Stellar was intended to serve as a value-store and transaction method for the unbanked, allowing them to participate in traditional financial instruments that are otherwise inaccessible. However, Stellar's development team soon pivoted towards servicing financial institutions and allowing them to communicate with one another through blockchain technology.

Due to the extremely low transaction fees and high speeds, Stellar intends to disrupt current cross-border payment methods that are often slow and riddled with high fees, which becomes untenable for institutions which are making constant financial transactions.

Stellar is a hard fork of the Ripple (XRP) cryptocurrency. XLM is the native token of the Stellar network and operates as a bridge that can facilitate trades between two different currencies. It is also used to pay for transaction fees, which helps in preventing spam.

Best Stellar wallets to store your XLM

You can keep your XLM on the exchange you purchased it on, or move it to a personal wallet:

• Some people like to use their own wallets to guarantee total ownership over their assets, or to use them with other applications like DeFi services.
• Hardware wallets are typically considered to be the safest type of cryptocurrency wallet, as they use a physical device to enhance security in a number of ways. You can take a look at some of our top hardware wallet picks for self-custody of your XLM below.

Disclaimer: This is not an endorsement of cryptocurrency or any specific provider, service or offering. It is not a recommendation to trade.

Is Stellar a good investment?

As with any investment, it is vital you understand the risks and potential upside of the asset before making any financial decision. With regards to XLM, here are a few things you should consider:

• Ripple hard fork. If you're considering buying XLM, it's worth looking into its original form, Ripple, and comparing the two cryptocurrencies. XRP and XLM have different goals, however have a very similar function – providing extremely cheap and fast cross-border payments. Stellar has a greater eye on accessibility, being open-source and is more focussed on bridging the gap between crypto and fiat currencies. Some investors believe there is no space for both XRP and XLM to be mass-adopted, which makes it important to understand their differences in philosophy and function.
• IBM Partnership. Stellar is one of the relatively few cryptocurrencies to focus on securing a long-standing partnership with tech or traditional finance companies. Together, IBM and Stellar created 'World Wire', a global payments system intended to rival the high fees of PayPal and other competitors.
• ICO. The Stellar network can also be used by new crypto projects looking to launch ICOs. Mobius Network and SureRemit are just a couple of the projects to have launched via Stellar. Stellar is just one of many protocols that offer this functionality, with Ethereum being a direct competitor.
• Goals. Although Stellar has moved somewhat away from its altruistic vision to focus on financial institutions, assisting the unbanked and everyday user to acquire equal financial opportunity is still an important goal. However, this does mean it has less corporate and financial incentives, which could somewhat stunt the network's economic growth.

Today's Stellar price versus ATH

Compare today's price of Stellar ($0.111889 USD) against its all-time-high price of $0.875563 USD on 03 January 2018. The closer the bar is to 100%, the closer XLM is to reaching its ATH again.

How to trade, convert or sell Stellar

You can convert or sell your XLM with the same exchange you bought it through:

1. Sign in to the exchange you have XLM on.
2. If you store your Stellar in a digital wallet, compare crypto exchanges to convert or sell it on.
3. Choose Sell or Convert and place a sell order.
4. Choose the amount of XLM you'd like to convert or sell.
5. Confirm the sell price and fees and close your sale of Stellar.
6. Complete your transaction and move your XLM to a crypto wallet for storage.

How to buy other cryptos