March 2020

Stellar - Executive Director Message 

A lot can change in a month. What started out as the predominant lunch table conversation evolved quickly to a pandemic that's shut down offices, overwhelmed industries and systems, and left millions of us sheltered in our homes. As we all adjust and adapt to this ongoing situation, I believe relying on our communities for support is more important than ever (I shared more about that on our community blog). At SDF, we're fortunate to be able to do our work remotely and as this monthly round-up shows, we're still running full speed ahead.

Because this has all been an important reminder of the value of our mission to create equitable access to the global financial system and to connect the world's financial infrastructure. Because we're learning in the midst of this crisis that global cooperation and connections are essential.

Hoping all of you and your loved ones are safe and healthy during this trying time

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Denelle

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‍Stellar Ecosystem News 

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SDF Donation Program with Lumenthropy
We've announced a way to give back in this time of crisis to help our community come together to support common causes. For the month of April, we’ve committed to donating and matching up to 2.5M XLM made to select charities on Lumenthropy.

Cowrie’s cross-border payment services for Nigeria powered by Stellar
Earlier this month, we premiered a new webinar series focused on sharing how companies are using Stellar for different use cases around the world. For our inaugural event, we heard from Cowrie Integrated Systems, a fintech company which has developed payment rails that enable low-cost and instant payments into and out of Nigerian bank accounts. You can read the recap and watch the full session on our blog.

‍The Magic of Payments on Stellar
Our friends at Lobstr wrote an excellent article on the ‘Magic of Payments on Stellar’.‍

Understanding Stellar Path Payments
One of Stellar’s most unique features is the Path Payment. Path Payments allow users to send an asset and have it converted into a different asset before arriving at its destination. Kolten breaks down what’s going on behind the scenes to make path payments on Stellar work.

The Stellar Podcast
If you haven't already, make sure you subscribe to the Stellar Podcast! Episode 11 is live and features a discussion on virtual events, the Stellar Community Fund and creating a Cash App on Stellar. On Thursday, Episode 12 drops and features an interview with Stellar Development Foundation CEO & Executive Director, Denelle Dixon!‍‍

‍Blockchain Will Unlock The World’s Economic Potential
Denelle joined Rachel Wolfson to discuss how SDF is working to unlock the world’s economic potential with blockchain.‍‍

‍New Intro to Stellar Guides
Stellar is an open-source network for currencies and payments. Transactions on Stellar are fast, cheap, and energy-efficient. Learn more in our "Intro to Stellar" guide series.

‍SafePal Supports Stellar
Stellar (and all assets on Stellar ) are now supported by the SafePal hardware wallet.

‍Stellar Community Fund 4: Discussion Begins!
The Stellar Community Fund has entered the discussion phase! Head to GalacticTalk, check out the projects being built, and provide your feedback to the current competition!

‍Productivity and shelter-in-place: SDF’s remote-first approach
As a technology company, we've got a lot of experience on working remotely and creating a company culture that fosters virtual community. Alex Cordeiro and Eric Saunders shared some of our best practices and tips on how to feel connected, collaborative, and productive while working from home.

IMPORTANT! Update your Bookmarks:
Account Viewer & Laboratory are Moving
We will be moving the Account Viewer from https://www.stellar.org/account-viewer/ to https://accountviewer.stellar.org/ and the Laboratory from https://www.stellar.org/laboratory/ to https://laboratory.stellar.org/ on 4/7/20. Please make sure you update your bookmarks. Reminder: These tools will always ONLY be hosted at stellar.org. Read the security guide for more information.

‍Stellar Developer News

Stellar Core v12.5.0
Stellar Core v12.5.0 is out. Among other things, it includes new SCP metrics, makes the catchup process more resilient, improves catchup logging and status so they give more visibility into what Stellar Core is doing, and cleans up the SCP code so it’s easier to understand.  No breaking changes. Download it and read the full release notes here.

‍Kelp
Check out the new #kelp channel on Keybase stellar.public team for community discussions.

Did you know that we publish weekly updates of what's happening in the Stellar Ecosystem? Issue #36 is out now. Subscribe to the mailing list to get it direct to your inbox!

Events

NEW EVENTS PAGE

Check out our new Events page on Stellar.org! This new hub will be kept up-to-date with all upcoming events - both physical and virtual. Past events will be listed and shared as well (including videos on demand, where applicable.)

Upcoming

Episode 13 Stellar Community Podcast Live - April 9

Past

Stellar at HackNYU - March 6

Stellar Austria Developers Meetup - March 7

Cowrie’s cross-border payment services for Nigeria - March 11

Webinar - Crea tu primer transacción con Stellar - March 31

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We are hiring! Apply today.

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Reminder: Beware of “Hard Fork” Scams, Impersonators, and “Giveaway Scams”. We will never ask for your private keys, and we will never ask you to send us cryptocurrency. Learn more about how to protect yourself and your accounts in our Security guide.

DISCLAIMER: Stellar.org does not endorse any third party organizations that are named in this and/or any other communication(s). Please conduct due diligence and interact with these organizations at your discretion.

Safety Policy:The Stellar team will NEVER ask you for your private keys. We will NEVER ask you to deposit funds to any wallet address.Read our Security Guide for more information.