Latest news with #StellarDevelopmentFoundation
Yahoo
18 hours ago
- Business
- Yahoo
PayPal Blockchain Lead José Fernández da Ponte Joins Stellar
José Fernández da Ponte, formerly the head of blockchain at PayPal, has left the fintech giant, where he oversaw the roll-out of digital currencies and stablecoins, to become president and chief growth officer of the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF). The foundation also said it appointed Jason Karsh, a former Block and executive, as chief marketing officer. The Stellar blockchain operates a cash on and off-ramp network through MoneyGram as well as tokenizing real world assets with partners including Franklin Templeton. But going back over a decade, Stellar has kept in mind humanitarian missions such as improving financial inclusion in developing counties — a deciding factor in his decision to move, Fernández da Ponte said. 'I believe that blockchains are an artifact for a community of people working together in a decentralized way to fix problems,' he said in an interview. 'And if the problem that you're trying to work on is financial inclusion, which is the problem I am interested in, then there's no better place than Stellar to work on that.' Karsh, who has also held positions at Coinbase and security firm Blockaid, will bring together brand, product and ecosystem strategy to strengthen Stellar's presence with developers, institutions and the public. 'Stellar isn't just another blockchain project; it's financial infrastructure that is used each day by institutions and individuals around the world,' Karsh said in a statement. 'Our job is to accelerate adoption and usage for every organization, builder and blockchain enthusiast who cares about enterprise-grade security, transaction speed, and the ease of programmability that builders have come to expect.' Fernández da Ponte, who worked for Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), and McKinsey before PayPal, led the strategic launch of the payment firm's PYUSD stablecoin. Asked if he didn't have the stomach to stay in the trenches for the ensuing stablecoin wars, Fernández da Ponte said the move to Stellar was more about choosing to work at the infrastructure layer, ensuring applications like stablecoins can run at scale. 'The stablecoin wars are going to be interesting,' Fernández da Ponte said. 'But we need to have the technology primitives for those stablecoins to be useful, and that's why working at the blockchain level is so important.' Stellar's lumen (XLM) token has risen 38% this year, outpacing the CoinDesk 20 Index, to which it belongs, which has added 27%.Error while retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data Error while retrieving data
Yahoo
5 days ago
- Business
- Yahoo
Stellar Performance From XLM as It Posts Top 24H Percentage Gain Among Top 20 Cryptos
On June 11, PayPal announced plans to launch its U.S. dollar-backed stablecoin, PayPal USD (PYUSD), on the Stellar blockchain network, pending regulatory approval from the New York State Department of Financial Services. If approved, the move would mark the expansion of PYUSD beyond its current availability on Ethereum and Solana. PayPal described Stellar as a blockchain tailored for low-cost, high-speed payments with strong real-world utility. By adding support for Stellar, the company aims to improve the accessibility and usability of PYUSD for payments, cross-border transfers, and financial services. The integration is expected to enhance daily payment options and provide users with expanded access to financing tools such as working capital and small business loans—areas where Stellar is already active. The press release emphasized Stellar's existing global infrastructure, including a broad network of on- and off-ramps, local payment systems, and digital wallets, which could help bring PYUSD to users in over 170 countries. PayPal also highlighted potential benefits for liquidity and settlement through PayFi, an emerging digital financing mechanism that would allow businesses to access real-time capital disbursed in PYUSD on Stellar. May Zabaneh, PayPal's vice president for digital currencies, said the partnership would help advance the use of blockchain in cross-border payments. Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation, said the collaboration could help bring practical stablecoin use to emerging markets and small businesses globally. PYUSD is issued by Paxos Trust Company and is fully backed by cash and cash-equivalent reserves, with a fixed redemption value of $1.00 per token. Earlier this in a short video released by Stellar Foundation, Ian Burrill, a Senior Director at PayPal who manages the crypto engineering team, explained why his firm was excited about the launch of PYUSD on Stellar. Burrill said that Stellar is a fast, low-cost network and it extends PYUSD's reach to 180 plus countries. He went on to say that enabling merchants to use PYUSD on Stellar lets them send money in real-time, which makes for more efficient capital management. Technical Analysis Stellar's XLM token recorded significant price appreciation during a 24-hour trading period from July 11 at 17:00 UTC to July 12 at 16:00 UTC, with shares moving within a $0.071 range representing approximately 20.59% volatility between a session low of $0.345 and high of $0.416, according to CoinDesk Research's technical analysis model. The most notable trading activity occurred during early morning hours on July 12 at 01:00, UTC when XLM shares advanced from $0.354 to $0.393 on substantial volume of 551.38 million units, significantly exceeding the 24-hour average of 234.19 million and establishing technical support near the $0.354 price level. The upward momentum persisted through July 12 at 11:00 UTC, reaching a session high of $0.416, before encountering resistance in the $0.400-$0.403 range where institutional profit-taking appeared to limit further advances. In the final hour of trading from July 12 at 15:47 UTC to 16:46 UTC, XLM demonstrated renewed strength with a 3.89% advance from $0.37 to $0.39, extending the session's positive momentum. The most significant price movement occurred between 16:03-16:08 UTC when shares climbed from $0.374 to $0.385 on elevated volume of 13.16 million and 17.14 million respectively, well above the hourly average of 3.2 million units. This activity established technical support around $0.385-$0.387 where shares consolidated through the session's final 30 minutes, with market participants eyeing potential continuation toward the $0.39-$0.40 resistance levels identified in broader technical analysis. Parts of this article were generated with the assistance from AI tools and reviewed by our editorial team to ensure accuracy and adherence to our standards. For more information, see CoinDesk's full AI Policy.
