They say in every desert there is an oasis of water and this cannot be further from the truth when it comes to the ongoing volatility currently prevailing in the crypto space. In the past couple of weeks, all digital assets experienced a nosedive that left most cryptocurrencies recording double-digit losses. However, one of the few virtual currencies that defied the red shockwave is Stellar Lumens (XLM). While it also lost value, its red numbers remained in single digits while others recorded a double-digit slash in their values.
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Swimming against the tide
Somehow, Stellar (XLM) has managed to maneuver its way through the bear market. At some point, it displaced Bitcoin Cash (BCH) to clinch the fourth space in terms of market size. While the success was short-lived, it indeed signaled the potential of the digital asset that was designed to move money across borders quickly, reliably, and for reduced fees.
In the thick of things, the hard fork conducted by Bitcoin Cash about two weeks ago, created a hashing war and a wave of uncertainty that saw its value slashed from $630 before the fork down to $201.71 as of this writing. Currently, Bitcoin Cash (BCH), EOS, and Stellar (XLM) are in the same zone in terms of market capitalization.
Based on the performance of the three, it’s evident that XLM has been has been dropping at a much smaller rate, compared to the other two. The situation is reminiscent of Ripple (XRP) versus Ethereum (ETH) in which XRP overtook ETH and has since secured the second slot after Bitcoin in terms of market size.
A boost for XLM
In addition to the seemingly bullish trend in a plummeting market, Stellar (XLM) seems to be having a lot more goodies lined up for it. BitOasis, a crypto exchange platform targeting Middle East and some important North African markets, recently announced that they would be listing Stellar Lumens (XLM) on their platform.
What’s more, the listing will be accompanied with free transactions, which means that users can trade XLM using fiat currency with no transaction fee up to November 27, 2018.
According to the initial announcement posted on their Twitter page, they stated:
“We are very pleased to announce that Stellar (XLM) is now available on our digital asset trading exchange platform with 0% trading fees until November 27th 2018.” The Middle East-based crypto exchange platform also confirmed that their users would be able to “buy and sell XLM paired against the local fiat currency (the United Arab Emirates Dirham.”
Selected countries
The free transactions, however, will be available to users in certain countries. The selected beneficiary countries include:
- Oman
- Bahrain
- Kuwait
- Saudi Arabia and
- UAE
“What makes this move particular is, precisely, that pairing with the local currency instead of Bitcoin, which is the usual way to go in most crypto exchanges in the world,” the announcement further clarified.
BitOasis currently trades seven cryptocurrencies, which are Ethereum (ETH), Bitcoin (BTC), Ethereum Classic (ETC), Ripple (XRP), Bitcoin Cash (BCH), ZCash (ZEC), and Litecoin (LTC). Once listed, XLM will be the eighth cryptocurrency traded on the platform.
The listing comes only a few weeks after Coinbase, the most popular crypto exchange platform, made similar announcement. They indicated their plan to consider listing Stellar Lumens (XLM) on their platform.
Disclaimer: This article does not constitute direct trading or investment guide. While carefully researched, it serves informational, educational, and entertainment purposes only. Consult an expert before you invest in cryptocurrency.
