Best Stellar (XLM) Gambling Sites

Stellar is a blockchain-based open-source network designed to handle a high amount of transactions on a daily basis. Its main focus is to facilitate payments that involve different currencies. The Stellar network has its own native token, the Lumen. The common abbreviation used is XLM. Lumens are essential for initiating any transaction in the Stellar network. Additionally, they are also one of the most popular cryptocurrencies themselves. Their lightning-fast transaction speed and extremely low fees naturally caught the attention of the iGaming industry. Nowadays there are several Stellar gambling sites, which offer to the players one of the best crypto payment solutions.

Top Rated Stellar Bookmakers

An increasing number of crypto-friendly bookies are starting to accept stellar payments. That comes as no surprise, as it is one of the most convenient cryptocurrencies for both bettors and operators. Nevertheless, there are quite a few scam bookmakers in the crypto sports betting scene so keep your guard up. Below you can find a list of the most reliable Stellar gambling sites. They spot fast withdrawals, low fees and some of the best welcome bonuses. Feel free to check their dedicated reviews for more details.

Why choose a Stellar Gambling Site

In general terms, XLM is indisputably one of the best cryptocurrencies for payments. Transactions settle within just a few seconds and the fees are so low that they might as well be considered free. XLM has established itself as a reliable cryptocurrency and it often frequents the top 20 chart in terms of market capitalization (the total value of the circulating coin supply). Additionally, the Stellar Development Foundation has ongoing partnerships with giant corporations such as IBM, Deloitte and Barclays. This immensely amplifies the legitimacy and value of the project.

XLM Gambling is an optimal way to gain access to the benefits of the best crypto bookmakers, such as anonymity, no geographical restrictions, and crypto bonuses. There are two kinds of Stellar gambling sites. Most of them convert your XLM deposit to a traditional currency (Dollar, Euro, GBP). However, some bookies allow you to keep your funds in the form of XLM, allowing you to double gamble. That is because, like all cryptocurrencies, the price of XLM is quite volatile and depends on general crypto market trends.

Benefits of Stellar Bookmakers

XLM is widely available in most popular crypto exchanges, and liquidity is not an issue. It will be quite easy to acquire the digital coin and put it to good use. Furthermore, the Stellar network, in which XLM operates, is highly reliable. It leaves no room for downtime, failed transactions, or any other technical complications. You will enjoy your XLM betting with ease of mind, and receive your winnings just seconds after the confirmation by the bookie. All thanks to the Lumen’s efficiency. Some of the key benefits can be grouped up as follows.

✔️ Transaction Speed

A transaction with XLM takes just a few seconds. The settlement time ranges from two to five seconds. It is one of the best cryptocurrencies around in this aspect, and it competes with other similar ones like XRP, Dash and TRON. This feature is especially useful for your live sports betting, and for cashing out your winnings.

✔️ Near to Zero Fees

Let’s talk numbers. An XLM transaction in the Stellar network costs precisely 0.00001 Lumens in order to get processed. At the time of writing, the value of 1 Lumen (XLM) is around $ 0.22. So the fee is $ 0.000002. As you understand, the cost is negligible. This fee was introduced only to provide a barrier in order to deter malevolent actions against the Stellar network and avoid overloading.

✔️ 100% Deposit Acceptance Rate

A Stellar bookmaker simply can not deny an XLM payment. Moreover, a funds transfer via the Stellar network can not fail for technical reasons. Your deposits will just go through. In addition, all transactions are transparent and available to everyone. The bookie can not dispute any payment that went through, ensuring your safety.

✔️ Anonymous Transactions

The fact that all transactions in the Stellar network are transparent does not mean that your personal details are publicly available to everybody. The information that is available just shows the alphanumeric addresses of the wallets involved and the amount of XLM transferred. If you bet in a bookie that does not require KYC documents you pretty much retain complete anonymity.

✔️ No Third Party

When you proceed to a funds transfer with XLM, you deal directly with the merchant, in our case the bookie. Imagine it a bit like hand-to-hand cash transactions. The Stellar network acts as a neutral intermediary. This means that you can say goodbye to frozen accounts or blocked funds due to AML laws or third-party audits.

✔️ Volatility (+)

When you keep a part of your bankroll in cryptocurrencies, you are susceptible to the coin’s volatile market value. That is not always a negative issue, as many players like to double gamble. Positive price swings can boost your winnings and negative ones can minimize your losses. It surely provides an extra thrill to your betting activity.

Downsides of Stellar Gambling Sites

As efficient as the Stellar network might be, it still holds a fair share of the negatives found in most cryptocurrencies. The use of XLM requires a bit of technical expertise in order to use it effectively and safely. The coin’s value, while it is not as volatile as other cryptocurrencies is still unstable. Also, the decentralization of the network is quite a debatable argument, which we will analyze below. Coupled with the current grey regulatory framework of cryptocurrencies worldwide, there are quite a few risks and downsides associated with XLM.

❌ Offshore Licencing

The fact is that all crypto-friendly bookies hold offshore licenses for regulatory reasons. That sadly makes them less reliable, as a player will have minimal protection against fraudulent practices. Be vigilant and try not to get in any dispute with them. We suggest favoring our reviewed Stellar bookmakers, as they are field-tested appropriately.

❌ Limited Number of Sportsbooks

It might appear strange due to the many benefits of XLM, but there are not so many sportsbooks that accept Stellar payments. More popular coins like Bitcoin and Ether still get the bigger slice of the pie. Your available selection will be a bit tighter compared to those coins.

❌ Not Completely Decentralized

The operation of the Stellar network is powered by a network of independent computers that continuously validate the work of each other. The system has no central authority and the algorithm behind it, the Stellar Consensus Protocol keeps everything in order. The project is open-sourced and everyone can run a validator (node). So, in order to maintain the decentralization there need to be many active independent validators.

The issue here is that Stellar does not have lucrative economic incentives to set up a node, so their number is quite limited. Moreover, there also exist nodes with extra functions (full validators) that need to be approved by the Stellar Foundation. All in all, while the system is theoretically decentralized, it is nowhere near networks like Bitcoin or Ethereum. If your primary concern is privacy, XLM is not the best choice for you.

❌ Volatility (-)

We did already mention the positives of crypto volatility, but there are also the negatives to take into consideration. Negative price swings can take away all the joy of a big win, so keep that in mind. If you want to avoid the volatility of the crypto world altogether, while maintaining most of the benefits you should look into stablecoin gambling.

Stellar Gambling - The Basics

Let’s take a deeper dive into the characteristics behind the Stellar network to help you get a better grasp on this interesting project. The basic idea behind the development of Stellar was to create a network in which all the world’s financial systems can cooperate. The project also focuses on helping people in developing regions that have difficulties getting basic banking services. The Stellar Foundation is a non-profit organization. They claim that their goal is to help people and not profits.

The Stellar Network

The man behind Stellar is Jed McCaleb. He is also the creator of XRP and Ripple, but has long since left the company due to business disagreements. After leaving Ripple in 2013, he co-founded the Stellar Development Foundation in 2014. XLM was initially a fork (code copy) of XRP, but Stellar’s code has now been completely rewritten. Stellar makes it possible to create, send and trade digital representations of all forms of currency, dollars, euros and even other cryptocurrencies. It uses an environmentally friendly blockchain-based system that was specifically designed for payments.

The computers that run the independent network and update the decentralized ledger are called nodes. When you make a transaction in the Stellar network, the nodes proceed with the relevant accounting actions. Each separate node makes sure every other node sees and agrees to the transaction. The network relies on partnerships with regulated financial institutions (anchors) in order to onboard and offboard value from traditional banking networks into Stellar.

In simple words, you can say that the Stellar network is powered by the cooperation of nodes, anchors and Lumens (XLM). Stellar’s unique algorithm, the Stellar Consensus Protocol keeps everything in perfect synchronization. On the official website, the Stellar Foundation states that transparency is a key aspect of the network. Stellar’s code is open-source and available to anyone’s audit or contribution. The foundation acts as a partner to regulators and institutions, while actively maintaining Stellar’s codebase and operations.

Stellar vs Ripple

While both projects had the same origin and they are similar in many aspects as of today too, they have different priorities. Stellar focuses mainly on individuals, facilitating their financial transactions and is a non-profit organization. Ripple is a normal fintech corporation, that provides solutions for global payments to banks and other big financial institutions. Their use case is pretty much the same, but they hold different targets. Nevertheless, their coins, XLM and XRP are closely correlated in terms of market value. They usually follow the same patterns despite having different prices. Fort the average crypto bettor, XRP gambling is almost the same as XLM gambling as they hold similar fees and transaction speed.

Stellar vs Bitcoin

In contrast to the Stellar and Ripple comparison, Stellar and Bitcoin are two completely different things. Their only similarity is that they are both two networks that are based on blockchain technology. Stellar uses its unique algorithm to validate transactions. It does not implement a Proof-of-Work method, as Bitcoin does. XLM tokens are not used as Bitcoins do for the miners’ reward when they create a new block of validated transactions.

100 billion Lumens were pre-mined and distributed according to Stellar’s Foundation program, which is another point against the project’s decentralization. Since then 50% of the initial Lumens were voluntarily destroyed by the foundation. They also ended their initial inflationary policy of 1% per year. Currently, there are circa 20 billion Lumens in circulation, while the remainder will be slowly poured in circulation by the foundation. As you can see, their model is completely different from Bitcoin, as nobody can interfere with BTC’s basics.

How to Bet with Stellar

The first step in order to commence your Stellar gambling is to set up a wallet that supports XLM transactions. There are several crypto wallets that support this cryptocurrency. There are no optimal solutions, so we recommend checking our relevant article for more information. The second step is to start an account at a crypto exchange. We suggest Binance, Kraken and Coinbase. Additionally, you can take a peek at our dedicated review of the best crypto exchanges for gambling. In any case, remember to always make your transactions with Stellar bookmakers via your wallet. Never deposit or withdraw directly from/to your exchange account. There have been reports of exchanges banning accounts that dealt directly with crypto-friendly bookies.

How to Deposit to an XLM Sportsbook

• Buy XLM from the exchange: You can fund your exchange account with a debit card, bank transfer or some e-wallet service. Many exchanges offer direct trades of XLM with Dollars or Euros. Otherwise, you will have to buy another cryptocurrency first and then buy XLM. Check the trading pairs that the exchange offers.
  
  
• Transfer XLM to your wallet: Select the withdrawal or transfer option in the exchange and type in the address of your XLM wallet. The alphanumeric addresses of the wallet addresses are quite complicated so it would be better to copy and paste it. Double-check it in any case as mistakes are non-reversible in most cases. Note that exchanges may charge you an extra fee on top of the standard Stellar fee. Nevertheless, it will be quite low for XLM withdrawals.
  
  
• Complete the XLM payment to the bookmaker: Open an account at the Stellar bookie of your choice. Choose the XLM deposit method in the cashier tab. A complex combination of characters and numbers will appear. That is the bookie’s XLM address. Open the transfer option in your wallet’s application. Copy and paste the address. Again double-check the addresses. Confirm the payment.

How to Withdraw from an XLM Sportsbook

• Withdraw the winnings to your XLM wallet: After you manage to get a big win, you would surely want to enjoy your winnings. Go to the cashier tab and select Stellar as the withdrawal option. Type your wallet’s address to the tab that will show up. Remember, you need to transfer the funds to your wallet first. Do not, under any circumstance, withdraw directly to your exchange account.
  
  
• Cash-out your winnings: This is the final step. Transfer the funds from your wallet to an exchange. Find your wallet’s transfer option and type in your exchange’s account address. There you will be able to trade your XLM winnings with another cryptocurrency or a traditional currency. The important thing to note here is that some exchanges offer crypto debit cards. The best bitcoin cards are a useful tool to avoid regulated financial services like banks. This option is very useful for players that enjoy betting under the radar.

Is Stellar Gambling Safe & Legal

The Stellar network and its native token, XLM are well established in the crypto space. Many experienced traders use Lumens as an intermediary to transfer value from one exchange to another. That is because it usually costs less to trade another cryptocurrency with XLM and then back to the original cryptocurrency, rather than directly dealing with the network fees of other cryptos. There are no reports of technical issues or shady actions by the Stellar Foundation, so you can trust their network, despite any centralization concerns.

Cryptocurrency transactions are legal in most countries. If you can legally gamble online with traditional currencies you can do it with cryptocurrencies too. There are quite a few respectable bookmakers that accept Stellar payments. Moreover, keep in mind that XLM winnings are not taxed automatically, as fiscal authorities can not check them directly. Having said that, we do not recommend committing tax fraud. XLM transactions can still be traced back to you if you manage to bring attention on yourself.

There is also the possibility of KYC/AML checks by the exchange or the Stellar gambling site. Finally, there are discussions about looming regulations on cryptocurrencies worldwide. Keep yourself informed if you have a part of your bankroll invested in crypto. The good thing about Stellar is that it is regulatory-friendly crypto, as it already cooperates closely with established financial institutions. That can not be said for the majority of cryptocurrencies that exist.

Should I Bet with Stellar

When it comes to crypto gambling, there are only a few other coins that can compete with Stellar gambling. The XLM token holds all the attributes that a bettor needs. It is widely available in almost all exchanges, its network is robust, the payments settle in mere seconds and the fees are non-existent. I can only find two scenarios in which XLM is not ideal. The first is if you do not find a bookie of your liking that accepts Stellar payments. An issue that will soon be irrelevant, as it seems that more and more bookmakers are incorporating XLM in their payment methods.

The second is for bettors that have their privacy as a primary concern and wish to stay completely off the grid. Privacy coins like Monero, Zcash and decentralized exchanges are your friends in this. For everybody else, I fully recommend Stellar gambling sites. XLM is currently superior for basic transaction purposes compared to other big names like Bitcoin, Ether and Dogecoin. Of course, the crypto scene is very fluid and everything might be different in the near future. Always do your research and keep yourself updated.