Stellar is a blockchain-based open-source network designed to handle a large number of transactions daily. Its main focus is facilitating payments involving different currencies. The Stellar network has its native token, the Lumen (XLM).
XLM's lightning-fast transaction speed and extremely low fees naturally caught the attention of the iGaming industry. Nowadays, several Stellar gambling sites offer players one of the best crypto payment solutions.
Top Rated XLM Gambling Sites
An increasing number of crypto-friendly bookies are starting to accept stellar payments. That is no surprise, as it is one of the most convenient cryptocurrencies for bettors and operators.
Nevertheless, many scam bookmakers are in the crypto sports betting scene, so keep your guard up. Below is a list of the most reliable XLM 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 payment cryptocurrencies. 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 sits comfortably within the top 20 charts regarding 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, immensely amplifying the project's legitimacy and value. XLM Gambling is an optimal way to access several benefits, such as anonymity, no geographical restrictions, and crypto bonuses.
There are two kinds of Stellar gambling sites. Most convert your XLM deposit to a traditional currency (Dollar, Euro, GBP). However, some bookmakers allow you to keep your funds as XLM, enabling 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 and put the digital coin to good use. Furthermore, the Stellar network, in which XLM operates, is highly reliable.
It leaves no room for downtime, failed transactions, or other technical complications. You will easily enjoy your XLM betting and receive your winnings just seconds after the bookie confirms them. 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, and the settlement time ranges from two to five seconds. In this aspect, it is one of the best cryptocurrencies around, competing with similar ones like XRP, Dash, and Tron. This feature is especially useful for 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 to process. At the time of writing, the value of 1 Lumen (XLM) is around $ 0.51. So the fee is $ 0.000005. As you understand, the cost is negligible. This fee was introduced only to provide a barrier to deter malevolent actions against the Stellar network and avoid overloading.
✔️ 100% Deposit Acceptance Rate
A Stellar bookmaker can not deny an XLM payment. Moreover, a funds transfer via the Stellar network can not fail for technical reasons. Your deposits will 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 available information shows the alphanumeric addresses of the wallets involved and the amount of XLM transferred. If you bet on a bookie that does not require KYC documents, you retain complete anonymity.
✔️ No Third Party
When you proceed to a funds transfer with XLM, you deal directly with the merchant, the bookie. Imagine it a bit like hand-to-hand cash transactions. The Stellar network acts as a neutral intermediary. You can say goodbye to frozen accounts or blocked funds due to AML laws or third-party audits.
✔️ Volatility (+)
Keeping a part of your bankroll in cryptocurrencies makes you 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 to use it effectively and safely. The coin’s value, while not as volatile as other cryptocurrencies, is still unstable.
Also, the network's decentralisation 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
All crypto-friendly bookies hold offshore licenses for regulatory reasons. Unfortunately, this makes them less reliable, as players have minimal protection against fraudulent practices. Be vigilant and try not to dispute them. We suggest favouring 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 not many sportsbooks accept Stellar payments. More popular coins like Bitcoin and Ether still get the bigger slice of the pie, and your available selection will be a bit tighter than those coins.
❌ Not Completely Decentralized
The operation of the Stellar network is powered by a network of independent computers that continuously validate each other's work. 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 decentralization, there need to be many active independent validators. The issue is that Stellar does not have lucrative economic incentives to set up a node, so their number is limited.
Moreover, nodes with extra functions (full validators) also exist that need to be approved by the Stellar Foundation. While the system is theoretically decentralized, it is nowhere near networks like Bitcoin or Ethereum. If your primary concern is privacy, XLM is not your best choice.
❌ Volatility (-)
We have already mentioned the positives of crypto volatility, but there are also the negatives to consider. 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.
XLM Sports Betting - The Basics
Let’s take a deeper dive into the characteristics behind the Stellar network to help you better grasp 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 who have difficulties getting basic banking services. The Stellar Foundation is a non-profit organization. They claim that their goal is to help people.
The Stellar Network
The man behind Stellar is Jed McCaleb. He is also the creator of XRP 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 allows users to create, send and trade digital representations of all forms of currency, including 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. The nodes proceed with the relevant accounting actions when you transact in the Stellar network.
Each node makes sure every other node sees and agrees to the transaction. The network relies on partnerships with regulated financial institutions (anchors) to onboard and offboard value from traditional banking networks into Stellar.
In simple words, 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 have the same origin and are similar in many aspects, 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 have 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. XRP bookmakers are almost the same as XLM for the average crypto bettor since they hold similar fees and transaction speeds.
Stellar vs Bitcoin
In contrast to the Stellar and Ripple comparison, Stellar and Bitcoin are completely different. Their only similarity is that they are both networks based on blockchain technology.
Stellar validates transactions using its unique algorithm. It does not implement a Proof-of-Work method, and miners do not receive XLM tokens as a 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 argument against the project’s decentralization. Since then, the foundation has voluntarily destroyed 50% of the initial Lumens.
They also ended their initial inflationary policy of 1% per year. Currently, around 20 billion Lumens are in circulation, while the remainder will be slowly poured into circulation by the foundation. As you can see, their model is completely different from Bitcoin's, as nobody can interfere with BTC’s basics.
How to Bet with Stellar
The first step to begin your Stellar gambling is to set up a wallet that supports XLM transactions. Several crypto wallets support and 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, or Coinbase. Additionally, you can peek at our dedicated review of the best crypto exchanges for gambling. In any case, remember always to 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 e-wallet service. Many exchanges offer direct trades of XLM with Dollars or Euros. Otherwise, you must buy another cryptocurrency first and then get 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 them. Double-check it in any case, as mistakes are non-reversible. Note that exchanges may charge you an extra fee on top of the standard Stellar fee. Nevertheless, the charges will be low on all 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 get a big win, you will surely want to enjoy it. Go to the cashier tab and select Stellar as the withdrawal option. Type your wallet’s address in 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 can 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 useful for avoiding regulated financial services like banks. This option is very useful for players who 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 go 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 crypto.
There are quite a few respectable bookmakers that accept Stellar payments. Remember that XLM winnings are not taxed automatically, as fiscal authorities can not check them directly. However, we do not recommend committing tax fraud. If you bring attention to yourself, XLM transactions can still be traced back to you.
The exchange or the Stellar gambling site may also perform KYC/AML checks. 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 a regulatory-friendly crypto, as it already cooperates closely with established financial institutions. That can not be said for the majority of cryptocurrencies.
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. This is 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 who prioritize privacy and wish to stay completely off the grid. Privacy coins like Monero, Zcash, and decentralized exchanges are your friends in this case. 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. To help you, the Bookmakers.bet crypto gambling experts have written full guides on every popular method. Here's a sample:
So, always do your research and keep yourself updated.
XLM is the ticker and abbreviation for Stellar Lumens, the native token of the Stellar network. XLM tokens are necessary in order to initiate a transaction in the network.
As of today, there are many fully legitimate gambling sites that offer XLM as a payment method. XLM is not riskier than other cryptocurrencies. However, use caution as scams are always around to be found in crypto gambling sites. We recommend checking our reviewed brands, as you can find a safe option and lucrative rewards. For instance, take a look in our Coins.game Promo Code review.
The current circulating supply at the time of writing is 30 Billion XLMs. The max supply that will ever be is 50,001,806,812 XLM, unless the Stellar foundation decides to burn some of them, as it already happened once in the past.
An interesting and complex argument for sure. There are many factors to consider for this comparison and it is up for debate. For gambling transactions purposes, they both serve their purpose quite efficiently and we recommend both as they have similar characteristics in speed and fees.