Wirex to Launch 26 Fiat-Backed Stablecoins on the Stellar Network

For the first time, an FCA-regulated company bridges the gap between fiat and cryptocurrencies for millions of users

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Apr 25, 2019, 10:00 ET

LONDON, April 25, 2019 /PRNewswire/ -- Wirex, one of the first UK FCA regulated providers of digital money solutions, has embarked on a ground-breaking new collaboration with Stellar to release 26 fiat-backed stablecoins for its 2 million+ users and 5000+ business clients.

Stablecoins represent the future of tokenized payments. They mitigate the inherent volatility in the crypto market because their value is pegged to a stable asset. This means that stablecoins can be stored, transferred and exchanged without any significant change in value. Because Wirex stablecoins are fiat-pegged cryptocurrencies, they can be used to perform low-cost, near-instantaneous international remittance.

Integrating Stellar-based stablecoins onto the Wirex platform represents the point at which stablecoins transition from novel to practical – as well as several industry firsts:

The first stablecoins that can be spent seamlessly in day-to-day life using the multi-currency Wirex Visa card
The first stablecoins pegged to a wide variety of major fiat currencies, including USD, EUR, GBP, HKD and SGD with exchange at interbank rates
The first stablecoins that can be instantly converted to other stable digital currencies at OTC rates
The first stablecoins released by an FCA-regulated fiat and crypto payments company

Wirex stablecoins are built directly on Stellar, which was designed expressly for tokenizing assets and making payments. In addition to greater security and scalability, Stellar offers real-time transactions at a fraction of the cost of other blockchain networks. Fraudulent, suspicious or erroneous transactions can easily be frozen and retracted, ensuring that no one is left out-of-pocket – and giving consumers more confidence in their payments.

Stellar-based Wirex stablecoins have myriad use-cases for retail and business clients, including:

International remittance
A cheaper and quicker alternative to Visa and Mastercard infrastructure
Instant token issue and redemption
Cryptocurrency hedging
Instant merchant settlements

The first stage of collaboration between Wirex and Stellar sees the launch of Stellar's native asset, Lumens (XLM) to the Wirex platform - where it joins 19 other digital and traditional currencies that can be seamlessly converted and spent using the Wirex Visa card.

"Joining forces with Stellar makes perfect sense for us," said Pavel Mateev, Wirex co-founder. "Both companies share a greater goal – encouraging the mass adoption of digital currencies and transforming the way people make payments. We are thrilled to add XLM to the Wirex platform and even more excited to release our industry-first Wirex stablecoins."

"Stablecoins have the potential to transform the payments space," said Jed McCaleb, Stellar cofounder. "We're excited to be working with Wirex to launch its first stablecoins to help make money more fluid and open to everyone."

About Wirex

Wirex Limited is a UK-based, FCA-regulated borderless payment platform. It offers consumers and businesses crypto and traditional currencies accounts for domestic and international payments. Wirex launched the world's first Visa card that allows users to convert and spend cryptocurrencies wherever Visa is accepted. The company now supports 9 cryptocurrencies and 10 traditional currencies, boasts over 2 million users and has processed more than US$ 2bn of transactions.

About The Stellar Development Foundation

The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) is a non-profit organization founded in 2014 to support the development and growth of the open-source Stellar network. SDF and Stellar seek to unlock the world's economic potential by making money more fluid, markets more open, and people more empowered. The Foundation maintains Stellar's codebase, manages grant programs, and supports the technical and business communities around Stellar. SDF is also a speaking partner to regulators, developers, and the community at large.

About Stellar

Stellar is a fast, scalable, and uniquely sustainable platform for decentralized financial products and services. It is both a cross-currency transaction system, designed specifically for international settlement, and a decentralized global marketplace. Dozens of financial institutions and tens of thousands of individuals worldwide issue assets and settle payments on Stellar.

SOURCE Wirex