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https://www.coindesk.com/ibms-stellar-move-tech-giant-use-lumen-cryptocurrency-payments-rail/?utm_content=buffer43e34&utm_medium=social&utm_source=twitter.com&utm_campaign=buffer

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Big Blue is making what could be considered its first public foray into cryptocurrency.

In the kind of unveiling that can only come before one of the biggest events in global finance, IBM is revealing today at Sibos 2017 the results of a partnership with blockchain startup Stellar in which it successfully settled real transactions using the company's custom cryptocurrency, lumens.

While currently limited to cross-border payments involving British pounds and Fijian dollars, the early-stage platform is nonetheless designed to scale to handle seven fiat currencies in the South Pacific – including the Australian dollar, the New Zealand dollar and the Tonga pa'anga.

Perhaps the platform's most distinguishing characteristic, however, is that the project showcases how private and public blockchain technologies are increasingly being used in tandem. While IBM's blockchain solutions are designed to complete much of the workflow around transaction clearing, the actual settlement will be conducted using Stellar's blockchain.

In this case, Stellar's lumen serves to digitally connect fiat currencies, allowing for nearly instant exchange without the consumer or buyer ever touching the cryptocurrency itself.

Stellar founder Jed McCaleb told CoinDesk:

"When trading between multiple currencies, it helps to have a bridge currency to reduce the ledgers needed to maintain. Lumen provides that single ledger that can bridge currencies."

https://coinmarketcap.com/currencies/stellar/#markets

This coin is confusing - what's the point in Stellar offering an ICO instead of an IPO? Why use the XLM blockchain and sharing it with others?
By the way is it true that Stellar Lumens was actually created by the founder of Ripple?