https://cointelegraph.com/images/725_Ly9jb2ludGVsZWdyYXBoLmNvbS9zdG9yYWdlL3VwbG9hZHMvdmlldy83YjQwYTU0MzAyMjgxMzE3NjJiZWEwY2YzZjEyM2QwZS5wbmc=.jpgDecentralized payment network Stellar has announced the final round of its Bitcoin-Lumen Program, where Bitcoin holders can claim its lumen token for free.
The program, which began in April 2016, features 19 percent of the total lumen supply, which developers reserved at launch exclusively for Bitcoin users.
Of the 19 bln lumens on offer, only 3 bln formed the first round of the giveaway, with release details of the remaining 16 bln to be officially announced on March 28.
The value of the remaining tokens is approximately $16 mln.
“Bitcoin acted as a profound inspiration for Stellar, which is why we created this program at our launch. The Bitcoin network was the first to show that it’s possible for a group of untrusted parties to agree on a common database, and the Bitcoin community still influences our understanding of this technology’s impact,” Communications Officer Kim Vu said in a circular.
Lumens were originally known as stellar tokens, the name changed to avoid confusion with both the network and the Stellar.org nonprofit organization.
Stellar aims to offer near-instantaneous international payments at a significantly lower cost than mainstream alternatives. Its latest technology links partner organizations in a similar idea to how SWIFT operates with fiat institutions.
“Given the diverse nature of global financial services today, this interoperability can substantially lower global remittance costs by making transactions that cross national boundaries, currencies and financial institutions much more efficient,” CEO Jed McCaleb told Cointelegraph at the launch in December.
https://cointelegraph.com/news/bitcoin-holders-can-claim-free-16-bln-stellar-lumen-tokens
