Why Stellar Is Giving Away $124M in Cryptocurrency

Stellar is giving away 2 billion of its crypto asset, XLM, during the next 20 months as part of its largest airdrop to date. AFP PHOTO/BRENDAN SMIALOWSKI.While Ripple, one of the most sizable blockchain and cryptocurrency companies, has been selling off its XRP asset holdings, valued in the hundreds of millions of dollars, its cofounder is blazing a different trail over at his present operation. After leaving Ripple several years ago, Jed McCaleb went on to cofound Stellar in 2014, which has a similar crypto asset named XLM. As chatter circulates regarding the status of many crypto assets, such as Stellar’s XLM and Ripple’s XRP, as potentially unregulated securities, Stellar has decided to give away roughly $124 million in XLM, seemingly contrasting Ripple’s selling.Today, Stellar announced a massive giveaway in cooperation with Keybase, a group messaging, community and file transfer hub, Stellar Development Foundation CEO Denelle Dixon said to me in an interview. “In partnership with Keybase,” today, Stellar unveiled its “largest airdrop” to date, Dixon said. “Keybase, as a result of that, will be giving away up to 2 billion XLM over the next 20 months,” she added. “It’s pretty exciting, because it’s to all of their Keybase users.