Stellar Lumens was in recovery mode this weekend, with prices rebounding double-digits ahead of a high-profile discussion between blockchain founder Jed McCaleb and Yoni Assia, CEO of social trading giant eToro.

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XLM/USD Price Levels

Stellar’s XLM token climbed to a session high of $0.3622 on Sunday. Prices would later consolidate at $0.3519 for a gain of 9.9%. At current values, Stellar is capitalized at $6.5 billion for eighth spot on the active cryptocurrency list.

The cryptocurrency bottomed at $0.3211 on Friday, its lowest in nearly one month. Just two weeks earlier, Stellar peaked above $0.47.

Despite the latest rally attempt, Stellar is trading at less than half of its historic high from early January, when the market was turning over roughly $1.5 billion in daily volumes. On Sunday, 24-hour volumes amounted to $79.5 million, according to CoinMarketCap.

The crypto market as a whole has experienced a dramatic fall in trading volume over the past six weeks. The broad downtrend has allowed bitcoin to reassert itself as the dominant market player, now controlling 41% of the market.

Binance continues to process the largest share of XLM trades, with bitcoin and Ethereum the main quote currencies. About 16% of daily trades were placed on Upbit using the South Korean won.

The Future of Blockchain

Stellar founder and CEO Jed McCaleb is in Tel Aviv this week for a fin-tech conference focused on blockchain and cryptocurrency. On Monday, McCaleb will deliver a short presentation on the Stellar platform followed by a Q&A discussion alongside Yoni Assia.

While traditionally catering to the forex market, eToro has seen explosive growth in its crypto-trading platform. In one year, cryptocurrency trading volumes on the platform surged 4,500%, with the number of crypto traders growing four times over that span.

There has been some speculation that McCaleb could use the conference as an opportunity to make an announcement concerning the Stellar platform. However, such details have not been confirmed.

Stellar will likely be in the news all week as market participants react to McCaleb’s commentary. Hype surrounding McCaleb could drive XLM prices higher in the short term.

When assessed in terms of potential, Stellar’s current value is considered a bargain. The project has already announced high-profile partnerships with the likes of IBM and has made a strong use case for businesses seeking real-world applications for cryptocurrency. Stellar is also one of the only platforms that could challenge Ethereum’s dominance in the ICO market.

Earlier this year, Mobius Network raised $39 million in an ICO that was hosted on the Stellar platform. Back in November, Smartlands became the first crowdsale to be hosted on the platform.

Disclaimer: The author owns bitcoin, Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies. He holds investment positions in the coins, but does not engage in short-term or day-trading.

Source: hacked.com