How XLM fits with IBM.

XLM, Stellar Lumens and IBM:
According to the Stellar website, there have been 8,143,934,276 Lumens (XLM) distributed at the time of writing this article. You say, “great, what the does that mean for me?”

The principal behind the Stellar network, and the XLM token in particular, is to move money across borders for a fraction of a penny. It costs institutions money to move money. Whether it is USD to GBP, or CDN to YEN, there is a cost to facilitate the exchange of one currency to another.
This is where tokens such as XLM step in. They act as a “bridge currency” to the underlying fiat currencies. Through the Stellar network, the transfer of USD to GBP goes through XLM. USD is first converted to XLM, then converted to GBP in a matter of seconds and at a mere fraction of the current cost to traditional exchange rates.
The Stellar network is decentralized, meaning that it is not controlled by a single entity. The settlement time using XLM is 2 – 5 seconds. Money has not transferred that quickly, ever. There are similar coins in the Stellar Lumens space, specifically, XRP. Both are worth looking at due to their current low cost of ownership and the use case that each provide. XLM is focused on a direct peer-to-peer system that cuts banks and XRP out of the equation. It could be argued that each will have a place in the money transfer sphere as the banking system has a long history of being involved in the economies of the world.
Partnerships that Steller has developed:
IBM, Stripe, Wipro, Deloitte, and Mifos to name a few. The full list can be found on Stellar.org.
Yes, Stellar is a .org as they are a non-profit organization.
You can purchase XLM on a variety of exchanges.

Best,

Rand

DISCLAIMER: As the domain name of this site suggests, the content of my blog posts are opinion and not investment advice of any kind. Do your own research before making any decisions to invest (or not to invest). I am not a financial advisor. I am simply sharing information I gather from across the web, news, and media outlets and drawing my own possible conclusions. I hold XRP and XLM.