What is Stellar?
Stellar is an open-source, decentralized blockchain designed for fast, low-cost financial transactions. Built around the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), a unique proof-of-agreement (PoA) mechanism, Stellar focuses on facilitating cross-border payments, asset issuance, and decentralized finance (DeFi) applications. Stellar’s network prioritizes energy efficiency and speed, with transactions confirmed within 5 seconds and the network capable of processing up to 1,000 operations per ledger. Stellar’s native token, the lumen (XLM), plays a key role in maintaining the network’s health by ensuring account activity and discouraging spam through a small transaction fee and minimum balance requirement.Key Concepts of Stellar
Stellar’s blockchain architecture and mechanisms are designed for high-speed financial transactions and asset transfers, underpinned by a few critical components that set it apart from other blockchain platforms.Ledger Structure
Stellar’s blockchain operates using ledgers, similar to blocks on other blockchains. A ledger records the state of accounts, balances, smart contracts, and other relevant data. Each ledger contains a ledger header, summarizing essential metadata such as the sequence number, transaction fees, and validator signatures.Proof-of-Agreement Consensus
Stellar uses the Stellar Consensus Protocol (SCP), a proof-of-agreement consensus that enables rapid transaction processing while ensuring decentralization. Unlike proof-of-work (PoW) or proof-of-stake (PoS) models, SCP relies on trusted nodes reaching a consensus through agreement, making Stellar energy-efficient and fast.Accounts and Trustlines
Stellar accounts hold lumen (XLM) and other token balances via trustlines. A trustline is an established link between a user account and a token issuer, allowing the user to hold, send, or receive tokens other than lumens. While accounts store native lumens, trustlines track the balances of other tokens, including popular assets like USDC and USDT.Token Issuance
One of Stellar’s most powerful features is its support for asset issuance. Developers can create tokenized assets that represent fiat currencies, commodities, or other real-world value. These assets can be traded on Stellar’s native decentralized exchange (DEX), making Stellar an ideal platform for borderless payments and asset transfers.Transaction Lifecycle & Fees
Each Stellar transaction is an atomic operation that can involve multiple operations, such as payments, creating accounts, or managing offers on the DEX. Fees are minimal, with the current minimum per-transaction fee being 0.00001 XLM. Stellar’s architecture ensures efficient cross-border transactions with a finality time of around 5 seconds.Smart Contracts
Stellar supports smart contracts through a combination of operations and contract data stored on the ledger. Smart contracts can define various on-chain actions, such as token management or enforcing custom rules for transactions. Stellar’s smart contract execution is energy-efficient, focusing on lightweight operations for scalability.Stellar documentation
Explore comprehensive documentation of Stellar, detailing its architecture, protocol, and resources for developers.
Stellar data model diagram
See the relationship between history and state tables in Stellar’s data model.
Stellar Data on Dune
Stellar blockchain data is categorized into traditional time series tables (e.g., history_ tables for actions affecting the state of the ledger) and ledger state tables (e.g., accounts, representing the current state). This division allows users to explore historical actions and current ledger state for deeper analysis. Here are the Stellar tables available on Dune:Accounts
Tracks the native token (Lumens) balances held by accounts.
Contract Data
Stores state data for smart contracts, including supported tokens and storage costs.
Trust Lines
Tracks balances of accounts for non-native tokens (such as USDC or USDT).
Liquidity Pools
Stores data on Stellar’s liquidity pools, such as the type, fee, assets involved etc.
TTL (Time to Live)
Records time limits for smart contract data, enforcing storage expiry rules.
History Contract Events
Captures all smart contract events and traces, with details on contract execution.
History Ledgers
Tracks ledgers info (equivalent of blocks on other blockchain), including metadata such as sequence numbers, transactions included, and fees.
History Operations
Tracks operational details of transaction in ledgers/blocks.
History Trades
Records trades performed on Stellar’s decentralized exchange.
History Transactions
Contains transaction details, linking to multiple operations within a transaction.
History Effects
Records specific changes that occur in the ledger as a result of success operations, but are not necessarily directly reflected in the ledger or history, as transactions and operations are.