In recent days, the stellar has risen to the top 10 digital currencies and was the eighth in importance Tuesday.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $ 232 billion, has lost its bullish momentum over the past two weeks.
Digital digital currency rose 17.5% on Tuesday to a record high, while litecoin rose 14%.
Stellar is already in the news this year in the world of cryptocurrencies. Stellar is already in the news this year in the world of cryptocurrencies.
6:13 PM ET Wed, 2 January 2018 | 0:50
The most popular digital currency in early 2018 is stellar, which has climbed more than 65% since Friday to the top 10 cryptocurrency by market capitalization.
On Tuesday, Star had a market capitalization of $ 10 billion as the eighth largest digital currency, according to CoinMarketCap. The digital currency traded 17.5 percent higher on the day at around 56.4 cents, the website showed.
Stellar operates a network with blockchain technology behind bitcoin. But unlike popular digital currency, stellar transactions are set between 2 and 5 seconds and allow users to quickly exchange government-backed currencies, such as converting US dollars to euros, according to their website. Stellar parts are officially called lumens, or XLM.
In particular, IBM uses the Stellar network to develop a cross-border payment system with some major banks. The consulting firm Deloitte is also a partner.
Bitcoin, the largest cryptocurrency with a market capitalization of $ 232 billion, has lost its bullish momentum over the past two weeks. The digital currency was trading slightly higher Tuesday at $ 13,880, down 12% last week, according to Coinbase.
While bitcoin has attracted the most attention in the past 12 months, rising briefly in the range of 1,900%, 2017 was the year of shockwaves in terms of percentage change.
Bitcoin performance over 12 months
Source: Coinbase
Ripple, or XRP, rose 35,500% to $ 2.30 last year and ranked second in terms of market capitalization. The digital currency rose 2% Tuesday to about $ 2.44, with a market capitalization of $ 94.65 billion, according to CoinMarketCap.
Like Stellar, Ripple's focus is on payments. The San Francisco-based start-up is working with financial institutions in South Korea and Japan to use Ripple's XRP currency.
The two companies also have the same founder: cryptocurrency developer Jed McCaleb, who created the Mt.Gox bitcoin exchange. McCaleb left Ripple in 2013 and sold Mt.Gox in 2011 to Mark Karpeles, under which the exchange suffered a massive cut and eventually declared bankruptcy.
Today, McCaleb focuses on Stellar, whose website says it operates as a non-profit organization and covers operating costs with some of its digital currency holdings and donations.
Meanwhile, the Ethereum climbed 17.5% to a record $ 908.12, according to CoinMarketCap. But digital currency remained in third place in terms of market capitalization.
Litecoin rose 14% to $ 261, about $ 100 less than its record reached in mid-December, according to CoinMarketCap. Litecoin has a market capitalization of $ 14 billion as the sixth largest digital currency.