Stellar (XLM) is following the general market sentiment over the last 24 hours and is trending down. Bitcoin, Ethereum and other major cryptocurrencies were rejected at key resistance levels and are now poised to push this area into support.
At the same time, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) published its Q2, 2022, report celebrating “steady progress on its 2022 roadmap”. The non-profit organization claims that the network has experienced improvements in terms of scalability, demand and participation.
One of the key milestones this quarter is Project Jump Cannon which is set to provide Stellar with a “robust execution environment for smart contracts.” In January, the network announced the implementation of smart contracts with a tentative launch date set for December 2022.
The announcement was made by Tomar Weller, vice president of technical strategy at SDF, who is overseeing the implementation of these capabilities with the WebAssembly (WASM) runtime. SDF claims that WASM will provide a secure, scalable and easily accessible environment for its smart contracts.
In addition, the SDF claimed that the network has benefited from the introduction of Protocol 19. The update facilitates the “creation of payment channels” or second-tier payment solutions that support “high-throughput use cases”, claims the report.
Stellar Network also expanded its ecosystem in Q2, 2022, with the deployment of MoneyGram Access. Global crypto on/off ramp financial service that allows MoneyGram customers to send and receive remittances without the high cost of using legacy payment rails.
SDF is strengthening key partnerships with international exchange platforms such as CoinMe and Mercado Bitcoin. The organization also announced that Nowatti will deploy a digital version of the Australian Dollar (AUD) on the Stellar network.
Stellar Faces Macro-Economic Headwinds
Despite network updates, partnerships and use cases, Stellar (XLM) is reacting to the macro-economic environment. The milestones announced by the SDF are reversed by a global economic environment of high inflation, rising interest rates, and low liquidity in global markets.
On the lower time frame, XLM price registered significant support below its current levels. Data from Content Indicators shows that there are around $1 million in bid orders potentially acting as support if XLM price continues to move downwards.
Material indicators show increasing buying pressure from smaller investors. Unless large investors enter the market with bid orders, this trend suggests a possible retest of lower levels.
Director of Macro at investment firm Fidelity Jurien Timmer indicated that XLM price and the crypto market could see an uptrend if the earnings season of US public companies contributes by showing positive results.
Q2 earnings are encouraging so far, but remember, we have 9% inflation, and earnings are generally considered in nominal terms. So there is nothing less than meets the eye here. Expected earnings growth for 2022 remains at +10%, but without the energy sector, it is only +4.3%. pic.twitter.com/HLSIFjWGoC
— Jurian Timmer (@TimmerFidelity) 26 July 2022
The SDF report indicates long-term appreciation for Stellar and its native coin, but the current macro-conditions are unfavourable. If XLM and the major cryptocurrency can maintain their current levels after this week, it could be a possible sign of a sustainable bullish price action.