In the present banking system (established some 300 years ago), financial institutions make transactions by passing funds through a clearing house. Settlement, especially for international transactions, can take several days, and there is always a possibility that the agreement might be dishonoured or that the value of the funds will alter during the settlement period. One report suggested that the process could be costing the industry $65-$80 billion a year.

Blockchain could blow this out of the water, with its immediate and transparent digital transactions. It might also help secure the speed of global currency exchanges and eventually overhaul the entire banking industry.

One such project is backed by IBM and has seven megabank participants. The Hyperledger Fabric project aims to process international payments on Blockchain, running through IBM\'s Cloud computing servers. All the participants will be integrated through the whole financial supply chain, assisted by IBM\'s partnership with Stellar. With such tech partnerships and bank participation, this fintech\'s influence could reach global levels.

The Stellar network was founded in 2014 and facilitates cross-border transactions. It has its own altcoin, the lumen (XLM), which is currently trading at $0.59, with a total market capitalisation of $10,549,258,005.00. There are 17,868,105,483 lumens in circulation, and a 24-hour trading volume on 29th January of $140,193,000.00.