Stellar Sets Aside Funds For Coming Decade With New Mandate

he SDF, or the Stellar Development Foundation, has recently published a mandate that thoroughly outlined the group’s plans for future spending of its funds. At the moment, SDF holds around 30 billion in Stellar lumens (XLM), which amounts to approximately $1.3 billion at today’s price. The group is tasked to make use of these funds in order to properly develop the Stellar network, primarily in the promotion and development sectors.

Long-Term Savings

The SDF had already announced its mandate at around the start of November, but today’s news is specifically about the SDF setting aside funding for future use. On the 20th of December, 2019, the SDF transferred a whopping 9 billion XLM (~$400 million) into three separate escrow accounts. These accounts are set to unlock on a yearly basis until 2023. The SDF has made it clear that the remainder of the funds will be distributed after ten or so years have passed, maybe sooner.

The mandate the SDF had established indicates that 12 billion XLM will be allocated to direct development. These funds will be used on things like salaries, the Stellar network itself, policy efforts, operational costs, business relations, and other financial pursuits. The SDF notes that the group often sells XLM that is designated to this category in exchanges, which ultimately means that a segment of this funding will be shifted into the circulating supply.

Putting Money Into Stellar

Added to this, the SDF has further allocated 10 billion XLM for the purpose of use-case investments. This funding will be set for use on venture-capital-style banking, new projects, and new acquisitions. Furthermore, the company set aside 2 billion XLM to dedicate to the support of the Stellar ecosystem. This involves developer events, currency-issuance efforts, and giving grants to independent projects.

Lastly, the SDF has reserved 6 billion XLM for the purpose of further user acquisition. The funds within this category will have a segment of it allocated for marketing campaigns. Another section of the funding will be dedicated to the users already on the network by way of in-app airdrops and distribution. Interestingly enough, Stellar already had an airdrop happening, the Keybase airdrop, but was forced to prematurely discontinue it this month.

Burning To Health

Back in November this year, the SDF further reduced its holdings from 85 billion XLM to just 30 billion XLM. The token burn destroyed around half the total supply of the Stellar network, which stands now at 50 billion XLM. With the decision made, the price of individual XLM coins should be driven up. The company explained that the SDF could be leaner, and the group could make do with the use of fewer Lumens.