Spacewalk Bridge: Bridging Stellar’s Fiat Assets with Polkadot’s DeFi Ecosystem

• Spacewalk Bridge has launched on the Pendulum chain, offering users of Stellar and Polkadot a trust-minimized connection for efficient transfers of stablecoins and tokens.
• The bridge will connect DeFi applications on both chains to forex markets, opening up new markets, especially in the developing world where Stellar has a significant presence.

Spacewalk Bridge is now live! A year after it was first reported, the bridge has launched to connect two of the world’s most robust blockchain networks—Polkadot and Stellar.

Spacewalk Bridge was first announced in March last year, with Pendulum embarking on the mission to connect the two blockchain networks via a trust-minimized connection. Pendulum is an open-source parachain on the Polkadot ecosystem. The bridge has been in development since then and, along the way, has picked up some partners, as Crypto News Flash reported.

The bridge is now live.

Unlock greater liquidity with Spacewalk Bridge

The trust-minimized bridge from @pendulum_chain unites @StellarOrg's fiat-anchored currencies with the expansive DeFi capabilities of Polkadot pic.twitter.com/Qb9jiuiGwF

— Polkadot (@Polkadot) March 28, 2024

Spacewalk unlocks the best of Stellar and Polkadot and forges a path between the two. Stellar has established itself in the real world, becoming a powerhouse for fiat-anchored payments, especially in developing countries, through partnerships with global giants like Moneygram. On the other hand, Polkadot has a thriving DeFi ecosystem anchored on its low fees and fast transactions.

Through Spacewalk, users can bridge the following tokens across the two networks:

• XLM, the native token of the Stellar network.
• Stablecoins such as Circle’s USDC sister token EURC, Australian digital dollar (AUDD), digital Nigerian naira (NGNC), and digital Brazilian real (BRL).

PEN, the native token of the Pendulum network, will serve as the transaction fee currency on the bridge.

Per the announcement, the Pendulum team has placed a cap on the volume of assets users can bridge via Spacewalk as a security protocol during the initial launch stages. Over time, the team will incrementally revise the cap.

Spacewalk Bridge: Bridging Polkadot’s DeFi Ecosystem with Stellar’s Fiat Assets

Spacewalk is a massive leap in enhancing financial inclusivity through blockchain innovation, especially in emerging economies where millions lack formal financial services.

At launch, some anchor solutions include a forex decentralized exchange (DEX) powered by Nabla, an automated market maker that provides deep liquidity for real-world assets and crypto. The new forex DEX will offer “seamless single-sided liquidity provision, completely eliminating the concerns of impermanent loss.”

This DEX will be the foundation of decentralized cross-border remittances that will tap Stellar’s payments expertise and Polkadot’s robust DeFi, as outlined below.

Another anchor application on Spacewalk is XLM trading on Zenlink. Stellar users can now bridge their XLM tokens to Zenlink, a DEX on Pendulum, where they can provide liquidity in the pools and earn rewards.

For a short primer on how to bridge from Stellar to Polkadot using Spacewalk, watch the video below: