Stellar Anchor
Crypto ProtocolA Stellar anchor is a regulated entity that issues assets on the Stellar network and provides fiat on- and off-ramps, bridging the Stellar blockchain and the traditional banking system.
An anchor is a business (often a licensed money-service business, bank, or fintech) that holds a customer's deposited fiat and issues a matching digital token on Stellar (and reverses the process for withdrawals). Anchors are the trust bridge that lets value move between the traditional financial system and the Stellar network.
Anchors implement Stellar Ecosystem Proposals (SEPs) so wallets and other anchors can interact with them in a standard way. SEP-24 defines the interactive, anchor-hosted deposit and withdrawal flow for individual users, while SEP-31 defines direct anchor-to-anchor cross-border payments between institutions. In a remittance corridor, a sending-side anchor converts fiat to a Stellar asset, it moves across the network, and a receiving-side anchor cashes it out to local fiat.
This anchor model is what turns Stellar from a ledger into a payments network: the blockchain provides fast, cheap settlement, while anchors provide the regulated fiat endpoints and the KYC/AML compliance layer that real cross-border payments require.
Crypto Relevance
Anchors are central to Stellar's payments story: XLM and on-network stablecoins move value between anchors, while the SEP standards define how anchors interact. The SEP standards are Stellar's own and are not ISO 20022 message formats.
Related Terms
SEP-31
SEP-31 is Stellar's cross-border payments API standard that defines how anchors send payments on behalf of customers. It is not an ISO 20022 message format.
SEP-24
SEP-24 is the Stellar standard for interactive, anchor-hosted deposits and withdrawals — a wallet hands the user off to the anchor's own web interface to complete KYC and payment details.
XLM Remittance Module
XLM's role in ISO 20022 coin lists is remittances and stablecoin rails, using anchors and Stellar's SEP standards, with no formal ISO 20022 standing.
FATF Travel Rule
The FATF Travel Rule requires that originator and beneficiary information must travel with crypto transfers above USD/EUR 1,000. This entry also explains KYC and AML, the identity-verification and anti-money-laundering duties it builds on.
Related Tools
Sources
Last updated: 2026-09-29