Blockchain protocols must facilitate the seamless movement of financial assets between traditional and on-chain infrastructures in order to achieve widespread adoption. Denelle Dixon, CEO of the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF), emphasized this point during an interview with Cointelegraph at Paris Blockchain Week. Dixon highlighted the importance of having on- and off-ramps for money to move like email, rather than relying on volatile cryptocurrencies for transactions. As a former trial lawyer who has worked at Yahoo and Mozilla, Dixon credited Stellar founder Jed McCaleb for attracting her to the layer-1 protocol. She joined Stellar because of its focus on tokenization and fast, low-fee payments that can have a positive impact on developing economies. Dixon also emphasized the importance of interoperability between major blockchain protocols, as she believes it is crucial for advancing the utility of the underlying infrastructure. She mentioned recent network outages and congestion issues across major protocols, such as Solana and various Ethereum layer-2 protocols, as challenges that can deter people from entering the blockchain ecosystem. Dixon acknowledged the tribalism that exists among users supporting different protocols on social media platforms but emphasized that there is also a significant amount of thought-share and support within the industry. She argued against the notion of a winner-takes-all market and highlighted the negative consequences of having a small number of winners dominate the web’s content side. In February 2024, the Stellar Development Foundation launched smart contracts on the Stellar network with the introduction of the Soroban platform, which was designed to provide advanced programmability and create new opportunities for developers. Dixon concluded by emphasizing the importance of utility as a core focus for blockchain and cryptocurrency advocates.
Stellar Development Foundation CEO envisions blockchains revolutionizing money transfer akin to email