Stellar Funds Ficc.ai for AI-Based Fixed Income Pricing Innovation

• The Stellar Development Foundation, known for fostering blockchain innovation and advancing financial inclusion, has announced its investment in Ficc.ai.
• Ficc.ai will leverage Stellar’s blockchain technology to provide reliable pricing data for traditionally opaque asset classes and improve access to real-time bond pricing.

The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has awarded a grant to Ficc.ai, a pioneer in AI-driven fixed-income pricing, to develop a blockchain-based pricing oracle for municipal bonds and U.S. Agency Mortgage-Backed Securities (MBS).

According to the press release, this initiative aims to enhance transparency, accuracy, and accessibility in pricing these essential fixed-income instruments.

The grant will support Ficc.ai’s phased development plan, beginning with the integration of its AI-powered municipal bond pricing engine into the Stellar network. Traditionally, pricing fixed-income securities, such as corporate bonds and municipal bonds, has relied on complex models, historical data, and manual assessments.

However, market inefficiencies, illiquidity, and pricing opacity have long posed challenges for investors and traders. Ficc.ai is addressing these issues by using advanced machine learning algorithms and natural language processing (NLP) to deliver more precise and timely valuations.

Ficc.ai will create a more open and efficient financial ecosystem by combining AI with blockchain technology. The Stellar network’s scalable and cost-effective infrastructure will enable the delivery of immutable, real-time pricing data for municipal bonds, ensuring greater market transparency and accessibility.

Jon Fiebach, CEO of Ficc.ai, emphasized the significance of this initiative, stating, “This partnership represents a significant step toward the future of fixed-income pricing. By bringing AI-driven municipal bond and MBS pricing on-chain, we are reducing barriers to access and fostering a more efficient financial landscape.” 

Stellar’s Commitment to Financial Inclusion

Denelle Dixon, CEO and Executive Director of the Stellar Development Foundation, commented, “Moving real-world assets on-chain is the future of finance. The Stellar network was built to increase access to everyday financial services, so we are proud to support ficc.ai as they bring transparency and accessibility to municipal bond and mortgage-backed security pricing.” 

Notably, this initiative aligns with SDF’s broader roadmap to transform the DeFi ecosystem by supporting lending, borrowing, and saving protocols. As part of this vision, SDF aims to rank among the top ten blockchain projects with the highest number of monthly active addresses, targeting 5 million users, with 3 million expected to be payment-focused.

A recent Federal Reserve research paper further highlighted the significance of secure and scalable payment systems. The paper officially recognized the efficiency and scalability of Byzantine Fault Tolerance (BFT) in financial transactions. BFT is a consensus mechanism that ensures the integrity of distributed networks, even in the presence of malicious or faulty participants. 

This acknowledgment strengthens the relevance of BFT-based digital assets like Stellar Lumens (XLM), which use variations of BFT consensus mechanisms to enable secure and high-speed payment processing. Meanwhile, XLM is currently trading at $0.3037, following a 24.85% drop in its trading volume.