Stellar Wallet: XLM Minimum Balance, Memos and Trustlines

Stellar addresses and the minimum balance

A Stellar address, or account ID, is 56 characters long and starts with G. It is an encoded ed25519 public key with a checksum, so a typo makes it invalid rather than pointing somewhere else. Its matching secret key starts with S and must never be shared. Keylo derives your account on m/44'/148'/0', the SEP-0005 path used by most Stellar wallets that support recovery phrases.

Like the XRP Ledger, Stellar requires every account to be funded before it exists. The minimum balance is calculated from a base reserve of 0.5 XLM: two base reserves for the account itself, so 1 XLM, plus one more for each subentry the account owns. A trustline, an open offer, an extra signer or a data entry each add 0.5 XLM.

The first funding of a new address must be at least 1 XLM, because that transfer is what creates the account; exchanges handle this automatically when you withdraw. Smaller amounts, or other assets, sent to an unfunded address simply fail. Once the account exists, the minimum balance stays locked for as long as it does, so a payment that would take you below it is rejected.

How to create a Stellar wallet with Keylo

If you already use a Stellar wallet that follows SEP-0005, importing its 12- or 24-word phrase into Keylo should show the same G address. Wallets that only gave you an S secret key, with no word phrase, cannot be imported this way; send the XLM from that wallet to your Keylo address instead.

1. 1

   Go to create your Keylo wallet in any modern browser, on your phone or computer.

2. 2

   Enter your name, email, phone and a password, then confirm the email address.

3. 3

   Your browser generates a 12-word recovery phrase and encrypts it with your password-derived key. Keylo keeps only the encrypted copy.

4. 4

   Open Stellar in your asset list to find your G address, shown with the network name.

5. 5

   Back up the phrase from Settings after re-entering your password, and store it offline.

6. 6

   Fund the account with more than 1 XLM to activate it.

How to receive XLM

Your Keylo address is yours alone, so nobody paying you needs to add a memo. If an exchange's withdrawal form demands one anyway, you can enter anything short; it will not change where the XLM goes. Memos only matter when the receiving address is shared, which is the case for most exchange deposit addresses.

1. 1

   Open Stellar in Keylo and tap Receive.

2. 2

   Share your G address by copying it or displaying its QR code.

3. 3

   Make sure the sender picks the Stellar network, usually labelled XLM. For a new address, they must send at least 1 XLM.

4. 4

   Watch Activity. Payments usually arrive within about five seconds and link to StellarExpert.

Stellar memos: when exchanges require them

A memo is a short note attached to a Stellar transaction. Exchanges use one shared G address for thousands of customers and rely on the memo to know whose deposit just arrived. If you send XLM to an exchange without its memo, the funds reach the exchange but cannot be credited to you automatically, and you will need a support ticket with the transaction hash to recover them.

Stellar supports several memo types: a text memo of up to 28 bytes, an ID memo that holds a whole number, and hash memos used by some applications. Exchanges typically show either a number or a short text. Copy it exactly as shown, and copy it fresh each time, since some services assign new memos. Never put private information in a memo, because it is public on the ledger.

How to send XLM

Stellar payments cannot be reversed once the ledger closes. If you are paying a brand-new address, send at least 1 XLM so the account can be created. When the recipient wants a different asset, such as USDC, make sure they already have a trustline for it; otherwise the payment fails and your funds stay put.

1. 1

   Open Stellar and tap Send.

2. 2

   Add the recipient: paste their G address or scan its QR code, and Keylo checks that it is a valid Stellar account ID.

3. 3

   If you are paying an exchange or service, enter its memo exactly as it appears on the deposit page.

4. 4

   Type an amount or use Max; anything above your minimum balance is available.

5. 5

   Review the summary: recipient, memo, exact amount and network fee.

6. 6

   Confirm, and your browser signs the transaction. It is normally settled in the next ledger.

Stellar fees explained

Stellar fees are charged per operation, not per byte or per amount. The base fee is 100 stroops, where one stroop is 0.0000001 XLM, so a simple payment usually costs 0.00001 XLM. Fees do not go to validators. They are collected into a network fee pool and taken out of circulation, so their only job is to make spamming the ledger expensive.

When more transactions arrive than a ledger can fit, Stellar switches to surge pricing, and transactions offering higher fees are included first. Even then, fees typically stay at a tiny fraction of an XLM. Keylo shows the exact network fee in the summary before you confirm, and Keylo itself charges nothing on top for a normal payment.

USDC and other Stellar assets: trustlines explained

Every non-XLM asset on Stellar is identified by an asset code plus the issuer account that created it. USDC on Stellar, for example, is the code USDC issued by Circle's account. Before your account can hold an asset, it needs a trustline to that exact code and issuer. Each trustline raises your minimum balance by 0.5 XLM, which is released again if you later remove the trustline.

Keylo lists the Stellar assets your account holds alongside XLM and lets you send them the same way. Pay attention to issuers: anyone can issue an asset called USDC, and only the issuer distinguishes the real one from a copy. On StellarExpert, a genuine asset shows the home domain its issuer has published. If a payment shows an asset you never added, or an unexpected claimable balance, treat it as spam.

Moving XLM to other networks

Keylo does not offer swaps or bridges for Stellar, so XLM in your Keylo wallet stays on the Stellar network. To convert XLM into another coin, the usual route is an exchange that supports Stellar deposits: send XLM with the exchange's memo, trade there, then withdraw the new asset to its own network in Keylo. Check each step's network and memo, and test with a small amount first. Keylo's supported chains list shows where you can receive the result.

Stellar safety tips

• Always include the exchange's memo when depositing XLM, and double-check it on the review screen.
• Check the issuer of any asset before accepting it as payment. The code alone proves nothing.
• Ignore unexpected claimable balances and airdrops pointing to websites. They are a common route to phishing pages.
• Never type your recovery phrase or an S secret key into a website. Keylo will never ask for either.
• Add two-factor authentication and set an anti-phishing code; Keylo security covers how both work.
• Practise first on Stellar Testnet, available in Testnet mode. It uses free test lumens and is reset from time to time, so never keep anything important there.

Frequently asked questions