A Stellar payment can leave as one asset and arrive as another
Stellar's path payment feature lets senders send one asset and recipients receive a different one in a single atomic operation, routed through the network's built-in DEX and liquidity pools.
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How Stellar Path Payments Work
A path payment on @StellarOrg lets a sender dispatch one asset and have an entirely different asset arrive at the destination, all within a single on-chain operation. Rather than transferring assets directly between accounts, the network routes the payment through its built-in decentralized exchange (SDEX) and liquidity pools, crossing order books along the way. A payment can leave as $XLM and land as a stablecoin, for example, without any manual swap required by either party.
Strict Send vs. Strict Receive
There are two flavours of path payment, and the difference comes down to which end of the transaction the sender wants to pin. With Strict Send, the source asset amount stays fixed and the amount received varies depending on available offers in the order books. With Strict Receive, the destination amount is fixed and the cost to the sender varies instead. Developers can choose whichever model fits their use case.
For a path payment to complete, a viable route through the DEX or liquidity pools must exist. Stellar's documentation notes the network only considers routes of five hops or fewer. If no path is found, the transaction fails outright rather than settling at an unfavourable rate. Critically, the entire sequence is atomic: it either completes in full or reverts entirely, protecting both sender and recipient from partial fills.
Sources:
Stellar Developer Docs: Path Payments Guide
Stellar Developer Docs: List Strict Send Payment Paths
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Crypto RichRich has been researching cryptocurrency and blockchain technology for eight years and has served as a senior analyst at BSCN since its founding in 2020. He focuses on fundamental analysis of early-stage crypto projects and tokens and has published in-depth research reports on over 200 emerging protocols. Rich also writes about broader technology and scientific trends and maintains active involvement in the crypto community through X/Twitter Spaces, and leading industry events.