Lumens (XLM) is the native utility token of Stellar, founded by Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim and launched on July 31st, 2014. McCaleb had also co-founded Ripple two years earlier.
Stellar is a platform that connects banks, payment systems, and people in order to move money quickly, reliably, and inexpensively. Using Lumens as an intermediary on the platform allows people to exchange a currency with others who may have a different currency in a hassle-free manner.
As of 2019, Lumens ranks 11th among cryptocurrencies in market capitalization.