ICO services platform TokenSoft is officially launching support for projects on the Stellar lumens protocol.

The company – which helps crypto startups navigate through legal compliance procedures in the U.S. and internationally – announced Tuesday that it would extend its offerings to include the Stellar platform, having previously assisted ethereum-based projects.

TokenSoft co-founder Mason Borda told CoinDesk that his company had been looking into Stellar since the first quarter of 2018, citing its level of "maturity" as the reason for accepting it to the platform.

"We feel that [the Stellar network], the tool sets and the underlying infrastructure do provide the maturity for us to provide official support. We're excited to announce that if you want to receive payments for lumens, we can provide support," he said.

Having seen demand for Stellar in late 2017, Borda said the team was a " little bit skeptical" initially, since Stellar isn't known for enabling token issuance. However, he added:

This increased demand and adoption convinced the team that projects would continue to launch on Stellar, he said.

Indeed, TokenSoft has seen "a steady stream" of requests for assistance launching on the network since earlier in 2018, Borda continued, adding that "we will see more and more of this in the coming months."

He declined to name any specific projects that TokenSoft might be working with, but said he anticipates ICOs will begin in earnest over the next few months.

While Borda does not see TokenSoft expanding support to any other protocols just yet, he did note that TokenSoft's tools are not dependent on any particular blockchain.

"We consider our tools and services to be sort of agnostic of what underlying blockchain these things launch on, and the reason is that regulations are consistent regardless of what blockchains or tool sets you're using, sort of underlying your product," he said.

The news comes as another boost for the Stellar project, after it was revealed Monday that blockchain startup Chain has been acquired in an undisclosed deal by Lightyear.io, a startup building on the Stellar protocol.

The deal see both firms combining to form a new venture called Interstellar, with Chain CEO Adam Ludwin to serve as Interstellar's CEO, and Jed McCaleb, the creator of the XRP and Stellar protocols, taking on the role of CTO.

Ludwin told CoinDesk at the time that Interstellar will not be involved in the Stellar lumens (XLM) market, adding:

Star image via Shutterstock