A reference guide to domain-specific terms used throughout the Invoice Liquidity Network protocol and documentation. Terms are listed in alphabetical order.
A unit of measurement equal to one-hundredth of one percent (0.01%). Used to express discount rates and yield with precision.
ILN usage: A freelancer submitting an invoice with a 300 bps discount rate is offering a 3% discount on the invoice face value to attract liquidity providers.
The percentage deducted from an invoice's face value that a liquidity provider receives as compensation for funding the invoice early.
ILN usage: When a freelancer calls submit_invoice(), they set a discount rate (in basis points) that determines how much of the invoice value they receive upfront versus what the LP earns at settlement.
The date by which a payer is expected to settle an invoice in full.
ILN usage: The due date is passed as a parameter in submit_invoice() and determines the timeframe within which the payer must call mark_paid() to release funds to the LP.
The annualised return earned by a liquidity provider on a funded invoice, accounting for the discount rate and the time between funding and settlement.
ILN usage: An LP funding a 30-day invoice at 300 bps discount earns an effective yield of approximately 36% APR, calculated as (bps / 10000) * (365 / days_to_due_date).
A service provider, creator, or SME that submits an outstanding invoice to the ILN protocol to receive immediate liquidity at a discount rather than waiting for the payer to settle.
ILN usage: The freelancer calls submit_invoice() with the invoice details, receives USDC immediately after an LP funds it, and is responsible for ensuring the payer settles on time.
The lifecycle state of an invoice after a liquidity provider has called fund_invoice() and the freelancer has received their discounted payment.
ILN usage: An invoice in the Funded State is awaiting settlement by the payer; the LP's capital is locked in the contract until mark_paid() is called.
The Stellar network's REST API server that provides access to ledger data, account balances, transaction history, and fee estimates.
ILN usage: The ILN indexer queries Horizon to track contract events and invoice state changes, and the SDK uses Horizon endpoints to fetch account sequence numbers before submitting transactions.
A participant who funds invoices on the ILN protocol by sending stablecoins to the contract in exchange for the right to receive the full invoice amount when the payer settles.
ILN usage: An LP calls fund_invoice() with a valid invoice ID, sends the discounted amount to the contract, and earns the spread between the funded amount and the face value when the payer calls mark_paid().
The action taken by a payer to confirm that an invoice has been settled off-chain, triggering the release of the full invoice amount from the contract to the LP.
ILN usage: The payer calls mark_paid() on the ILN contract once they have transferred funds off-chain; this releases the full invoice face value held in escrow to the liquidity provider.
The client or organisation that owes payment on an outstanding invoice and is responsible for calling mark_paid() to settle the invoice on-chain.
ILN usage: The payer's wallet address is recorded in the invoice at submission time; only that address is authorised to call mark_paid() for a given invoice.
The lifecycle state of an invoice after it has been submitted by a freelancer but before any liquidity provider has funded it.
ILN usage: An invoice in the Pending State is visible to LPs browsing the protocol; it remains in this state until fund_invoice() is called or it expires unfunded.
An on-chain metric assigned to freelancers and payers that reflects their track record of successful invoice settlements on the ILN protocol.
ILN usage: A payer with a high Reputation Score signals reliability to LPs, potentially attracting funding at lower discount rates; the score is updated by the ILN-Smart-Contract after each mark_paid() call.
A Soroban smart contract that wraps a native Stellar asset, making it accessible to other Soroban contracts via the standard token interface.
ILN usage: USDC on the ILN protocol is represented as a SAC, allowing the ILN contract to call transfer() directly on the token contract to move funds between freelancers, LPs, and the escrow.
Stellar's smart contract platform that allows developers to write and deploy WebAssembly (WASM) contracts on the Stellar ledger.
ILN usage: All ILN core logic — invoice submission, funding, settlement, and governance — is implemented as Soroban smart contracts deployed to the Stellar network.
The smallest unit of XLM (Stellar's native currency), equal to one ten-millionth of one XLM (0.0000001 XLM). Used for precise fee and balance calculations.
ILN usage: Transaction fees on the ILN protocol are denominated in stroops; the SDK exposes fee estimates in stroops via the Horizon fee_estimate endpoint before submitting contract invocations.
The wallet address that signs and broadcasts a transaction to the Stellar network on behalf of a freelancer or payer. May be the same as the freelancer or an automated relay.
ILN usage: In the ILN CLI, the submitter is configured via the --source flag; in the SDK, it is the wallet passed to the submitInvoice() call, which must hold enough XLM to cover the transaction fee.
An explicit opt-in relationship between a Stellar account and a non-native asset that allows the account to hold and transact that asset.
ILN usage: Before an LP can receive USDC through the ILN protocol, their Stellar account must have an established trustline for the USDC SAC; the ILN frontend prompts LPs to create this trustline during onboarding.
For terms not listed here, refer to the Stellar Developers Portal or open an issue in the ILN repository.