Stellar Implements Smart Contracts on Its Network
The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has successfully deployed smart contracts on the Stellar Network after months of testing. This implementation marks a significant milestone for the Stellar blockchain, as smart contracts are expected to bring new capabilities to the platform. The SDF announced the news in a recent blog post, stating that the introduction of Protocol 20 on the mainnet enables the phased rollout of its Soroban smart contract platform.
“Stellar’s Protocol 20 is officially live, bringing smart contracts to Stellar Mainnet! This is just the beginning of a new era for the Stellar smart contracts tech stack, delivering a secure and scalable developer experience.”
The Stellar team will gradually increase transaction limits for Soroban and allow builders and projects currently on the testnet to deploy on the mainnet. Once the network is fully tested and ready, decentralized applications (dApps) will be launched for widespread use.
Enhanced Developer Experience with Smart Contracts
Stellar’s smart contracts aim to provide a more user-friendly experience, especially for developers using Rust and WASM languages. The Soroban platform, deployed on the testnet last year, offers scalability features such as predictable fees and independent resource pricing. This smart contract ecosystem will empower builders to develop innovative protocols and applications on the Stellar network, contributing to its growth and adoption.
Delays and Funding Initiative
The smart contract mainnet upgrade faced delays due to a bug in Stellar Core, which was addressed by the Stellar Development Foundation. However, the bug was determined to have minimal impact and posed little risk. In addition, the foundation launched a $100 million funding initiative to support developers in building on the Soroban platform. These efforts have been carried out over the past two years by the nonprofit organization and the Stellar community.