The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) launched smart contracts on the Stellar mainnet through the Protocol 20 upgrade in February 2024. The upgrade brought Soroban, Stellar’s smart contract platform, to the network after a long testnet development period.
In a release published on February 20, the SDF said Stellar validators had approved the Protocol 20 upgrade. The rollout was planned in stages so developers and validators could test the new system before full production use.
The launch followed months of testing and a delay caused by a bug in Stellar Core. The issue showed why the SDF chose a staged rollout instead of moving directly to full production.
Soroban changes what developers can build on Stellar
Soroban gives developers a way to build smart contracts on Stellar using WebAssembly and Rust. The platform was designed with features such as separate resource pricing and more predictable fees, giving developers clearer costs when running applications.
The Stellar team also announced the rollout on X. It described three stages for the launch: Phase 0 focused on stability, Phase 1 on further testing, and Phase 2 on full production.
Stellar’s Protocol 20 is officially live, bringing smart contracts to Stellar Mainnet!
We’ve laid the groundwork, hitting major milestones along the way; but this is just the beginning:
Phase 0⃣ for rock-solid stability ✅
Phase 1⃣ for rigorous testing
Phase 2⃣ for full-scale production🥳 This is a celebration of collaborative efforts, hard work, and community support. Let’s get to building!
Read all about it: https://t.co/TflmXmgg5H
— Stellar | Meridian Oct 28-29 (@StellarOrg) February 20, 2024
Soroban had been tested publicly before the mainnet launch. The SDF also created a $100 million fund in 2022 to encourage developers to build applications on the platform. That funding was aimed at helping create a larger developer base around Stellar’s new smart contract system.
The move expanded Stellar beyond its earlier focus on payments and asset transfers. Smart contracts allow developers to create applications that can run automatically on a blockchain. This can support areas such as decentralized finance, tokenized assets and other blockchain services.
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A code bug delayed the mainnet rollout
The launch did not happen without problems. In January 2024, developers found a bug in Stellar Core that could affect applications using fee bumps for Soroban transactions during the Protocol 20 transition.
The SDF then alerted the Stellar community and recommended delaying the upgrade. The foundation said the bug created limited direct risk, but fixing it before a full rollout reduced the chance of problems for applications.
The delay also showed the importance of testing blockchain upgrades before they reach users. A smart contract platform can affect many applications at once, so even a small software problem can create larger issues after launch.
The Protocol 20 rollout eventually went ahead, giving developers access to Soroban on Stellar’s mainnet. The launch was therefore less about adding one new feature and more about giving Stellar a new platform for applications. Its long-term value depends on whether developers continue building useful services on top of it.
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