The Stellar Development Foundation recently announced the launch of Soroban, a smart contract platform, marking an upgrade in the history of the Stellar network.
Sorobanwhich has moved into mainnet phase two after two years of testing, facilitates the development of decentralized applications.
Soroban introduces a new approach for developers to deploy smart contracts, expanding the types of applications that can be built on the Stellar blockchain. The platform uses WebAssembly, a binary code format for traditional web and blockchain integrations.
Stellar’s platform development aims to diversify the use of its network, expanding its functionalities beyond cryptocurrency payments to include decentralized finance (defi) and other financial services.
To encourage Soroban development, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has allocated $100 million to a Soroban Adoption Fund, which has supported more than 160 projects. The projects cover a range of applications, from bridge projects such as Axelar and Allbridge to the Band Protocol Oracle and defi initiatives such as Sworoswap and Blend, all aimed at leveraging Stellar’s smart contract capabilities.
Stellar was co-founded in 2014 by Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim as an open-source blockchain network focused on cross-border transactions. Due to its origins as a fork, Stellar was initially similar to Ripple, but later underwent significant changes, adopting a unique consensus mechanism known as the Stellar Consensus Protocol.