Stellar launches Soroban smart contracts platform

The Stellar Development Foundation recently announced the launch of Soroban, a smart contracts platform, honoring an upgrade in the Stellar network’s history.

Soroban, which has transitioned to its mainnet phase two following two years of testing, facilitates the development of decentralized applications.

Soroban introduces a novel approach for developers to deploy smart contracts, expanding the types of applications that can be constructed on the Stellar blockchain. The platform employs WebAssembly, a binary code format for traditional web and blockchain integrations.

Stellar’s platform development aims to diversify the uses of its network, extending its functionalities beyond cryptocurrency payments to include decentralized finance (defi) and other financial services.

To encourage the development of Soroban, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has allocated $100 million to a Soroban Adoption Fund, which has supported over 160 projects. The projects cover a range of applications, from bridge projects like Axelar and Allbridge to the Band Protocol oracle and defi initiatives such as Sworoswap and Blend, all aiming to leverage Stellar’s smart contract capabilities.

Stellar was co-founded in 2014 by Jed McCaleb and Joyce Kim as an open-source blockchain network focusing on cross-border transactions. Due to its origins as a fork, Stellar initially resembled Ripple, but it later underwent significant changes, adopting a unique consensus mechanism known as the Stellar Consensus Protocol.