Stellar (XLM), a blockchain-based payment network, is getting ready for “Protocol 20 Upgrade,” its biggest and most complicated protocol update to date, which will add support for Soroban smart contracts.
On September 20 at 3:00 p.m. UTC, Soroban’s smart contract functionality will be introduced to Stellar’s testnet, which is an exciting new development. In an X post, Soroban announces this and notes that the Soroban Futurenet will continue to function normally for the time being.
https://x.com/StellarOrg/status/1703863138394001552?s=20
On Wednesday, September 20, at 3:00 PM UTC, the Stellar testnet will be upgraded in order to release beta versions of Stellar Core and Horizon.
The first vote for the upgrade might be followed by a number of subsequent votes to modify the settings since the Protocol 20 upgrade would bring new network parameters that validators could modify.
Mainnet validators are expected to set an upgrade vote date around six weeks after stable versions are released, according to a statement made by Stellar in a blog post outlining the specifics of the upgrade. The public network upgrade voting date is thus TBD, which stands for “to be determined.”
However, Stellar pledges to give an update when more information becomes available. Additionally, it commits to quickly provide voting timeframes and to update with new dates as soon as fresh information or new releases are available.
Stellar attracted notice last week after releasing its much anticipated teaser, which was a posh advertisement starring British actor Idris Elba. Along with a website revamp, Stellar also underwent a new appearance.
On September 14, Stellar also debuted “Decentralife,” a documentary series that examines the real-life accounts of people using blockchain technology to make a difference in the world.
Stellar (XLM) was less affected by the upgrade announcement at the time of publishing. In line with the general growth in the cryptocurrency market, XLM was up 1.40% to $0.119 in the previous day.
