Stellar Teases Highly Anticipated Upgrade – Discover the Transformations Ahead

As the year draws to a close, Stellar (XLM) continues to impress, revealing more surprises in its latest update. The highly anticipated Protocol 20 upgrade is set to kick off on December 11, extending until December 19, leading up to the ultimate public network readiness upgrade scheduled for January 20.

Stellar Teases Highly Anticipated Upgrade – Discover the Transformations Ahead

Although teased last year, the commencement of the Protocol 20 upgrade signifies the substantial engineering work accomplished to date. This upgrade introduces 12 new Core Advancement Proposals (CAPs) that collectively bring forth the long-anticipated smart contract functionalities. Smart contracts are pivotal, marking a significant advancement in blockchain systems. Stellar’s embrace of these capabilities signals a unique shift, poised to foster innovations in decentralized finance (DeFi) and non-fungible tokens (NFTs).

According to the outlined schedule, the December 11 upgrade will include prereleases of Stellar Core, Horizon, and Soroban RPC, as well as Stellar SDK releases. Each update date corresponds to targeted milestones, culminating in the public network’s readiness for the final upgrade by January.

The upcoming upgrade schedule for Protocol 20 is not Stellar’s initial encounter with this enhancement. As previously reported by U.Today, the upgrade underwent implementation on the testnet on September 20, marking a pivotal milestone as the most sophisticated move within that timeframe. The successful deployment on the testnet served as a crucial phase, allowing developers and the Stellar community to assess the functionality, security, and overall performance of the Protocol 20 upgrade in a controlled environment.

This meticulous testing process on the testnet is a standard practice in the blockchain industry, ensuring that any potential issues or vulnerabilities are identified and addressed before the upgrade is rolled out on the mainnet. The completion of this testing phase signifies Stellar’s commitment to delivering a robust and reliable Protocol 20 upgrade to its user base.