Stellar’s payment network opened the door to programmable applications
Soroban’s 2024 mainnet launch added smart contracts to Stellar, extending what developers could build around digital assets and payments.
From the archive · 19 Mar 2024
A retrospective written for Chain Perspective. It describes the source at that date and does not imply current availability or status.
Reported development: · AI-assisted, source-linked brief
In brief
- The release enabled developers to deploy smart-contract applications.
- The foundation announced a $100 million adoption-fund commitment.
The development
The Stellar Development Foundation announced Soroban’s mainnet availability in March 2024. The smart-contract platform allowed developers to build, deploy and interact with decentralized applications on Stellar. The foundation connected the release with a $100 million commitment to encourage adoption and said the fund had already supported more than 160 projects. The new capability extended the network’s application scope beyond straightforward asset transfers and settlement.
Why it matters
Programmability gives developers ways to assemble financial workflows around digital assets, but the existence of a platform does not establish the quality of every application built on it. Funding commitments are also different from realized user adoption. The useful development was an expanded set of building tools. This retrospective records the launch and the foundation’s announced support, without treating its comparative performance claims as independently verified results.
Sources and verification
Based on an official announcement
Based on the dated primary source. This retrospective does not establish current availability or subsequent outcomes.
- Smart contracts launch on Stellar with $100m allocated to Soroban adoption fund ↗Stellar Development Foundation · Primary document · 19 Mar 2024
Prepared with AI assistance from the linked sources. This is not a claim of independent field reporting or human review. How we publish · Report a correction
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