Stellar announces Protocol 30 to streamline client services through shared smart contracts
Key Facts
The Stellar Development Foundation announced its network's next upgrade, called "Bell," or Protocol 30, to simplify the integration of fintech platforms and custody services with smart contracts. The upgrade introduces multi-destination contract addresses, allowing a smart contract to serve multiple clients, according to the foundation's announcement. The mechanism addresses the difficulty of distinguishing between payments received by a smart account, which previously required a separate contract for each client. The foundation described the previous model as "one contract per client," illustrating the obstacle the new addition aims to address. The added address format applies to multi-destination contracts, allowing a shared contract to serve clients while retaining existing addresses.
On platforms' preparations for the upgrade, the foundation's guide stresses the need to update the software development kit used to integrate with the network. The foundation said in the guide that "upgrading the software development kit is not optional this cycle," with the update requirements also covering data definitions in the relevant integrations. Using the new signature features and multi-destination contract addresses remains optional for developers. The guide confirmed that "existing contracts continue to work unchanged," keeping current applications operational after the upgrade. Stable release 30.0.0 of Stellar's core software became available on 16 October 2026 as part of technical preparations for the update cycle.
"Bell" adds the ability to verify module-lattice-based digital signatures within smart contracts, a quantum-resistant technology. The documented design includes dedicated verification functions for parameter sets 44, 65 and 87, according to Stellar's developer documentation. Network transaction signatures remain based on the Ed25519 algorithm for now, while the new addition is limited to verification within contracts. The U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology published the module-lattice-based digital signature standard on 13 August 2024. The institute describes the algorithm as "believed to be secure even against adversaries in possession of a large-scale quantum computer." The upgrade thus allows the new verification tools to be used in contracts that choose to adopt them, while retaining the current mechanism for signing network transactions.
The upgrade follows an earlier improvement in network performance: the "Adapter" upgrade, Protocol 28, reduced mainnet ledger closing time in September from about 5.7 seconds to 5 seconds, according to the foundation. "Bell" adds millisecond timing precision, removing a technical constraint on faster ledger closing in the future. An immediate move to a closing time of less than a second is not among the changes announced for this upgrade. On usage, notes from the developers' meeting in April said average daily smart contract activity volume reached $16 million during the quarter preceding the meeting. The comparable average was $2 million a day a year earlier, according to the meeting notes, providing a backdrop to the development of tools supporting contract use on the network.
In asset tokenization, Stellar said the value of tokenized real-world assets reached $4 billion on 1 September 2026. The foundation's page dedicated to this activity lists 67 tokenized products, alongside 10 regulated issuers. Commercial use of the network also extends to stablecoin services through its partnership with MoneyGram. The foundation said MoneyGram's app, equipped with a feature for holding a stablecoin balance, was already operating in Colombia. It added that the expansion includes making stablecoin-powered features available in El Salvador, as part of an extension of the partnership to broaden their use in financial services.
The upgrade guide set 3 November 2026 as the proposed date for a vote on upgrading the testnet, at 17:00 UTC. The proposed vote on upgrading the mainnet follows on 23 November 2026, at the same time. Activation of the upgrade depends on the vote, with the foundation stressing that the schedule is subject to change. On quantum readiness, Stellar's roadmap places the introduction of quantum-resistant signers at the protocol level in a later phase in 2027. That phase includes optional migration to the new signatures, according to the foundation's roadmap, building on the addition of verification tools within contracts in "Bell."