The Defiant

Founded nearly a decade ago in 2014, the Stellar network is taking one of its largest steps yet, by bringing smart contracts to Stellar. Through the integration of its new smart contracts platform, Soroban, Stellar is looking to continue forward as a secure, scalable, and low-cost home for DeFi, payments solutions, and more.

Since its inception Stellar has focused largely on acting as a permissionless payment solution, for people across the world, especially those in underserved and underbanked regions. The development of smart contracts on Stellar will allow for an ecosystem of new dApps and protocols that weren’t possible on the network before, and eventually allow for users to go directly from cash to DeFi.

Secure and Easy to Build

Through 10 years of work Stellar has proven itself as a trustworthy network for users to transact on. However with the launch of Soroban, Stellar must be ready to scale into a network capable of hosting an entire DeFi ecosystem.

With this in mind Soroban incorporates well known development tools such as Rust and WebAssembly. Having a familiar backend makes it easier for developers to transition to Stellar from any other EVM or Rust based platforms. This familiarity factor increases the likelihood of a higher number of developers trying out Stellar, which can lead to a deeper and more innovative ecosystem on the network.

Some existing protocols have made the transition to Stellar mainnet already, including the automated market-maker Soroswap, and XYC, which is a lending and borrowing protocol. As the network begins to pick up steam, other existing protocols from Ethereum, Solana, and other ecosystems may expand their offerings to Stellar as well.

A Scalable and Efficient Experience

In line with the standards set by Stellar payment solutions, Soroban was built for Stellar to continue with low transaction costs, predictable fees, and scalability. Soroban implements fee and metering systems to accurately determine and price resource consumption, which allows for each block’s resources to be used more efficiently, thus supporting the scalability of the Stellar network.

Stellar’s transition to a DeFi network is still in its early days, but could potentially scale quickly. Given its large existing user base and access to premium on and off-ramps, Stellar has less friction than other brand new smart contract networks. The network is already integrated with premium fiat issuers and exchanges such as Circle and Coinbase, and now will be empowering their userbases with inclusive dApps and services.

Summary

After a decade of providing decentralized payment solutions, this next step for Stellar looks to be one of, if not its most ambitious yet. The launch of Soroban opens up an array of possibilities on the network that supports the idea of truly accessible decentralized finance.

The ability to use and create dApps will bring previously unattainable services to the underbanked, and may also provide innovative new products for many previously crypto-native investors. Through reliable infrastructure, low friction, and a proven track record, Soroban sets up Stellar network to become a new blockchain ecosystem that aims to provide DeFi solutions without borders.