Stellar activates Protocol 28 as network sets throughput record

CryptoSlate reported that Stellar activated Protocol 28 by Sept. 17, following a scheduled mainnet upgrade vote held on Sept. 16. The release introduces tools for managing large smart-contract deployments.

The upgrade coincided with a performance milestone. According to blockchain analysis firm Chainspect, the network processed over 211 transactions per second for 100 straight blocks. This rate represents the highest sustained throughput recorded for Stellar.

Protocol 28 incorporates updates from CAP-85, CAP-86, and CAP-83. CAP-85 permits developers to transfer clusters of Soroban smart contracts to new code in one atomic step. CAP-66 provides functions to migrate stored data without enforcing immediate schema compliance. CAP-83 allows validators to advance consensus without awaiting complete transaction sets.

Financial activity on the network grew during this period. DeFiLlama data indicates that stablecoin holdings on Stellar climbed to close to $884 million over the last year. Total value locked in Stellar DeFi hit approximately $319 million in August before sliding to around $294 million.

Token Terminal lists Stellar’s tokenized real-world assets at roughly $3.3 billion, an increase of $149.4 million during the past 30 days. Using the new contract features remains optional for Soroban teams. XLM rose by roughly 4% in the previous 24 hours to hit $0.1863 before pulling back toward $0.18.