Stellar’s Protocol 30, called Bell, is live on testnet, with validators scheduled to vote on mainnet activation on November 23 at 17:00 UTC, according to the Stellar Development Foundation’s developer blog and The Defiant. The foundation notes that dates are subject to change.
Bell contains three proposals. CAP-84 adds muxed contract addresses, which carry a 64-bit ID and use a new address format starting with “W.” That lets one contract track balances for many customers instead of requiring a separate contract for each. CAP-87 lets Soroban smart contracts verify ML-DSA post-quantum signatures, so contract accounts can require quantum-safe authorization. CAP-88 moves the ledger to a millisecond clock, which prepares the network for faster ledger closes in later upgrades.
The foundation is explicit about limits. Network transaction signatures remain Ed25519, so Bell does not make Stellar quantum-proof, and a native post-quantum signer for classic accounts is planned for a future protocol change. The existing closeTime field will still report whole seconds, and ledger close times do not change with this release.
Action is required from builders rather than holders. SDK users should upgrade, wallets and exchanges need to support the new W address type, and indexers or explorers that decode raw ledger data without an SDK must update their XDR definitions or their decoders will break. Validators should follow the Bell upgrade guide. The foundation’s post was written before the testnet vote, and the mainnet outcome is not yet known.
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Sources:
Stellar Development Foundation: Introducing Bell, Protocol 30 on Stellar
The Defiant: Stellar’s Bell Upgrade Goes Live on Testnet Ahead of Mainnet Vote
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