According to CoinMeta, Stellar ( XLM ) is counting down to a major smart contract upgrade aimed at simplifying the process for developers to write smart contracts on the blockchain. At the same time, the changes being made at the underlying level will help the network reach consensus more quickly as it expands. According to a recent announcement from Stellar, the next network upgrade adapter (Protocol 28) is approaching. This upgrade is designed specifically for developers, and two of the three changes ( cap-85 and cap-86 ) are intended to make the building, upgrading, and scaling of Soroban smart contracts simpler; to reduce the number of contracts users need to deploy; to ensure the atomicity and security of upgrades; and to allow contract data to evolve without disruption. The third change ( cap-83 ) enhances the performance of the consensus layer. The adapter for Protocol 28 is about to be released, with a testnet vote scheduled for August 27th, a mainnet vote expected on September 16th, and activation on the Stellar mainnet possibly following.