- The Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has postponed the anticipated Protocol 20 upgrade vote on January 30, disarming validators in response to a bug discovered in Stellar Core v20.1.0.
- The bug, initially deemed low-risk, prompted a reevaluation after community discussions, leading the SDF to prioritize consensus and preparedness for the significant protocol change.
In a surprising turn of events, the Stellar Development Foundation (SDF) has announced the postponement of the eagerly anticipated Protocol 20 upgrade vote scheduled for January 30. The decision stems from the foundation’s responsiveness to concerns voiced by various stakeholders within the expansive Stellar ecosystem, ranging from contract developers to wallet developers, validators, and tool builders.
Bug Unveiled: A Hiccup in the Upgrade Journey
On January 25, the SDF unveiled a bug nestled within Stellar Core v20.1.0, with potential ramifications for applications and services utilizing fee bumps for Soroban transactions in the event of the Mainnet upgrading to Protocol 20. Initially deemed low-risk by the SDF, community discussions triggered a reevaluation as stakeholders voiced their apprehensions.
Embracing Collaboration: A Network Upgrade in Flux
Highlighting the collaborative spirit of network upgrades, the SDF actively engaged the Stellar Dev Discord and developer mailing list to garner insights from the community. The decision to disarm validators was a strategic move to prioritize a broad consensus and ensure preparedness for the impending and impactful protocol change.
With the SDF taking a step back, other validators in the open-source community retain the autonomy to vote for Protocol 20. Should quorum be achieved, the upgrade will proceed. Alternatively, if validators also choose to disarm and quorum remains elusive, the network will continue operating under Protocol 19 temporarily.
Validators looking to disarm can utilize the provided stellar-core command. Irrespective of the voting outcome, the SDF has pledged to address the identified bug and engage in discussions with validators. In the event of a postponed upgrade, coordination for a future vote is on the horizon, slated to occur once a Stellar Core version housing the bug fix is released, expected within the next two weeks. The Stellar ecosystem now finds itself at a pivotal juncture, navigating through unexpected challenges as it charts the course for its Protocol 20 upgrade.
