Stellar (XLM) has announced the launch of Soroban, a smart contract platform focused on performance, sustainability, and security with developers in mind. According to Stellar, these foundational pillars aim to support the creation of scalable, efficient, and secure decentralized finance (DeFi) applications.
Performance and Security
Building a new financial system capable of handling billions or trillions of dollars in transactions requires a robust and secure platform. Soroban addresses this requirement by prioritizing security as a core design principle. The platform aims to make writing secure smart contracts a default path for developers.
Soroban’s security foundation is built on Rust, a programming language known for its safety features. Rust’s memory safety guarantees and extensive tooling help catch potential issues early in the development process, reducing the risk of vulnerabilities.
Re-entry removal
One of the key security features of Soroban is the decision to disallow reentrancy. This feature is useful in general programming, but can be dangerous in financial applications. Reentrancy attacks have been responsible for some of the biggest hacks in blockchain history. By eliminating reentrancy, Soroban significantly reduces the attack surface, making the platform safer for both developers and users.
Granular authorization
Soroban also implements a permission-required framework that simplifies security and prevents misuse. Unlike existing smart contract platforms that often use broad permissions, Soroban allows contracts to request specific and limited permissions. This granular approach reduces the attack surface and protects users from potential exploits by malicious contracts.
The platform’s authorization model is designed to be easy to use, requiring only the bare minimum of code required to implement security measures. For example, only one line of code is required to initiate a token transfer, dramatically simplifying secure application development and reducing the potential for developer errors.
Future outlook
With Soroban, Stellar aims to provide a secure and efficient foundation for developers to build innovative DeFi applications. With a focus on performance, sustainability, and security, Soroban solves critical challenges faced by developers in the blockchain space, allowing them to focus on building features instead of constantly worrying about potential vulnerabilities.
As the DeFi sector continues to grow, platforms like Soroban that prioritize security and developer experience are likely to play a critical role in shaping the future of decentralized finance.
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