Stellar Protocol 30 Bell upgrade goes live on testnet ahead of mainnet vote

Stellar has activated its Protocol 30 upgrade, codenamed Bell, on testnet, introducing new smart contract capabilities, post-quantum signature verification and changes that could allow faster ledger processing in future upgrades. Summary Stellar has activated its Protocol 30 Bell upgrade on testnet, with validators scheduled to vote on mainnet activation on November 23 at 17:00 UTC. Bell introduces muxed contract addresses that allow exchanges, custodians and payment providers to manage multiple customer balances through a single smart contract. The upgrade adds support for post quantum ML DSA signature verification within smart contracts, while network transaction signatures will continue using Ed25519. Protocol 30 introduces millisecond ledger timing to support faster processing in future upgrades, although the change does not immediately reduce ledger closing times. Wallet providers, exchanges and infrastructure operators must update their software to support the new address format and ledger data changes before mainnet activation. According to a November 4 announcement from the Stellar Development Foundation, the testnet upgrade has been completed, with validators now scheduled...