Stellar to Upgrade Mainnet in January
Stellar network validators have reached a consensus to conduct a vote on January 30th, regarding the mainnet upgrade to Protocol 20. This decision is aimed at providing ample time for the ecosystem to prepare for the upgrade by installing the necessary software.
What is a hardfork?
The cryptocurrency mainnet operates according to certain rules. To improve network performance or correct errors, changes are periodically introduced into it. A hard fork represents changes that are not compatible with previous versions of software supporting the cryptocurrency network. In order to continue to mine the cryptocurrency, miners need to update the software.
In some cases, as a result of a hard fork, a completely new cryptocurrency may appear, as happened with Bitcoin Cash and EthereumPoW.