Among those was the decision to use Rust as the primary programming language, along with WebAssembly, also known as WASM, as the instruction format. That’s instead of Solidity, the language used to run the Ethereum Virtual Machine, which is the foundation for running smart contracts on the Ethereum, Avalanche, Celo and Fantom blockchains, and many other networks.
Source: https://www.coindesk.com/tech/2023/10/18/stellar-early-blockchain-built-for-payments-adds-smart-contracts-to-take-on-ethereum/?utm_medium=referral&utm_source=rss&utm_campaign=headlines