About

Astar Network (formerly known as Plasm) is a decentralized blockchain platform for Web3. It supports both EVM and WebAssembly environments, allowing for interoperability between them. Developers can earn incentives through the Build2Earn program by building decentralized apps. It runs in conjunction with Ethereum, Polkadot, and Cosmos, enabling the free flow of assets and communications between different ecosystems.

History

Astar Network was founded in January 2019 by Sota Watanabe, a well-known leader in the blockchain space. Astar is maintained by Watanabe and his team through Stake Technologies, operating in Japan though domiciled in Singapore. Originally the project was called Plasm Network, with a full rebranding to Astar having been executed in June 2021. Astar has raised over thirty-three million US dollars at time of publication (May 2022), and is a major project in the Polkadot ecosystem and the Web3.0 vertical more broadly.

The project’s initial focus was the development of a Layer 2 scaling solution for Polkadot, in which it has succeeded and continues to expand upon to date. However, Astar is well-known today as a smart contract platform used by Web3.0 developers with both Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and WebAssembly (WASM) compatability. The project aims to improve efficiency, both in terms of cost and speed, for developers in increasingly crowded blockchain environments. Through the introduction of dApp staking, users can support projects of their choice instead of staking to secure the network.

As countless new users join the crypto space each day, decentralized applications (dApps) are shifting towards mainstream use. With this, users are demanding cheaper, faster, and richer experiences. With Astar, developers are free to focus more on the latter. Astar’s Layer 2 capabilities allow developers to abstract part of their operations away from the primary chain, reducing congestion and costs in the process, underpinned by the Optimistic Virtual Machine (OVM) module. Further optimizations are made possible via Plasma and zero-knowledge rollup (ZKRollup) functions. Web3.0 applications can also make use of cross-chain interoperability, made possible by Polkadot.

Astar Network is a parachain in the Polkadot ecosystem ranked highly across various measures including total value locked at time of publication (May 2022). The project has expanded its scope and user base significantly since its founding, and looks set to bring further innovation to the Web3.0 space. Astar is a leading destination for new projects given its technical offerings and financial incentives, including through its incubation and #Build2Earn programs. Governance of the project is set to become gradually decentralized, eventually becoming a DAO and featuring direct on-chain voting.