Intro

Astar is starting the year with achieving significant milestones in the roadmap.

We have been working on enhancing the protocol, introduced in the Astar beginning, dApp Staking, that has been empowering dApps to generate passive income with community support. In the second week of February, we'll launch dApp Staking v3 on Astar, introducing significant changes, while preserving the core mechanism.

Concurrently, Astar is expanding its cross-chain capabilities to Ethereum with Astar zkEVM mainnet launch February 2024. Developed in collaboration with Polygon Labs, Astar zkEVM is a valuable addition to our tech stack. Several crypto-native projects and service providers are already leveraging it to build unique experiences, some of them are: The Graph, Rarible, LayerZero, Safe Core SDK, Gelato Relayer, Web3Auth, SubQuery, Pyth, Safe, Startale, Band Protocol, Subsquid, Acurast.

Following the mainnet launch, Astar will introduce 'Yoki Origins', a journey for users to explore Astar Network's original characters inspired by Japanese Yokais called "Yokis". Users can collect and upgrade Yokis while discovering global artists and enterprises joining Astar zkEVM with a goal to offer an accessible web3 experience for all.

Astar zkEVM Launch

Astar zkEVM the new Layer-2 solution to scale a web3 experience on Ethereum with zero knowledge (ZK) technology. This upgrade expands the Astar Tech Stack to include two solutions: Astar Substrate and Astar zkEVM. Having Astar zkEVM brings new benefits to the community:

Inheriting Ethereum’s security
High scalability
Low fees even during high demand
Access to a new vibrant web3 ecosystem
Familiar developer experience powered by Ethereum’s proven stack of tooling and infrastructure

Organizations and businesses are now bringing new use cases to the network in anticipation of the mainnet launch. Two examples this month:

Yoake Idol: Yasushi Akimoto, Japan’s legendary idol producer, starts Idol projects on Astar zkEVM. He is the writer and producer known for the widely successful AKB48 Show and music for Disney’s Wreck-It Ralph.

KOKYO NFTs: Hakuhodo and Japan Airlines have created the second iteration of “KOKYO NFTs” this February, with the main collection mintable on Astar zkEVM mainnet. The collection of NFTs unlocks 6 unique exclusive local experiences across Japan, and will be available for anyone worldwide to purchase on Astar.

We’re working closely with Polygon Labs to ensure the Astar community is the first to tap into the Polydon CDK technology. A recent update from Polygon will mean that Astar is the first ecosystem to tap into two features unique to Polygon technology: Aggregation Layer & LyLx Bridge.

This means individuals on Astar can access dApps and transfer assets from Polygon PoS and zkEVM without even knowing that they are switching networks.

dApp Staking v3

dApp Staking is Astar’s unique mechanism to financially incentivise developers, and build a strong relationship between developers, stakers and users of dApps, where everyone is rewarded.

It is a crucial accelerator in realizing our Web3 vision, as it lays the foundation for the development of exceptional dApps for users and fuels the drive towards making Web3 accessible to all.

What is going to change?

At its core, the dApp Staking mechanism will remain the same.

At the same time, dApp Staking v3 will bring several enhancements to address the challenges and flaws in the initial protocol design, uncovered internally and by our community:

Scalable Rewards: Recognizing that there's a limit to how many dApps can be accommodated due to finite rewards, we aim to create a system that expands the number of supported dApps as the network's value increases.
Cap on Rewards: Each dApp will have a maximum limit on the rewards it can earn to ensure fair distribution.
Support for Newly Launched dApps: New dApps joining the staking protocol won't have to immediately compete with the most popular ones for substantial rewards, yet healthy competition is still promoted. For this purpose, tier-based reward distribution system will be introduced.
Increased Engagement for Stakers: We're shifting the focus to encourage stakers to take a more active approach to staking.
Rewards for Active Participation: Stakers who actively participate and engage will receive greater rewards.
Locking and Staking Separation: Locking funds allows stakers to participate in dApp staking, but locked funds won't bring any rewards. Staking means voting for a dApp and becoming eligible for earning rewards.

At Astar, we aim to make dApp staking accessible and attractive to all, with fair competition and rewards for those who are contributing to the Astar ecosystem growth.

Please find detailed information on dApp Staking v3 in the following resources:

DApp Staking v3 explained: https://astar.network/blog/dapp-staking-v3-explained-48693
DApp Staking v3 user guide: https://astar.network/blog/dapp-staking-v3-user-guide-49692
DApp Staking v3 documentation: https://docs.astar.network/docs/learn/dapp-staking/

Yoki Origins

‘Yoki Origins’ is Astar zkEVM’s launch campaign.

There will be Astar Network’s original characters “Yokis” inspired by Japanese Yokais. It will launch right after the zkEVM mainnet launch.
More than 40 web3 projects, creators, and enterprises are preparing their own NFTs.

How does the campaign work?

Collect various NFTs. Each project has its own “Yo-Port”, a capsule toy machine. From this machine, users can obtain the project’s original NFTs.
Collect OMAs and evolve. Together with projects’ NFTs, users also obtain “OMA” token. This OMA token can be used to hatch Yokis from the capsule. By spending more OMA token, the Yokis will also upgrade.
Hatch & upgrade and score! Actions related to owning Yokis will allow users to score points in our campaign!

Where can I follow more info?

Astar created mangas specifically for Yoki Origins. Check it out here!
Want to gain early access to obtain special NFTs at the beginning of the campaign? Check out the “1st Edition Capsule” campaign we are running!

You can watch the entire community call here: https://www.youtube.com/live/CdWCkL3i1Bk?si=Iczuh7TTPjEyRJg6&t=45