Dear Astar Community,
As you’ve noticed, we’re deep in the bear market. It’s the perfect time to continue building, and it’s surely not a coincidence that we’ve seen big announcements coming from other renowned builders in the space.
At Astar, we started with the mission of using technology to have a positive impact on society. We have become the first public blockchain listed in Japan and quickly succeeded in becoming one of the most recognized and active parachains.
But this is just the first part of a multi-step journey for us. After establishing ourselves and getting deeply embedded in the ecosystem, we’re moving on to bigger things with Astar 2.0.
Today, we announce our vision and the path we will take in Astar 2.0. The beginning of something impactful! In the upcoming weeks, we will dive deeper into each topic with a series of blog articles, infographics, and deep-dive AMAs.
What is Astar 2.0 all about?
Astar is evolving, and Astar 2.0 will impact all facets of our network, from tokenomics to governance structure.
While 1.0 was all about building the underlying infrastructure and ensuring it’s secure, reliable, and battle-tested, Astar 2.0 focuses on getting us ready to deliver web3 to billions and further decentralizing Astar. 2.0 describes the future iteration of our network, as well as shows the direction we’re headed towards. A crucial part of Astar 2.0 is what we call Astar Link.
Astar Link
From the start, Astar has been combining multiple virtual machines enabling dApps to communicate with EVM and Substrate chains. With Astar Link, we’re going further to create a hybrid chain connecting all currently fragmented layers of the blockchain industry. We deeply believe that for the technology to succeed, we’ll need to create unified and seamless experiences for both users and developers. Astar Link will operate as a hub to enhance interoperability and be a marketplace for SDKs to improve builders’ experience to onboard Rollups, Zero-Knowledge implementations, and other tools necessary for mass adoption.
Toward that end, we’ll work closely with the community and developers, iterating and improving - also known as Kaizen - to offer the most holistic set of tools and customization options. With the Astar toolkit, developers are empowered to build unique solutions that are only limited by their imagination, no longer by technological constraints.
Astar is built to connect multiple chains without sacrificing the developer experience. Our highly customizable framework and modular stack offer building blocks that can be combined to form unique solutions.
Tokenomics
There has been a public discussion around Astar tokenomics for a while, and we thank everyone who contributed critical feedback. We’re currently working on revising them. And will launch an updated version soon. Our focus is to set ASTR up to best serve the needs of all ecosystem participants, from developers to users to enterprise partners. Stay tuned for more details and join the discussion on our forum. Some notable changes will include adjusting the inflation rate, the gas cost, and the reward structure for dApp staking. It’s essential to ensuring a sustainable future of growth and success.
Staking 2.0
Improving the user experience on our portal has always been at the top of our list. During staking 2.0, we will dramatically improve our portal. Currently, we have 2 types of address schemes, an Astar native address and an Ethereum address on Astar. We are already in the final stages of building out our unified account interface that helps users use both Wasm and EVM based smart contracts. We set up dApp staking to fairly reward developers positively who are contributing to the Astar ecosystem by creating dApps people want to use. With Astar 2.0, we’re rehauling the system to align incentives closer between builders and supporters while ensuring that all contributors are rewarded fairly. With future integrations of analytics and an enhanced user experience, dApp staking will become more widely accessible and attractive to all.
While our ultimate goal is the creation of a DAO, rushing it wouldn’t benefit anyone. We’re taking deliberate steps to ensure that enterprise partners still have a centralized entity to negotiate with while slowly creating the framework to hand over control to the community. Below are the entities that are playing a crucial role in Astar 2.0
What’s next? - The Supernova
Actions speak louder than words. Watch out for our coming updates in the middle of Q3, which will see Astar deliver on its web3 promises. Like a supernova exploding and impacting the universe, Astar aims to have the same impact in the web3 universe. Bringing Astar technology and vision to the masses.
Astar Foundation
The foundation so far has played a very active role in shaping the ecosystem and building the necessary tech. It remains the primary maintainer of the source code. It deploys resources across the Astar ecosystem through partnerships, community initiatives, hiring developers, awarding grants, and supporting projects on their journey exploring Astar. The foundation will continue its vital role of being a thought leader in the space and fostering the growth of the network.
Startale Labs
Startale Labs’s mission is “Web3 for Billions”. Startale Labs is developing web3 infrastructure, including layer 1 public blockchain nodes and indexers. Currently, the company is working with top Japanese companies to make web3 use cases, and more exciting news follow in the coming months.
Astar DAO
For the time being, the DAO is something we aspire to become. Astar 2.0 will see us put the necessary tools and frameworks in place while doing a lot of the ground education work to ensure the transition goes smoothly. We envision a DAO that governs the network in the best interest of all its participants, where anyone can voice their views and proactively make suggestions that are voted upon.
“It’s a critical time for the entire web3 and time to showcase the true value that blockchain technology can offer. With Astar 2.0, we’re presenting a vision that’ll guide us toward becoming the obvious choice to go, regardless of whether you’re an enterprise or an indie developer creating public goods and looking for sustainable ways to finance it.”
- Maarten Henskens, Head of Astar Foundation
Join us on this journey as we become unstoppable. Let’s reach for the stars together.
Your Astar Team.