Astar Network
Astar Network to launch smart contracts that support two virtual machines
The Astar Network team claimed that having two virtual machines is a key success factor in a budding layer-1 blockchain.
Multichain decentralized application (DApp) protocol Astar Network will launch the second iteration of its smart contracts that supports both Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) WebAssembly Virtual Machine (WASM VM) on its mainnet on April 6.
In an announcement sent to Cointelegraph, Astar Network founder Sota Watanabe explained that the new update would allow the creation of WASM or EVM projects within their network and allow the inception of new multichain apps. According to Watanabe, the new upgrade will let people connect their Astar project to any Polkadot or EVM-based ecosystems.
The countdown to Wasm Launch Day has begun!
— Astar, Future of Smart Contracts for Multichain (@AstarNetwork) March 27, 2023
Join @WatanabeSota @henskensm and @Polkadot on April 6th to launch Astar's Wasm Revolution with Polkadot ink! smart contracts!
➡️ Sign up Here: https://t.co/tHGApJmyyW pic.twitter.com/R9w4YeUHTR
Within the announcement, the Astar Network team argued that simultaneously having two virtual machines and allowing interactions between the two is a "key success factor" in an emerging layer-1 blockchain. The team claimed that even though the Ethereum network brought about the Web3 revolution through smart contracts, it cannot build the future of blockchain on its own.
To celebrate its launch, the Astar team invited community members to tune into a panel discussion led by its executives and various Polkadot developers to discuss how WASM can be utilized. Furthermore, the company will meet with its infrastructure partners who will build the foundations for the WASM environment.
Related: ConsenSys zkEVM set for public testnet to deliver secure settlements on Ethereum
In other news, Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution Polygon has recently released its zkEVM beta to its mainnet, letting developers deploy smart contracts at lower costs. On March 27, Polygon founder Sandeep Nailwal described zero-knowledge (ZK) proofs as the “holy grail of Ethereum scaling.”
Meanwhile, the Web3 Foundation, the team behind Polkadot, has once again argued that the Polkadot (DOT) token is not a security. On Jan. 26, the firm restated that DOT has already morphed away from being a security and said that the United States Securities and Exchange Commission has welcomed talks with the firm.
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Sony and Astar Network Launch Web3 Incubation Program for NFT and DAO-Focused Projects
On Feb. 17, 2023, Tokyo-based Sony Network Communications announced that it is co-hosting a Web3 incubation program with the multichain smart contract platform Astar Network. The program has started accepting applications, and Sony and Astar will jointly mentor Web3 projects “focused on the utility” of non-fungible tokens (NFTs) and decentralized autonomous organizations (DAOs). Sony and […]Astar Network CEO: Webassembly Smart Contracts Are Going to ‘Pull a Lot of Talent From Web2 to Web3’
Ethereum is almost universally credited for kickstarting the Web3 revolution after it brought to life the concept of smart contracts. However, some in the Web3 community, like Astar Network’s Sota Watanabe, believe the protocol cannot “build the innovative future of blockchain alone.” In addition, some critics point to the language obstacle which they argue makes […]Japan considers implementing tax reforms to prevent capital flight of crypto startups
Industry experts say that the current scheme is stifling domestic innovation in the virtual currency sector.
According to local news outlet Yomiuri, Japan's Financial Services Agency is considering amending the virtual currency taxation system for corporate entities ahead of the country's 2023 tax reform. The proposed change includes removing capital gain liabilities for undisposed corporate crypto assets at the end of each taxation year, as well as changing the classification of virtual assets so the maximum capital gains tax applicable is reduced to 20% from 55%.
Under Japan's current taxation laws, unrealized capital gains on virtual currencies are recognized as income at the end of each fiscal year (on March 31), resulting in income tax liabilities. In addition, both individual and corporate crypto earnings of over 200,000 JPY ($1,463) in any given fiscal year are classified as "miscellaneous income," which is taxed at a rate ranging from 15% to 55%, with the local inhabitant's tax rate included. In comparison, profits earned from stock and forex trading are only subjected to a tax of 20% at the highest levels.
Foreign permanent residents of Japan are also subjected to the nominal rates of 55% upwards. All crypto-income generating activities, such as decentralized finance lending, Bitcoin mining or plain cryptocurrency trading are taxed according to miscellaneous income. It is also not possible to carry forward any capital losses resulting from crypto operations in the years forward.
Industry experts say that the high tax liabilities faced by Japanese crypto startups play a major role in shifting their corporate domiciles abroad. One such company, Astar Network, a decentralized network hub on Polkadot, decided to issue its tokens overseas earlier this year to avoid stringent tax payments and is currently headquartered in Singapore. Expressing his comments on the proposed tax reform, Astar's founder Sota Watanabe said that it could be "good momentum for the Web3 industry, although it's still in the middle of the road."
もしこれが動けば、まだまだ道半ばですがweb3業界にとって良いモーメンタムになると思います。業界団体の方々など関係者の方々の声がやっと政治に届いた事例になると思います。引き続きみんなで業界盛り上げていきたい。 https://t.co/8DOWSfQqBQ
— 渡辺創太 Astar Network (@Sota_Web3) August 24, 2022
Astar Network Raises $22M to Boost Polkadot Interoperability
DFG piles $12.6M into Astar Network’s Polkadot parachain bid
Astar Network currently ranks third place in Polkadot’s first parachain auction behind Acala and Moonbeam.
The first-ever parachain auction on Polkadot is heating up, with leading projects from the Polkadot ecosystem competing for the coveted first slot.
On Nov. 15, DFG Group — a global blockchain investment firm controlling $1 billion in assets under management — announced it had pledged 300,000 DOT tokens (worth $12.65 million) in support of Astar Network’s parachain bid.
Polkadot will use parachain auctions to realize its sharded proof-of-stake ecosystem. In order to secure a parachain or shard on the Polkadot network, projects compete in auctions by bidding to lock up large sums of DOT for the duration of a parachain slot’s lease. Projects competingfor parachain slots distribute governance to tokens to users who contribute dot to their parachain auction bids.
Astar Network, previously known as Plasm, is vying to build a decentralized application hub on Polkadot that supports Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and Web Assembly-based smart contracts.
According to the Nov. 15 announcement, DFG has made the pledge through the Bifrost’s Slot Auction Liquidity Protocol (SALP), which allows users to participate in parachain auctions held on both Polkadot and Kusama.
Bifrost’s SALP platform allows users to contribute to a wide range of parachain auctions, while also providing participants with liquid staking derivatives representing their underlying DOT contributions.
DFG Founder and CEO, James Wo, commented that “aside from a very strong team, Astar addresses a critical interoperability issue and bridges Polkadot with Ethereum, which will bring a great number of experienced teams to this ecosystem.”
The company is an early investor in new and emerging protocols including Polkadot, Kusama, Avalanche, Solana, and Near.
Astar is currently in the third spot in the first Polkadot parachain auction which began on Nov. 11. Astar has a total of 6.6 million DOT worth around $281 million staked for its crowdloan according to Dotmarketcap which is tracking the auction progress.
Acala Network is currently leading the crowdloan race with 30.7 million DOT pledged worth roughly $1.3 billion. Moonbeam, an EVM-compatible smart contract platform, ranks as close second place also with 30.6 million DOT locked up.
DFG also pledged 500,000 DOT to Acala in early November before the auction commenced.
Related: Polkadot price moves higher as parachain auctions reduce DOT’s circulating supply
The first auction will run until Nov. 18 and the winner is decided by the Dutch candle method, with the precise moment of the auction’s close determined retroactively at the end of the bidding period.
The projects that win Polkadot’s first five parachain slots will go live on Dec. 17 and will hold the slot until there their lease period ends.
Shiden secures third parachain slot on Kusama
The canary project of Polkadot-based multi-chain DApp hub Astar Network has won Kusama’s third parachain auction.
Shiden, the sister-project of leading Polkadot-native layer-two decentralized app hub, Astar Network (formerly Plasm Network), has won the third parachain auction for Polkadot’s experimental sister-network, Kusama.
Shiden secured the slot with a total of 137,020 KSM tokens bonded — worth nearly $29 million at current prices.
Shiden is a smart contract platform for Kusama-based DApps, offering multi-chain support for Ethereum Virtual Machine and WebAssembly-based contracts. The project also plans to deliver layer-two technology including Plasm and Optimistic rollups on Kusama.
Layer-twos have emerged as the dominant scaling solution for Ethereum, with co-founder Vitalik Buterin predicting rollups will scale the network by roughly 100 times and mitigate Ethereum’s scaling woes until sharding is introduced.
Parachain auctions allow projects to compete for one of Kusama’s 100 parachains, which are akin to sharded sidechains that interact with the network’s main “relay chain” to offer specialized execution and process transactions.
Auctions are conducted via a crowd loan, where projects’ followers agree to lock KSM toward their parachain bid in exchange for governance tokens.
Kusama’s parachains have so far gone to the canary networks of major Polkadot-based projects, with Acala Network’s Karura winning the first slot on June 22 with more than 500,000 KSM bonded — then valued at roughly $90 million. Moonriver won the second slot the following week with nearly 206,000 KSM bonded.
The coming parachain auction is expected to be closely contested, with Khala Network and Bifrost recently being separated by less than 3,000 KSM.
On June 29, Plasm rebranded to Astar Network, signifying the expansion of its focus from Polkadot-based layer-two technology to offer multi-chain support for EVM and WebAssembly.