Astar Network is the leading smart contract platform on Polkadot — and one of the few blockchains to support both EVM (Ethereum Virtual Machine) and WASM (WebAssembly) environments simultaneously. This dual-VM approach lets Solidity developers deploy Ethereum dApps while Rust and ink! developers build with WebAssembly, all within the same ecosystem with cross-VM composability. Astar's most innovative feature is dApp Staking — a mechanism where token holders nominate smart contracts (not just validators) to receive block rewards. This creates a sustainable funding model for developers: instead of relying on grants or token sales, developers earn ongoing protocol revenue proportional to their community support. It's essentially public goods funding built into the consensus layer. Astar has expanded beyond Polkadot with Astar zkEVM — a zero-knowledge rollup on Ethereum powered by Polygon's CDK. This multi-chain strategy positions Astar across both the Polkadot and Ethereum ecosystems, targeting the Japanese and broader Asian Web3 market where founder Sota Watanabe has built significant influence.
Sota Watanabe, one of Japan's most prominent blockchain entrepreneurs, founded Astar (originally Plasm Network) in 2019. It won a Polkadot parachain slot in early 2022. The dApp Staking v2 upgrade improved the developer funding mechanism. In 2023, Astar launched its zkEVM on Ethereum, becoming a multi-ecosystem project. Astar became the largest Polkadot ecosystem project by developer activity and TVL.
Astar operates as a Polkadot parachain, inheriting security from Polkadot's relay chain via NPoS (Nominated Proof of Stake). The dual-VM supports both Solidity (EVM) and ink! (WASM) smart contracts with cross-VM calls via XVM. dApp Staking lets ASTR holders stake toward specific dApps — nominated dApps receive a portion of block rewards based on their staking support. Astar zkEVM operates as a separate Ethereum L2 using zero-knowledge proofs.
ASTR has a total supply of approximately 8.4 billion tokens with ongoing inflation funding validator rewards and dApp staking. A portion of transaction fees is burned. The dApp Staking mechanism distributes a meaningful percentage of block rewards to smart contract developers based on community nominations.
EVM + WASM support in one chain — unique flexibility for developers from different ecosystems.
Built-in developer funding via protocol rewards — a sustainable alternative to grants and token sales.
Presence on both Polkadot and Ethereum (via zkEVM) hedges against ecosystem risk.
Sota Watanabe's influence makes Astar a leading Web3 platform in Japan.
Polkadot's overall adoption and TVL lag behind Ethereum and Solana.
Operating across Polkadot and Ethereum divides developer attention and liquidity.
The model requires active community engagement — low participation dilutes its effectiveness.
Ethereum L2s and Solana offer larger developer communities and deeper liquidity.
dApp Staking lets ASTR holders nominate smart contracts to receive block rewards — similar to staking with a validator, but you're funding developers instead. Nominated dApps receive ongoing protocol-level revenue proportional to their staked support. It's a novel approach to sustainable developer funding that doesn't rely on grants or token sales.
Both are Polkadot parachains targeting smart contract development. Astar differentiates with dual-VM (EVM + WASM) and dApp Staking. Moonbeam focuses purely on EVM compatibility and cross-chain connected contracts. Astar has broader developer funding mechanisms; Moonbeam has deeper Ethereum tooling compatibility. Astar generally leads in TVL and developer activity.
Hedging ecosystem risk and maximizing reach. Polkadot provides shared security and cross-chain messaging (XCM), while Ethereum offers the largest developer community and liquidity. Astar zkEVM on Ethereum captures Ethereum users; Astar on Polkadot captures the Polkadot ecosystem. The risk is dividing resources too thinly across both.
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