Astar Network, a smart contracts platform for multichain, is thrilled to announce that it will launch Smart Contracts 2.0 – the WebAssembly (WASM) smart contracts that extend the Web3 functionality of EVM – on the mainnet at 14:00 UTC on Thursday, April 06th. With this technical update, Astar Network will support both Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and WASM VM smart contracts on the mainnet.

Astar Network is hosting a virtual celebration with the entire Web3 community, called WASM Launch Day. Interested developers, Web3 enthusiasts, and those new to crypto can RSVP for the live panel discussion on WASM Launch Day here. Astar’s Founder Sota Watanabe, Head of Growth Maarten Henskens, and Polkadot developers along with the leading infrastructure teams will discuss how WASM will revolutionize blockchain.

With our next level smart contracts, you can create a WASM or EVM project, and you can create new multichain applications. Anyone can also connect their Astar project to any Polkadot or EVM ecosystem. There are no limitations on what you can build. This is the next level of smart contracts! ” said Sota Watanabe, Founder of Astar Network.

Moreover, Astar Network will hold a virtual meet-up with Parity, Phala, DIA, SubWallet, Brushfam & Subsquid– the infrastructure partners that will build the foundation of Astar’s WASM environment. Developers will also be apprised of how to create a promising multichain network on Astar.

On April 6th, Astar Network will become the first Polkadot parachain to support a stable WASM environment by enabling ink! smart contracts. Software developers will be able to build with Polkadot, too, thanks to the XCM functionality.

Astar Network supports both the Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and WebAssembly (WASM) smart contract environments. Having two VMs simultaneously and making them interactive is a key success factor for an emerging Layer-1 blockchain. Though Ethereum brought us the Web3 revolution with the introduction of smart contracts, it cannot build the innovative future of blockchain alone.

WASM VM enables new developers to begin their Web3 journey on Astar since it is compatible with many programming languages including C/C++, GO, TypeScript, Java, and RUST. Developers don’t need to learn a new programming language from scratch to start building. They can build with the language they are already familiar with. The variety of tools and resources used by software developers can now be integrated with Astar technology.

As one of the leading teams pushing WASM and EVM smart contract environments that allow developers to deploy dApps with ease, Astar is committed to bettering the infrastructure around Wasm and ink! within the Polkadot ecosystem.

About Astar Network

Astar Network supports the building of dApps with EVM and WASM smart contracts and offers developers true interoperability with cross-consensus messaging (XCM) and a cross-virtual machine (XVM). Astar’s unique Build2Earn model empowers developers to get paid through a dApp staking mechanism for their code and the dApps they build.

One of the first parachains to come to the Polkadot ecosystem, Astar is a vibrant network that is supported by all major exchanges and tier 1 VCs. Astar offers the flexibility of all Ethereum and WASM toolings for developers to start building their dApps. To accelerate growth on Polkadot and Kusama Networks, Astar SpaceLabs offers an Incubation Hub for top TVL dApps.