Jan 18, 2022
Astar EVM is activated!
Astar Network is a multichain smart contract hub supporting both Ethereum Virtual Machine and WebAssembly. We are excited to announce that with the launch of Astar we activated EVM. Developers are ready to deploy Solidity smart contracts on Astar Network.
Given that Polkadot ecosystem parachains don’t support WebAssembly smart contracts due to this known issue, EVM smart contract is the only option for developers who would like to make dApps on the top of a Polkadot parachain. As Dr.Gavin Wood said in a CoinDesk interview, having EVM smart contracts is very important for developers who have already created dApps on other layer1 blockchains especially Ethereum.
However, WebAssembly is the future of smart contracts. We will be transitioning from EVM to WebAssembly in 2022. The point is that this transition will not be happening in a day or in a month. It must take months possibly years. Hence, having 2 virtual machines on a single parachain and making them interactive is very important for Polkadot ecosystem developers.
Supporting EVM is our first step. In the coming weeks, we will activate #Build2Earn and support various smart contract tools like Truffle and Hardhat. If you are interested in building on Astar, please take a look at Astar Builders Program.
Introducing Astar Portal
As described above, Astar has both EVM and WebAssembly. Users can interact with our network by using Metamask and Polkadot.js as well as Clover Wallet and MathWallet.
Once #Build2Earn is activated, users can stake their tokens on dApps through your Polkadot.js account and earn daily rewards. If you choose Metamask, you are able to manage $ASTR on Metamask and use EVM applications.
One of our FAQs from the community is how to transfer $ASTR from Polkadot.js to Metamask. This is very simple. All you need to do it to connect Polkadot.js
and fill out your Ethereum address in this section.
In the coming days, a lot of DeFi app and NFT app will be deployed on Astar Network EVM. Get ready to use Astar with Metamask and enjoy the dApps.
About Astar
Astar Network (previously known as Plasm) is a dApp hub on Polkadot that supports Ethereum, WebAssembly, and layer 2 solutions like ZK Rollups. Astar aims to be a multi-chain smart contract platform that will support multiple blockchains and virtual machines. Polkadot Relay Chain doesn’t support smart contracts. That’s why it’s important for the ecosystem to have a parachain that enables this for all developers who want to build in the Polkadot ecosystem. Astar is here to provide the best solution for all developers by supporting EVM and making a parachain where EVM and WASM smart contracts can co-exist and communicate with each other.
