Astar Network to launch smart contracts 2.0 on Mainnet

Astar Network, one of the first parachains to come to the Polkadot ecosystem, has announced 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 6, 2023. The network will also host a virtual celebration called WASM Launch Day with the entire Web3 community.

The new update will support both Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and WASM VM smart contracts on the mainnet.

The WASM Launch Day

Interested developers, Web3 enthusiasts, and those new to crypto can participate in the virtual live panel discussion on WASM Launch Day. The virtual meet-up will be conducted by Astar Network in collaboration with Parity, Phala, DIA, SubWallet, Brushfam & Subsquid– the infrastructure partners that will build the foundation of Astar’s WASM environment.

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.

The WebAssembly (WASM) smart contracts

With the WebAssembly (WASM) smart contracts, users can create a WASM or EVM project, and also create new multichain applications. Users will also be able to connect their Astar project to any Polkadot or EVM ecosystem.

There are also no limitations on what users can build. This is the next level of smart contracts.

Astar Network will be the first Polkadot parachain to support a stable WASM environment by enabling smart contracts. Having two virtual machines (VMs) simultaneously and making them interactive is a key success factor for an emerging Layer-1 blockchain like Astar Network.

The WASM VM is compatible with many programming languages including C/C++, GO, TypeScript, Java, and RUST and it enables new developers to begin their Web3 journey on Astar. Developers don’t need to learn a new programming language from scratch to start building on Astar Network.