[Update: 2024/11/20 - Astar zKyoto update]
Since day one, Astar’s mission has been unwavering: connecting you to web3. This vision has been the foundation of everything we do, driving the relentless efforts of the Astar community. Chasing big goals in web3 is not a walk in the park. The pumps and dumps are not just a part of the grind - they are where legends power through and only the true builders stand tall in the chaos.
Today, we stand proud of how far we’ve come. Years of persistence have brought us to a pivotal moment—one where the pieces of our vision align. Astar began its journey through the efforts of Startale Group, but we learned something was missing that could drive global adoption of Astar Network. That missing piece has come into focus with the creation of Soneium by Sony Block Solutions Labs, a joint venture between Sony Group and Startale Group. Soneium is the next major step in our shared mission to onboard billions to web3.
The Next Chapter of Astar: Three Core Pillars
As we uncover a new chapter of our evolving phase, we are anchoring our growth on three transformative pillars:
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Astar Interoperability
Astar Network will be fully connected to Soneium through industry-leading interop solutions such as Chainlink CCIP, which, in extension, apply to the Superchain ecosystem. Through this interoperability, ASTR will be part of today’s most used interconnected network ever built to drive its adoption. -
Astar Token Expansion
The Astar token will play a central place in Soneium as an ecosystem token for major consumer applications and payment solutions. Its use will extend beyond Soneium, reaching the broader Superchain ecosystem and leading Ethereum protocols, amplifying its role in driving on-chain utility and broadening adoption. -
Astar Decentralized Governance
Astar is evolving from its centralized roots to embrace Governance V1, empowering the community to lead through a decentralized framework.
Through these initiatives, Astar is building momentum to expand the utility of the ASTR token. With Soneium blending web3’s promise with web2’s familiarity, we aim to make dApps and decentralized solutions accessible to everyone, all of which are underpinned by the power of ASTR.
Astar’s Evolution: From Blockchain To Collective
In the initial phase of expanding the ecosystem, Astar will prioritize Soneium alongside Astar Network as the core layers of its ecosystem while leveraging the interoperability within the OP Superchain ecosystem. Soneium is uniquely positioned to bring millions of people on-chain. With a shared vision and aligned goals among core contributors, Soneium is a natural fit for Astar’s ecosystem expansion driven by the ASTR token.
As a first step, Astar Foundation is collaborating with leading interoperability providers like Chainlink (CCIP) to expand ASTR adoption by implementing secure and scalable bridging solutions to Soneium.
In the second phase, when Interop is production ready, ASTR will upgrade its contract to the ERC-7802 asset standard (SuperchainERC20). From then on, ASTR will play a crucial role in the Superchain ecosystem.
ASTR’s Evolution: Crypto For Billions
Until now, the ASTR token has served mainly as the native token of Astar Network, and we are expanding the benefits to Soneium’s growth and broader adoption. This evolution to Astar will bridge that gap, empowering ASTR holders to engage more actively in fostering adoption and directly benefit from Soneium’s success.
As Astar evolves, so does the ASTR token, transforming into the representative asset within the Astar ecosystem, consisting of both Astar Network and Soneium. It is designed to share growth benefits across ecosystem participants while serving multiple essential functions.
Specifically, below are the roles of the ASTR token:
- Staking token for dApp Staking: dApp Staking isn’t going anywhere on Astar Network. Any dApp that boosts ASTR’s value—whether on Astar Network, Soneium, or even in the Polkadot or Superchain ecosystems—can get listed through governance. ASTR remains the core staking token for dApp Staking, Astar’s game-changing way to reward builders who help drive ASTR adoption.
- Governance token of Astar: Astar collective and token holders will use ASTR as the governance token for the voting process of the Astar ecosystem. Such governance activities will be facilitated via Governance v1 in Astar Network.
- Gas token on Astar Network: Astar Network will remain the main blockchain of our ecosystem and will become the governance hub of Astar using ASTR as its gas token (native token).
- Gas Fee Burning Feature: 80% of the gas fees paid on Astar Network are burned to help maintain sustainable inflation, including other burning mechanisms built into our tokenomics.
- A representative asset on Soneium: ASTR will obtain its position as a representative asset on Soneium. Consequently, ASTR holders will benefit directly from the growth and success of Soneium by sharing in the ecosystem’s value. This will occur through various incentives provided by Soneium ecosystem builders, enabling ASTR holders to have strong exposure to the ecosystem’s upward momentum and rewards.
- Ecosystem token in the Soneium ecosystem: ASTR will be the reference token in the Soneium ecosystem, one of the most anticipated ecosystems with prospering projects. More users will be incentivized to hold ASTR, enhancing its value as a currency.
- Routing asset in Soneium DeFi ecosystem: Astar will provide liquidity across the Soneium DeFi ecosystem. By doing so, ASTR will facilitate trades between Soneium-native assets and mainstream assets (ETH, USDC, BTC, etc.), solidifying its position as a base currency in Soneium DeFi.
- Payment token on Soneium consumer dApps: Certain consumer dApps on Soneium will leverage ASTR to facilitate payments directly or indirectly via ASTR-collateralized stablecoins.
- More utility has already been discussed in another topic.
- Staking assets to secure Soneium’s core infrastructure: ASTR holds significant economic value and could be utilized for multiple aspects of network security. Specific examples are as follows:
- A fast finality layer of Soneium and other different infrastructure layers on Soneium will use ASTR as its staking asset. Such an infrastructure layer will open additional reward opportunities for ASTR holders.
- Potential participation in other elements of Soneium’s infrastructure to contribute to the security and scalability of the blockchain.
- Investment reserve for Astar collective: Based on governance results, Astar can elect to invest in promising projects in the Astar ecosystem. Through this process, ASTR holders can align their interests with the success of projects in the Astar ecosystem, including Soneium.
Soneium marks the monumental step for Astar in realizing mass adoption. As the ecosystem grows, Astar remains committed to enhancing ASTR’s utilities and value for holders across different ecosystems.
In the future, as Astar’s contribution expands into the broader ecosystems, we also expect ASTR to have expanded roles across those ecosystems, with new opportunities for the Astar community to be rewarded for their contributions. ASTR’s vision is to become a representative asset in the largest web3 ecosystem, with real consumer applications and distribution channels accessible to billions of users.
To avoid doubt, the current tokenomics of ASTR will not change. ASTR’s evolution purely expands its utility without requiring additional supply or emissions. Technical expansion of ASTR towards multiple ecosystems would be fully ready by Soneium’s launch, as we are already working with multiple interoperability protocols and solution providers.
Governance v1: A Decentralized Hub for Astar
As the first step of this evolution to Astar, the network is transitioning from a centralized governance model to a more decentralized system with the adoption of Governance V1, inspired by Polkadot’s model. This new governance hub empowers the community and ASTR token holders to shape the future of Astar, fostering a more democratic and resilient ecosystem. The Astar Foundation will continue to be the central force behind Astar, spearheading the development of the Astar Network and driving growth initiatives within the broader Astar Ecosystem.
ASTR token holders are the heart of governance, playing a critical role by proposing ideas, making and endorsing proposals, voting on referendums, and requesting treasury funds to benefit projects. Active community participation ensures the network remains decentralized and aligned with collective interests. Astar’s onchain treasury, holding around 370 million ASTR, can fund Astar ecosystem growth through development grants, marketing, community initiatives, liquidity provision, incentives, and infrastructure funding.
Community-driven governance will enable Astar to make significant contributions to web3 mass adoption. This includes incubating new projects, advancing technical development, and making strategic investments. These initiatives will continue until the Astar collective fully evolves into a decentralized body, at which point the community will have even greater autonomy and influence over the ecosystem’s direction.
The governance system also features three main councils: the Main Council, the Technical Committee, and the Community Council. These councils are here to support and execute, ensuring that community-driven decisions are implemented effectively.
Astar’s governance is a collaborative effort where token holders drive decision-making through proposals and voting while councils facilitate execution and maintain network stability. This community-driven model empowers everyone to shape Astar’s future and is essential for expanding the network’s capacity to support new initiatives and realize its broader vision. As we advance toward full decentralization, guided by council support, we anticipate a well-developed ecosystem, setting the stage for the next phase of Astar’s governance evolution.
Astar community, now is the time to drive change through governance!
Submit proposals, endorse and vote on key initiatives, request treasury funding for impactful projects, and stay informed to influence Astar’s development.
Astar zkEVM & zKyoto Future
As announced during Astar Evolution Phase 1, Astar zkEVM will transition to Soneium L2 following its launch next year. Once this transition is complete, Astar zkEVM will be deprecated.
In the same direction, we would like to begin deprecating Astar zKyoto at the end of this month to reduce internal costs and where we see this as a transition towards using Soneium Minato as our layer 2 testnet. The Astar Foundation intends to reallocate this budget toward executing our value management strategy.
Our analysis of Astar zKyoto shows that the network is predominantly used by bots interacting with random smart contracts: https://zkyoto.explorer.startale.com/
At present, there is an average of just five active accounts on the network, and only one contract has been deployed in the past month. This minimal usage does not justify the ongoing costs of maintaining zKyoto as an underutilized testnet.
For developers seeking an L2 environment to create and test new dApps and products, we recommend using Soneium Minato, the L2 testnet of Soneium: https://soneium-minato.blockscout.com/
It’s important to note that we will not deprecate the Astar zkEVM mainnet without executing our transition strategy . This ensures liquidity and assets are smoothly transferred to the Astar ecosystem, whether to Astar or to Soneium.The Astar Foundation is not pursuing further development of Astar zkEVM. Deprecating its testnet at the end of this month is part of the plan to sunset Astar zkEVM next year.
Astar Roadmap
As we progress through 2024 and look ahead to 2025, our roadmap focuses on evolving Astar into a collective force and expanding the ecosystem through alignment with Soneium. These initiatives are designed to drive application growth, strengthen community engagement, expand ASTR’s utility, and align interests with holders.
2024 H2
- Evolution of Astar Network into Astar, a collective to drive real-world adoption of web3
- Expand Astar dApp Staking to include Soneium ecosystem projects
- Launch Astar Governance v1 with the initial Main Council, Technical Council, and Community Council
- Already live in our testnet Shibuya:
- Learn the basics
- A full technical guide and walkthrough
- Astar Governance user platform first look
- Already live in our testnet Shibuya:
- Incubate and support the growth of applications on Soneium. See the list of Soneium projects already adopting ASTR in our LFGM campaign.
- Align interests with Soneium’s major applications for interest alignment with ASTR holders
- Launch an ASTR Staking campaign on Astar L1, hosted by Soneium’s major applications
- Navigate dApp staking discussions with Soneium’s major applications, including incentives for stakers
- Partner with DeFi and consumer dapp builders in Soneium to utilize ASTR as core assets
- Async backing live on Astar. Block time will be shifted from 12s to 6s. Shiden is already upgraded.
2025 H1
- Support the successful launch of Soneium
- Cultivate developer and user community in Soneium ecosystem
- Implement ASTR across the Soneium ecosystem, including DeFi, consumer dApps, and infrastructure layer
- Launch an ecosystem-wide incentive campaign in Soneium, hosted by Astar, further alignment between ASTR and the growth of the Soneium ecosystem
- Conduct selective investment activities in Soneium ecosystem projects to align incentives with the growth of Soneium with the main objective to bring extra benefits to our early adopters.
- Upgrade ASTR on Soneium to adapt the ERC-7802 standards to make ASTR a Superchain adapted asset. Learn more here.
Astar’s roadmap from 2025 H2 will be discussed and determined by the collective as further decentralization of Astar takes place.
Astar Network is embarking on an exciting journey of evolution and ecosystem expansion. By aligning with Soneium and advancing Governance V1, we are creating a more decentralized and inclusive future, where ASTR holders play a vital role in shaping the network. The Astar community’s active participation in governance, staking, and ecosystem growth is crucial for driving an onchain world and achieving our shared vision.
We invite all Astar community members to join us in this transformative phase! Get involved by proposing and voting on governance initiatives, participating in community discussions, and contributing your ideas to accelerate Web3 adoption.
Let’s shape the future of Astar. We are strong together!. 
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