Astar Upcoming Upgrade: Enabling Asynchronous Backing
Target Release: June 2025
Audience: Developers, Node Operators, Partners, dApp Teams
Introducing Asynchronous Backing on Astar
We’re preparing to activate Asynchronous Backing on Astar Mainnet this June, a major technical milestone that significantly enhances the network’s throughput, responsiveness, and scalability. This upgrade will reduce block time from 12s to ~6s, doubling the speed at which Astar can process transactions and state transitions.
Originally introduced in Polkadot’s Relay Chain, asynchronous backing enables parachains to decouple block production and validation, effectively creating a pipeline of operations that can be processed concurrently. This results in a leaner, faster consensus model, ideal for high-performance smart contract platforms, like Astar.
What is Asynchronous Backing?
Asynchronous Backing is a protocol enhancement that decouples the processes of block production (collation), backing (validation), and inclusion into the relay chain. By enabling these processes to occur in parallel, the network achieves higher throughput and reduced latency.
In traditional synchronous backing, each parachain block must be fully validated and included before the next can be produced, leading to longer block times and limited throughput. Asynchronous backing allows for multiple blocks to be in different stages of validation simultaneously, significantly improving the efficiency and speed of the network.
Key Benefits for Astar
Faster Block Production
Block time will be halved from 12 seconds to approximately 6 seconds. This increases the responsiveness of the network and improves time-to-finality for all users and applications.
Increased Throughput
The new mechanism allows multiple parachain blocks to be prepared and validated in parallel. This quadruples the throughput, paving the way for Astar to support higher volumes of users, transactions, and complex dApps with minimal latency.
Unlocks New Use Cases
dApps that depend on fast confirmations, such as real-time payments, high-frequency trading, or gaming, will now be feasible on Astar. This opens the door to new product categories and better UX in existing ones.
Built for Builders
More predictable and faster block times are a game-changer for developers relying on block number-based timing (e.g., vesting, staking, locking). With a shorter interval between blocks, devs can now build more dynamic and time-sensitive applications.
Technical Changes
Tokenomics & ASTR Emissions
To maintain the current yearly issuance, ASTR emissions per block will be reduced by 50%. While the number of blocks will double, the net inflation will remain unchanged.
Before: 12s blocks → 100% of current emission
After: 6s blocks → 50% of emission per block, but 2× the blocks
This ensures economic consistency while enabling faster execution.
On-Chain Parameters
- No changes will be made to on-chain parameters such as governance locking periods, dApp staking mechanisms, tokenomics, or inflation rates.
- All durations continue to be interpreted in block units, not seconds.
Developer Considerations
This upgrade does not change on-chain parameters like dApp Staking periods, lock durations, or inflation models, all durations are still interpreted in block units, not seconds. However:
If your contracts, scripts, or services assume a 12s block time, you may need to update logic and recalibrate expectations.
Revisit any off-chain services (e.g., monitoring, cron jobs) that rely on 12s pacing for querying or processing.
We strongly recommend testing your dApps on Shibuya or other test environments with async backing enabled.
Node Operator Actions
Update your nodes: You’ll need to upgrade to the upcoming runtime release supporting async backing.
Monitor your infrastructure: Block production will be faster, so expect slightly more frequent events and RPC calls.
More detailed technical instructions will be provided soon.
Timeline Overview
Phase | Description | Status |
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Deployed and tested | ![]() |
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Internal testing and performance benchmarks | ![]() |
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Forum, blog & developer guides | ![]() |
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Astar runtime async backing goes live | ![]() |
Resources
Let’s Build the Future of Web3 on Astar
This upgrade is a major leap forward for Astar Network’s infrastructure. By embracing async backing, we’re doubling down on performance, scalability, and dev-first design, paving the way for the next wave of dApps in gaming, DeFi, social, and beyond.
We’ll share more updates, technical guidance, and testing instructions in the coming days.