Astar Upcoming Upgrade: Enabling Asynchronous Backing

[Juminstock]

Astar Upcoming Upgrade: Enabling Asynchronous Backing

Target Release: June 2025

Audience: Developers, Node Operators, Partners, dApp Teams

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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Timeline Overview

Phase	Description	Status
Shiden Async Backing	Deployed and tested	Completed
Testing & Validation	Internal testing and performance benchmarks	Completed
Community Communication	Forum, blog & developer guides	In Progress
Mainnet Upgrade	Astar runtime async backing goes live	June 2025

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Resources

• Polkadot Wiki – Learn Asynchronous Backing
• Shiden Async Forum Post
• Shiden Async X post

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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.

[EMANUCT96]

Step by step, to get what we deserve! Let’s keep going like this!
MAGA

[pitcoin777]

Great upgrade and beneficial for the ecosystem.
My question is: what is the friction for a user who interacts with the DOT L1 and then decides to interact with Soneium (an ETH L2)?
How is the perceived speed? Are there any discrepancies?

[Gaius_sama]

Generally speaking, transactions on L2 are faster, with a typical block time of around 2 seconds, compared to 6–12 seconds on Polkadot or Astar L1—depending on whether asynchronous backing is enabled.

With upcoming improvements, the user experience on Astar L1 for actions like dApp Staking, transfers, governance, and dApp interactions will become significantly faster—bringing it closer to L2 execution times. This will help narrow the performance gap between Astar L1 and Soneium, resulting in a smoother and more consistent experience across the Astar ecosystem.

[DrCAO]

Wonderful, super glad to hear about this good news for Astar eco!

[you425]

It was implemented in Shiden last November, but we have been waiting for an update in Astar!

This time we were able to halve the block time from 12 seconds to 6 seconds, and in the future, when we can process even faster using Elastic Scaling, the chain will be able to compete with the recent high speed chains. The problem is the rising cost of Polkadot cores…

[Juminstock]

The price of Polkadot cores will be a variable to consider once Astar finishes its parachain slot period and we move exclusively to purchasing and consuming those cores.

Let’s wait for new announcements from the team to understand how this will impact Astar itself.

[MrKarahanli-Emre]

I am glad to hear about these developments!

BUT

In the developing web3 ecosystem, 1-2 months is officially worth 10 years in the web2 sector. We have to be faster. Today, 6 seconds is a very long time in blockchain transactions. I am happy to hear that this time will be reduced from 12 seconds to 6, but we need much more. Many different chains (especially L2) have much higher transactions.

Or the chains coming/waiting to come to the new Mainnet have very high TPS.

For example, Polygon has very high TVL ratios and 50% of the TVL in its network is stablecoins (https://x.com/mr_karahanl/status/1923844372828750011/photo/1). Much of this is due to companies favouring RWAs(https://x.com/mr_karahanl/status/1922739742271000698/video/1) or the high propensity for payment infrastructures(https://x.com/mr_karahanl/status/1920559471690137883/video/1). They have achieved most of these with fast transactions.

Solana is in a similar situation. Here again, cheapness and speed are the main reasons for the emergence of dozens of “memetokens”.

Stablecoins, payments and RWAs have high market shares. If we want to be the main channel of such trends, we need to accelerate more.

[Juminstock]

Governance Vote is Live: Help Activate Asynchronous Backing on Astar!

The wait is over, the governance process to activate Asynchronous Backing on Astar Mainnet has officially started!

This is one of the most important upgrades in Astar’s history, one that will double our network speed, boost performance, and unlock the next wave of real-time dApps.

Now it’s up to us, the Astar Collective, to make it happen. If you’re a builder, contributor, validator, or community member, Your vote matters. Your voice shapes Astar.

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Why This Matters

With Asynchronous Backing, Astar’s block time will be cut in half (12s → ~6s), enabling faster finality, greater throughput, and new use cases across DeFi, gaming, and payments.

We’ve tested it on Shiden. We’ve validated it internally.

Now, it’s time to activate it on Astar Mainnet, and we need your support to do it.

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How to Participate

• Cast your vote in the proposal on Subsquare Astar Runtime 1600 Upgrade.
• Share this with your teams and fellow builders.
• If you’re a project owner, update your code.

Let’s get everyone involved in shaping this milestone.

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Timeline Overview

Phase	Description	Status
Shiden Async Backing	Deployed & tested	Completed
Internal Testing	Benchmarks & validation	Completed
Community Comms	Forum, blog & dev docs	Completed
Astar Mainnet Upgrade	Async Backing goes live	In Progress

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Let’s Make It Happen, Together

This isn’t just a technical upgrade, it’s a leap forward for the entire ecosystem. More speed. More possibilities. More power to builders. And it all starts with your vote.

Let’s move Astar forward, together.

[you425]

The long-awaited asynchronous backing has finally arrived!
Of course, I voted Yes. I’m looking forward to the upgrade.

[AstarPunks]

I voted in favor too!

[pitcoin777]

Excellent for block production.
I believe AFC could implement strategies to acquire cores on the market at low prices and hold them for sufficient periods — or even leverage the secondary market to trade cores.

[Juminstock]

Asynchronous Backing is Live on Astar: A New Era of Speed & Scalability

The Astar Collective has done it again. As of this June, Asynchronous Backing is officially live on Astar Mainnet, and with it, we unlock a massive leap forward in performance, responsiveness, and scalability.

This is one of the most important milestones in Astar’s history, a protocol-level upgrade that sets the stage for the next generation of high-performance decentralized applications. Whether you’re building the next DeFi protocol, an onchain game, or a real-time payment system, your experience just got faster, more powerful, and more scalable.

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What’s Changing?

Block production and validation now run in parallel, enabling a pipelined execution process across the network. This removes idle time and boosts efficiency at the core of Astar’s architecture.

Block time is cut in half: from 12s → ~6s, enabling faster transaction confirmations, improved UX for dApps, and more interactive on-chain activity.

ASTR emissions per block are reduced by 50%, with twice as many blocks produced annually, this adjustment maintains the same total yearly issuance, protecting tokenomics stability.

No changes to dApp Staking durations or Governance lockups, all time-based systems on Astar continue to run on block units. Builders and community members can continue to engage without disruption.

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How It Works

Asynchronous Backing introduces a more advanced parachain block production model where blocks no longer need to wait for full inclusion before new ones are proposed. Instead, collators can propose multiple blocks using context from “unincluded segments,” allowing validators to begin backing in advance.

This architecture:

• Increases throughput
• Enables 2s execution time (4x previous capacity)
• Supports larger payloads and more complex dApps
• Enhances resilience and flexibility

All without compromising finality or security.

The result? Astar is now capable of handling higher volumes of users, transactions, and dApps, seamlessly and efficiently.

Read the full technical breakdown

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For Developers: Update Now

While block-based durations remain unchanged, any offchain services that assume a 12-second block time should be updated immediately. That includes:

• Backend services
• Monitoring tools
• Automated scripts
• Transaction estimators

This is your opportunity to unlock faster dApp interactions and leaner system design.

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Why It Matters

This upgrade isn’t just a technical improvement, it’s an investment in the future of Astar. It aligns with our mission to deliver a world-class smart contract platform capable of supporting complex, high-volume, and latency-sensitive applications.

From DeFi to gaming, social tools to NFT marketplaces, the speed and scalability enabled by Asynchronous Backing will open new creative and commercial frontiers.

And most importantly, it was activated through governance, by you. The builders, validators, community members, and leaders who continue to shape the future of Astar Network.

We tested it on Shiden. We validated it internally. And now it’s live, on mainnet, for everyone.

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Thank You, Astar Collective

Upgrades like these are not automatic. They require vision, collaboration, careful planning, and most of all, community commitment. To everyone who voted, discussed, developed, tested, and believed, thank you.

We’ve taken a major step forward. Let’s keep building.

[Vangardem]

Congratulations team, the beginning of a new era in Astar’s blokchain performance.