Ishan Pandey: Hi Sota Watanabe, welcome to our series “Behind the Startup.” Please tell us about yourself and the motivation behind Astar?
Sota Watanabe: Hello everyone. My name is Sota Watanabe. I am a founder of Astar Network, the Future of Smart Contracts for Multichain. Apart from Astar, I am also the director of Japan Blockchain Association and an advisor of some big Japanese companies like Dentsu, GMO Internet Group, and Marui Group. The motivation behind Astar is to realize Web3 for all. At this moment, blockchains are not connected and this creates unnecessary friction for the end user.
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Ishan Pandey: What is the main idea behind the Astar network and how it is going to help the Web3 economy?
Sota Watanabe: Right now, Astar has the benefits of EVM compatibility plus something new: WASM smart contracts. Today Web3 is prohibitive for many Web2 developers, as Web2 languages aren’t composable into Solidity. However, practically any developer can build with us using Astar’s WASM implementation. Additionally, developers can take advantage of the other benefits of building with Astar: our #Build2Earn initiative pays developers by incentivizing them rather than charging them to process transactions. With #Build2Earn, building on Astar means you can earn a basic income and earn more over time. We also have a vast network of relationships with Japanese government officials, corporate institutions, and leading blockchain teams.
Ishan Pandey: What is a Multi-VM? How does it work and what can be its applications?
Sota Watanabe: We call our Multi Virtual Machine XVM. It is a new feature that our team is working on because we believe EVM is a great tool, but we also want to create something new with WASM smart contracts. So we need a way to interact between the two virtual machines. With XVM, Astar developers can create EVM smart contracts that call to WASM smart contracts and vice versa. We are blurring the lines between virtual machines. This makes Astar a platform of choice for developers from any major ecosystem to build including Solana, Cosmos, or Avalanche.
Ishan Pandey: How do you foresee DeFi influencing the evolution of the internet in the coming years?
Sota Watanabe: This is a difficult question, because you must speculate on two things that are rapidly changing: DeFi and the internet. We can say that DeFi offers internet users self-custody and a chance to use their assets in a new way. Many assets, like BTC or stablecoins, are stored on Astar and easily accessible from anywhere through the internet. You have the freedom to hold these assets on our network and use that value in a global market.
As more assets are used in DeFi, the internet will become a valuable part of developing personal portfolios and corporate balance sheets.
Ishan Pandey: How do you see the recent craze about NFTs in light of the present economic conditions worldwide. What impact is it going to have on the NFT industry?
Sota Watanabe: I have been in multiple bear markets and each one is different. Today, all industries are challenged by current economic conditions; blockchain and NFTs are no different. Still, nobody knows what impact this will have on the NFT industry. Regardless, this has not stopped artists from creating NFT artwork and creating new use-cases.
The most important work for our team and Japan is Yoshitaka Amano’s CANDY Girl collection on Astar Network. He is the legendary Final Fantasy artist who is now bringing his artwork to Astar’s global NFT market. Other artists will bring their art to Astar and further develop the NFT industry in the upcoming years.
Ishan Pandey: According to you, should smart contracts be seen as legal contracts which are enforceable in the court of law?
Sota Watanabe: Smart contracts are trustless, so they are only enforced by quantifiable math and code. This is great for many applications: finance, storage, or digital artwork. No legal enforcement is needed.
The legal system is efficient at handling many things off-chain; it is designed to deal with the human element. This is something smart contracts are not good at, but they may become a useful tool for the legal industry. We hope to explore these topics with our recently inked partnership with Fukuoka City, the Silicon Valley of Japan.
Ishan Pandey: There are a lot of concerns among governments about misuse of cryptocurrencies. Should blockchain be regulated?
Sota Watanabe: I am proud to say Astar is designated as a legal cryptocurrency in Japan and is also listed in the US. This means we meet the high standards for users to safely hold and use our coin: $ASTR. This required us to meet strict guidelines of both countries that sufficiently protect users of our blockchain. We still have a lot of work to do, since fair regulation is a key to the adoption of blockchain.
Regulation protects users from bad actors of blockchain and allows institutions to adopt blockchain. Our team will continue to work with countries, starting in Japan, to develop appropriate regulations around blockchain.
Ishan Pandey: What new trends are we going to see in the crypto industry?
Sota Watanabe: Multichain is the future. There are many talented developers and many great projects including all the major blockchains like Solana, Ethereum, and Avalanche, and yet the blockchain space is still small in comparison to other mature markets like tech or finance. As corporations, investors, and governments adopt the power of blockchain, the market will grow faster than you can imagine. The most successful teams will be able to work with each other to deliver new solutions to this growing market. We have the tools for any team or network to build and grow with us.
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