Astar Network Prepares to Launch Landmark zkEVM Mainnet and Unveils ‘Yoki Origins’ Campaign

Astar Network, a renowned Web3 infrastructure platform with origins in Japan and recent global expansion, today announced the upcoming mainnet release of Astar zkEVM Powered by Polygon. This Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum will be launched at the end of February, accompanied by a distinctive and original campaign called ‘Yoki Origins’.

Astar zkEVM provides a secure, scalable, and gas-efficient platform for Web3 projects and enterprises, leveraging the robust security and versatile toolset of the Ethereum ecosystem. Positioned as the inaugural zero-knowledge EVM chains powered by the Polygon CDK (Chain Development Kit), Astar zkEVM opens doors to Ethereum’s extensive developer resources and industry-standard infrastructure providers.

A wide range of crypto-native projects and service providers are actively using Astar zkEVM to build a range of experiences. Notable examples include Quickswap, a primary DEX on the Polygon network; LayerZero, an omnichain interoperability protocol that promotes full interoperability between Astar zkEVM and the Astar parachain; and The Graph, an indexing protocol that organizes blockchain data and improves accessibility via GraphQL.

Other notable projects include Rarible, an aggregated marketplace for NFTs that includes both Ethereum and Astar zkEVM; Dew, a major NFT marketplace within the Polygon ecosystem; and Startale Labs, Astar’s prominent Web3 infrastructure provider. These entities demonstrate the versatility and integration potential of Astar zkEVM across various facets of the crypto space. In addition, several leading enterprises in Japan plan to publicly integrate Astar zkEVM and introduce exclusive use cases to enrich the Astar community.

The Yoki Origins campaign takes center stage

Immediately following the mainnet launch, Astar Network will kick off ‘Yoki Origins’, an engaging journey for users to explore Astar Network’s unique characters inspired by the Japanese Yokais known as ‘Yokis’. More than 40 Web3 projects, creators and enterprises will join this initiative. After the mainnet launch, users are encouraged to collect and upgrade Yokis within the Astar zkEVM projects.

Through interactive capsule machines known as “Yo-Ports,” participants can obtain Yokis and artistic creations contributed by various artists, businesses and builders. This campaign is designed to facilitate social logins and credit card payments, ensuring accessibility for those unfamiliar with Web3.

Astar Network will soon reveal the list of participating projects, with a line-up that includes both international brands and talented individuals. Upon participating in the campaign, users will receive a collection of personalized Yo-Ports, uniquely tailored to each project and easily recognizable by the prominent display of the brand name and logo.

Maarten Henskens, Head of Astar Network, said: “Astar Network is proud to be an early pioneer in using Polygon’s zero-knowledge technology and Chain Development Kit to enter the Ethereum ecosystem. Astar zkEVM will bridge Japan and the broader web3 ecosystem, with projects from top Japanese companies, famous IPs and prominent industries to be unveiled soon. The Astar zkEVM “Yoki Origins” launch campaign will help demonstrate the breadth of our ecosystem’s reach, while celebrating our Japanese origins in a way that is unique to Astar.”

Astar serves as a conduit for entrepreneurial, entertainment and gaming projects to enter the Japanese market and beyond. By driving global adoption of Web3 to millions of people, Astar is building an ecosystem powered by both Polkadot and Polygon, positioning itself as the premier blockchain for the Japanese market.

The introduction of Astar zkEVM marks an advanced Layer 2 solution, which improves the scalability of Web3 experiences on Ethereum via ZK technology. Astar Network seamlessly integrates an EVM equivalent environment into its protocol, ensuring smooth integration with existing smart contracts, developer tools and wallets on the Ethereum platform.