Astar Price

What Is Astar Network (ASTR)?

ASTR is the native cryptocurrency of Astar Network, a smart contracts platform built on a parachain in the Polkadot ecosystem. It’s highly interoperable, connecting the Polkadot ecosystem to blockchains such as Ethereum and Cosmos. To achieve high levels of scalability, Astar relies on Layer 2 optimistic rollup solutions. To interest developers, Astar also includes a Build2Earn model where developers get paid through DApp staking.

Astar supports two popular virtual machine engines, Ethereum virtual machine (EVM) and WebAssembly (WASM), thereby enabling a wide range of programming languages.

The network is often compared to another popular Polkadot parachain, Moonbeam, and its token, Glimmer (GLMR). Both parachains are designed to connect the Polkadot environment to other blockchains and are aimed at blockchain developers. However, Moonbeam concentrates only on EVM support, while Astar has the advantage of supporting both EVM and WASM. Since September 2022, Astar Network and Moonbeam have integrated with each other.

ASTR Price

ASTR began trading in mid-January 2022 at around $0.29. However, the coin couldn’t sustain this price and within a few days on the market, ASTR declined to $0.09, then remained relatively stable until late March. The coin then rallied to $0.30 by mid-April 2022. Yet again, these heights proved unsustainable for ASTR, with the coin’s price dropping to $0.06 by mid-May.

Following the sharp decline, ASTR's price kept trending downward, though at a much slower rate. By late August 2022, the coin had dipped to the $0.035 mark. Since then, ASTR has demonstrated relative price stability.

What Is ASTR Used For?

ASTR is used for transaction fee payments, governance and staking. DApp developers also deposit ASTR to register their programs on Astar Network. All transactions on the network reguire gas fees in ASTR, similar to the way Ether is used for gas on the Ethereum blockchain.

ASTR holders can participate in the network’s governance procedures (voting and referenda).

A key function of ASTR is staking. Coin holders may choose to stake their funds at a minimum of 500 ASTR, either directly on the chain or on the various DApps within the chain’s ecosystem. There is a minimum staking period of 10 days.

To enable DApp staking for their DApps, Layer 2 developers need to go live with their DApps and deposit a minimum of 1,000 ASTR on the Astar chain. Once their DApp is successfully registered, the developers start earning.

ASTR Tokenomics

ASTR launched with a total supply of 7 billion at an annual inflation of 10%. As of October 2022, its total supply stands at around 7.5 billion. ASTR’s tokenomics don’t specify any supply limit for the coin. Its supply allocation shares are as follows:

• 30% — Users and Early Supporters
• 20% — Parachain Auction (to lease a connection on Polkadot)
• 5% — Parachain Auction Reserve
• 10% — Protocol Development
• 5% — Governance
• 5% — Marketing
• 10% — Early Investors
• 5% — Team
• 10% — Foundation

Who Is the Founder of Astar Network?

Astar Network was founded by web3 and blockchain expert Sota Watanabe, who is also the CEO of the project.

Read more: Astar Network (ASTR): Build & Deploy DApps Easily

How to Store ASTR

Wallets commonly used to store ASTR include MetaMask, Talisman, SubWallet and MathWallet.

Where to Buy ASTR

You can buy ASTR from any top crypto exchange, including Bybit. On Bybit, you can trade ASTR as a USDT perpetual (ASTRUSDT) in the Derivatives market.