Astar Network’s Shibuya Testnet Launches Major Update, Slashing Block Time and Boosting Transaction Volume
The Astar Network’s Shibuya testnet has rolled out a significant update featuring asynchronous backing, a key technological advancement propelling the network toward its 2.0 version. This update has enabled Polkadot to reduce block time from 12 seconds to just 6 seconds and increase the maximum block weight from 0.5 seconds to 2 seconds. These improvements allow for a higher volume of transactions to be processed in the same amount of time, providing a significant advantage for developers building decentralized apps on Astar.
Shibuya serves as the Astar Network’s parachain testnet with EVM capabilities, closely mirroring the Shiden and Astar mainnets. With nearly identical chain specifications, Shibuya offers an ideal testing environment for developers looking to launch their dApps on the mainnet. Astar Network, a parachain of the Polkadot network, supports the development of dApps using EVM and WASM smart contracts, offering cross-chain communication through cross-consensus messaging (XCM). This versatility enables dApps to interact with multiple blockchains, enhancing the network’s overall flexibility.
The introduction of asynchronous backing also includes the ability to reuse failed parachain blocks, reducing resource wastage and enhancing network efficiency. This advancement translates to faster transaction processing and improved throughput, increasing the network’s capacity from 100,000 to a million transactions per second. With this upgrade, Polkadot can handle a higher volume of traffic seamlessly, crucial for supporting more extensive and complex dApps. Additionally, the update promises enhancements in blockspace production time and transaction volume per block, delivering eight times the throughput while maintaining network security.
Despite the technical progress, the price of DOT showed a minor reaction to the news, with the token experiencing a modest 1.16% increase in the past 24 hours, settling around $4.23. Recently, Polkadot released the Join-Accumulate Machine (JAM) Gray Paper, a development that combines elements of both Polkadot and Astar.
In summary, the latest update on the Astar Network’s Shibuya testnet introduces significant improvements that enhance transaction speed, throughput, and network efficiency. These advancements pave the way for a more robust infrastructure for developers to build decentralized applications, ultimately shaping the future of blockchain technology and decentralized finance.