Toyota Motor Corporation, the largest conglomerate in Japan, will support the world’s first worldwide Web3 hackathon. Astar Network, the major parachain at Polkadot, has been contracted to develop Web3 use cases for Toyota’s workforce.
According to the company’s official press release, the automaker seeks to better its operations by embracing the Web3 environment. Toyota anticipates that the most recent online hackathon will mark the beginning of the process.
Toyota dives deep into blockchain technology
Astar, a multichain smart contract and decentralized application (dApp) network announced its first Web3 hackathon on February 1. The important news, though, is that Toyota Motor Corporation is funding it. Sota Watanabe, the founder of Astar Network, commented on Toyota’s participation in the initiative:
Needless to say, Toyota is the largest company in Japan and one of the world’s leading international companies. We are very excited to be hosting the Web3 Hackathon on Astar with Toyota. During the event, we aim to develop the first Proof-of-Concept DAO tool for Toyota’s employees. If a good tool is produced, Toyota employees will interact daily with Astar Network.
Sota Watanabe
The release said that this is Toyota’s first Web3 event as the international automaker turns to develop technology to support its vision of improving corporate operations. The Astar Foundation has pledged $100,000 to the event, which will be used to support prizes for outstanding projects chosen by Toyota.
On the Astar Network, developers will create a decentralized autonomous organization (DAO) support tool that will improve Toyota’s business decision-making and team management.
The hackathon will take place in COSMIZE Event Hall, the first metaverse on the Astar Network, in keeping with the Web3 utilization theme. At the time of writing, Astar (ASTR) was trading at $0.06, up 10.5% on the day after the announcement. The token’s price has increased by 53% over the previous month but is still 86% below its all-time high.
The move comes as Japan’s Web3 strategy has been pushed forward this year by officials keen to cut red tape and speed up the decision-making process. The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry now has a Web3 policy office (METI). In November, the country’s digital ministry stated that it would establish a DAO to investigate Web3 technology.
It is not the first time Toyota has dabbled in crypto and the blockchain. In 2020, Toyota’s IT division partnered with the Japanese crypto exchange DeCurret to establish a Toyota-branded digital token.
In 2020, Toyota created a blockchain lab to investigate the future of distributed ledger technology and its application to the automotive industry.
While the international automobile manufacturer may employ the hackathon-developed tools for operational transparency and efficiency, Astar Network, on the other hand, will provide the appropriate environment for developers and will be tasked with product development assistance.
Astar Network leads Asia in Web3 adoption
This is not the first time Astar, which enables developers to create interoperable decentralized applications (dapps), has worked with a major Japanese corporation. NTT Docomo, Japan’s largest mobile phone network, said in November that it would join with the Astar Foundation and Accenture to accelerate Web3 adoption. Astar was also named “Product of the Year” by the Japan Blockchain Association in December.
According to DefiLlama data, Astar Network has around $42 million in total value locked (TVL), with nearly $17 million, or 40%, of TVL on the decentralized trading platform ArthDex. Furthermore, according to CoinMarketCap, ASTR, the network’s native token, has increased by nearly 50% this year and has a market cap of $234.5 million.
Astar unveiled the Cross-Virtual Machine (XVM) earlier this month, allowing projects built on it to communicate with other smart contract ecosystems.
This was the first big product under the company’s 2023 strategy, which will allow developers to experiment with various contract contexts. The capability will also aid in the development of a wide range of complicated applications with several use cases, such as verifying ownership of digital assets.
Meanwhile, Astar Network announced a deal with the blockchain company Alchemy last summer to accelerate Web3 development on the Polkadot platform.
Astar aspires to be Japan’s blockchain-backed company. Astar is devoted to supporting web3 in Japan with the launch of Startale Labs Japan. However, no Japanese enterprise has operational and development experience with the L1 public blockchain that has yielded outcomes elsewhere.
Japan’s government, businesses, and web3 solutions are actively collaborating with Astar to create a global platform originating in Japan. Astar is increasing its efforts to usher in a “new age.”
