Astar Network, the smart contracts platform, has taken multichain use cases to another level with the launch of its cross-virtual machine (XVM) functionality on the public testnet Shibuya.
Being a Layer 1 platform, the launch gives projects building on Astar Network easy interoperability between different smart contract environments, including Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) and WebAssembly (WASM). XVM simply allows a smart contract in a virtual machine to communicate with others in a similar environment.
2/ Most teams are accustomed to an EVM environment, even though WASM is the future!
That's why we made a Cross-Virtual Machine (XVM)!
Now, devs can start building future-proof WASM smart contracts, without leaving their EVM projects.
— Astar, Future of Smart Contracts for Multichain (@AstarNetwork) January 9, 2023
Reacting to the launch, Hoon Kim, Chief Technology Officer at Astar Network, said, “We’ve been working hard to create the foundation of the future, regardless of outside influences that are happening now. And today, I am proud to introduce one of our most important features to achieve the Astar Vision; the Cross-Virtual Machine (XVM).”
He added, ‘It will be the start of the next wave of innovation for dApps. Astar will not only have interoperability through XCM (Cross-chain Messaging) with other parachains but also have interoperability between different smart contract environments.”
Astar Network supports developers to build dApps with EVM and WASM smart contracts. The project aims to enable true interoperability, with cross-consensus messaging (XCM) and cross-virtual machine (XVM).
What Does XVM Offer?
The XVM launch highlights Astar’s ambition to foster seamless interoperability for existing projects and is part of Astar Network’s 2023 starmap. Interestingly, the XVM testnet can make bi-directional calls between EVM and WASM smart contracts.
WASM offers high flexibility regarding the language choices a smart contract developer can use when coding. This makes it a popular choice amongst developers. These developers do not have to learn new languages, such as Solidity, as WASM allows them to operate using already familiar languages, such as C/C++, GO, TypeScript, and RUST.
XVM offers developers a new level of ease. With the new launch, smart contracts can work irrespective of language or the smart contracts environment they operate in. For the first time, developers will be able to create their own cross-chain projects and play around with the XVM developer toolkit. In addition, instead of being limited to a single smart contract environment, they can access the user bases and resources across several of them.
4/ What's ahead?
Well, the sky's the limit with XVM:
• Use one wallet to explore any #Polkadot NFT marketplace
• Connect all EVM chains to WASM, together with @CelerNetwork IM• What do you think we can build XVM? Leave comments below!
— Astar, Future of Smart Contracts for Multichain (@AstarNetwork) January 9, 2023
With XVM, developers can also build a broad variety of intricate apps that accomplish more than just bridging liquidity from EVM to WASM. Users, for example, can utilize a different account scheme to demonstrate their ownership of assets in one smart contract ecosystem. In other words, Astar Network can provide a universal asset controller with a single signer, negating the need for developers to create a separate wallet for each environment in order to manage the assets.
With XVM, developers can enjoy true freedom and real interoperability.
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