Astar Network's next few months with Sony are pivotal, founder Watanabe says

The next few months in Astar ASTR -4.92% Network’s partnership with Sony will have “drastic changes” on the blockchain network’s future, its founder Sota Watanabe told The Block during an interview at the BUIDL Asia conference in Seoul on Wednesday.

Sony Network Communications, the conglomerate’s business division, partnered with Startale Labs, the company behind Astar Network, last year. The two have since embarked on a project to build Sony's own blockchain network, which Watanabe described as “very intensive and very important.”

“Our focus is going to be mass adoption,” said Watanabe, who added that Astar’s goal is to prove the utility of web3 to the general public. “Theoretically, we can build [a] public blockchain which is used by the most [number of] people, onboarding beyond web3 people into the blockchain space because Sony has tremendous touchpoints.”

Sony, the maker of PlayStation, has already filed a patent for its concept of “super-fungible tokens” for transferring NFTs on a blockchain in a gaming ecosystem. Watanabe, however, mentioned that the blockchain under development would not have just one focus area, such as gaming or NFTs.

In response to a query on how Japan’s new stablecoin regulations have affected Astar projects, Watanabe answered that the company is talking to various banks and companies but declined to reveal further details. “It’s a little bit tough at the moment for us to disclose some of the critical information, but all things are going to make sense for everyone once we make the announcement in the coming months,” Watanabe said.

Astar Network, a smart contract platform supporting both EVM and WebAssembly environments, has previously worked with a list of major conglomerates in Japan, including Toyota, NTT Docomo and SoftBank.

Earlier this month, the network also launched a zkEVM network based on Polygon’s AggLayer, which allows cross-chain transactions between Astar and Polygon by using shared liquidity. The impact of AggLayer will grow as more partners join the chain-abstracting solution, Watanabe told The Block.

Marketing blockchain

Watanabe, who previously said that he views blockchain as a business, reiterated that such an aspect of blockchain is undervalued in its potential to change the web3 space.

“I do believe that tech is going to change the world, but I also view that tech is too emphasized. Technology itself is not going to change things,” said Watanabe, who highlighted that marketing the positive elements of web3 to politicians and the public is crucial.

Watanabe said that his ability to build the narrative around web3 utility and present it to the country’s rulemakers is one of Astar’s main strengths, as regulation plays a major role in changing the society to become more accepting of Web3 technology.