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General FAQ

Overview​

This document compiles some of the frequently asked questions related to the Astar zkEVM. For more details, check out Polygon zkEVM documentation.

What is Astar zkEVM?​

Astar zkEVM is a Layer 2 scaling solution for Ethereum that offers an EVM-equivalent smart contract environment. This means that most of the existing smart contracts, developer tools, and wallets for Ethereum also work with the Astar zkEVM.

Astar zkEVM harnesses the power of Zero-Knowledge proofs to reduce transaction costs and increase throughput on Layer 2, all while inheriting the security of Ethereum Layer 1.

What are the main features of Astar zkEVM?​

  • EVM-equivalence: Most Ethereum smart contracts, wallets, and tools work seamlessly on Astar zkEVM.
  • Inherits its security from Ethereum.
  • Lower cost compared to Layer 1 and faster finality compared to other Layer 2 solutions such as Optimistic Rollups
  • Zero-Knowledge Proof-powered scalability aiming for similar throughput to PoS.

What kind of gas fee reduction can users expect from Astar zkEVM?​

Compared to Ethereum Layer 1, users can expect a significant reduction in gas fees. Astar's Layer 2 scaling solution batches transactions together, effectively spreading the cost of a single Layer 1 transaction across multiple Layer 2 transactions.

How do zk Rollups work?​

zk Rollups aggregate large batches of transactions and finalize them on the Ethereum network using zero-knowledge validity proofs.

What is so unique about zkEVMs?​

ZkEVMs were thought to be years away; not practical or competitive with other zk Layer 2s as there seemed to loom an unavoidable tradeoff - Full EVM equivalence or high performance, but not both.

However, given the proving system breakthroughs pioneered by Polygon Labs, full EVM equivalence is now possible while at the same time offering higher performance and lower costs than alternative Layer 1s, optimistic rollups, and other kinds of zk rollups.

How do I connect Astar zkEVM to a Metamask Wallet?​

In order to add the Astar zkEVM network to your wallet, please check this guide which contains the latest RPC details and videos demonstrating useful functionalities.

How does Astar zkEVM compare to other zkEVMs in terms of technology and performance? What are the technical advantages there?​

The best reference is Vitalik Buterin's comprehensive analysis of zkEVMs published in his blog.

However, the major difference between Astar zkEVM and others is the zkEVM's efficient prover and high Ethereum equivalence. Regarding the design of the prover/verification component: other projects use an arithmetic circuit approach while the Astar zkEVM zkProver uses the State Machine approach.

Is Astar zkEVM open source?​

Yes, Astar zkEVM is fully open-source and uses Polygon zkEVM solution with an AGPL v3 open-source license.

Does Astar zkEVM have a separate token?​

No. ETH will be used for gas fees. It is expected that ASTR will be used for staking and governance in Astar zkEVM in the future.

It is also important to note that Astar zkEVM natively supports Account Abstraction via ERC-4337, which will allow users to pay fees with any token (bring your own gas).

What types of dApps can be deployed on Astar zkEVM?​

Any dApp that is compatible with EVM can be deployed, except for those which require a specific precompiled contract that is currently not supported by zkEVM. For more details related to supported precompiled contracts, check out the Polygon zkEVM documentation.

Can this Layer 2 zkEVM work with other chains?​

At the moment, the answer is No. Aspirationally, the goal in the future is to build one of many chains that allow users' assets to move from Layer 2 (Layer 2) to Layer 2. With that being said, users will not be able to utilize this functionality at launch, but Layer 2 to Layer 2 movement is included in our future roadmap.

What are some of the main use cases for Astar zkEVM?​

DeFi Applications: Because of Astar zkEVM’s high security and censorship resistance nature, it's a good fit for DeFi applications. zkRollups don’t have to wait for long periods for deposits and withdrawals; Astar zkEVM offers better capital efficiency for DeFi dApps/users.

NFT, Gamefi, and Enterprise Applications: Low gas cost, high transaction speed, and a greater level of security coupled with Ethereum composability are attractive to blue chip NFTs, GameFi, and Enterprise applications.

Payments: Users interested in transacting with each other in real-time within a near-instantaneous and low-fee environment will appreciate the value Astar zkEVM provides.

When Astar zkEVM publishes a proof on Layer 1, how can someone trust that that proof is accurate and includes all the transactions it claims it does?​

Our zkRollup smart contract warranties it. It's trustworthy due to data availability and the fact that the published validity proofs are quick and easily verifiable SNARK proofs.

Does Astar zkEVM have support for both Solidity and Vyper?​

Yes, any language that gets compiled to EVM opcode should work with Astar zkEVM. In other words, if it can run on Ethereum, it can run on the Astar zkEVM.

What is an RPC node?​

RPC (Remote Procedure Call) is a JSON-RPC interface compatible with Ethereum. It enables the integration of Astar zkEVM with existing tools, such as Metamask, Etherscan, and Infura. It adds transactions to the pool and interacts with the state using read-only methods.

Additionally, for a software application to interact with the Ethereum blockchain (by reading blockchain data and/or sending transactions to the network), it must connect to an Ethereum node. It works the same way as other nodes such as geth.

Do you support the JSON-RPC EVM query spec? What are the unsupported queries?​

All official queries are supported (eth_* endpoints). We are working on support from some "extra official endpoints" such as debug_*.