Toyota makes a big move into blockchain; sponsors its world’s first global Web3 hackathon on Astar Network

Japan’s largest company, Toyota, is making big moves dabbling into Blockchain by sponsoring its first-ever global Web3 Hackathon. The multinational automotive manufacturer has chosen Astar Network, the smart contract platform for multichain, to make Web3 use cases for Toyota’s employees.

According to the announcement, the tools created during the hackathon can help improve operational transparency and efficiency. Developers will be able to build an intra-company DAO support tool. It will allow anyone to create teams, issue governance tokens, and vote without needing to understand the details of Web3.

Toyota is looking to Web3 to support its vision of improving the company’s operations, and this online hackathon is an initial step in the process. Developers from around the world are invited to build an intra-company DAO support tool on the Astar Network that allows anyone to create teams, issue governance tokens, and vote without needing to understand the details of Web3.

Toyota could use the tools created during the hackathon to improve operational transparency and efficiency. Astar Network will provide the environment for developers and will also be responsible for product development support.

In recent years, managers in various companies have been burdened with workload due to an increase in business decision-making and team management. Both Astar Network and Toyota believe that we could manage projects as a DAO where the decision-making is distributed among participants. It will not only reduce the managers’ workload but also help team members have a greater impact on the company’s growth. That’s why the theme of this hackathon is developing a DAO support tool for companies.

Sota Watanabe, the Founder of Astar Network, said, “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. Sometime in the future, I think we will see blockchain integrations in cars. Today, we are still in the exploratory stage, but very excited about the various possibilities.”

Individuals as well as teams of up to four developers have until Tuesday, February 14th to sign up for the Web3 Hackathon by Toyota. They will attend a kick-off event on February 25th and then have until March 18th to build their products. The first round of judging will take place on March 23rd, and groups that pass the first round will be able to participate in the pitch event on March 25th.

The hackathon is set to take place in the COSMIZE Event Hall, the first metaverse on the Astar Network. While Toyota Motor Corporation is the main sponsor, Astar Network and Web3 Foundation will be Sub-sponsors. HAKUHODO KEY3, a joint venture co-founded by Sota Watanabe and Japan’s 2nd largest advertising company HAKUHODO, is also a sponsor. HAKUHODO KEY3 develops Web3 services with clients while planning and managing Web3 hackathons.

Takumi Sano, a Board member of HAKUHODO KEY3, said, “We are very excited to see what new web3 services will be built under the sponsorship of Toyota Motor Corporation. This could be an important hackathon that will change the course of history. We look forward to your participation.”

Astar Foundation will provide $75,000 in the form of ASTR tokens for this hackathon while Web3 Foundation will sponsor it with $25,000. The combined $100,000 will be used to reward the winning projects chosen by Toyota, Astar Foundation, Web3 Foundation, Alchemy, and HAKUHODO KEY3.

Astar Network is the go-to Layer-1 blockchain for developers and companies building for the Japanese market. The government, enterprises, and Web3 solutions in Japan are actively working with Astar to bring together a global platform originating from Japan.

Over 70 decentralized applications have been built on Astar’s reliable blockchain since its mainnet launch in January 2022. Astar’s native token, ASTR, is already listed on Bitbank, one of the largest Japanese exchanges. This accessibility makes it easy for Japanese enterprises and startups to grow a Web3 business by developing applications and use cases on Astar Network.

Astar Network supports the building of dApps with EVM and WASM smart contracts and offers developers true interoperability with cross-consensus messaging (XCM) and a cross-virtual machine (XVM). Astar’s unique Build2Earn model empowers developers to get paid through a dApp staking mechanism for their code and the dApps they build.

One of the first parachains to come to the Polkadot ecosystem, Astar is a vibrant network that is supported by all major exchanges and tier 1 VCs. Astar offers the flexibility of all Ethereum and WASM toolings for developers to start building their dApps. To accelerate growth on Polkadot and Kusama Networks, Astar SpaceLabs offers an Incubation Hub for top TVL dApps.

Toyota Motor Corporation is Japan’s largest conglomerate with over 330,000 employees worldwide.