Toyota Sponsors Astar Network’s Hackathon To Test Blockchain Use Cases

Toyota, the world’s largest automaker, is supporting a Web3 hackathon on the multi-chain smart contract network Astar Network, potentially leading to new management tools for Toyota’s workforce.

On the Astar Network, one of the first parachains to join the Polkadot ecosystem, programmers will internally create a decentralised autonomous organisation (DAO) support tool at Toyota. This will facilitate improved corporate decision-making and team management. Sota Watanabe, the creator of Astar Network, stated, “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.”

Following the topic of Web3 application, the hackathon will be held at COSMIZE Event Hall, the Astar Network’s inaugural metaverse.

This is not the first time Astar has partnered with a major Japanese firm. NTT Docomo, the largest mobile phone network in Japan, said it would be working with the Astar Foundation and Accenture to accelerate its adoption of Web3.

Web3 Hackathon on Astar sponsored by Toyota. Image: Chainwire

DefiLlama reports that of the $42 million in total value locked (TVL) in the Astar Network, almost $17 million, or 40% of TVL, is on the decentralised trading platform ArthDex. The network’s native token, ASTR, has had a price increase of almost 50% YoY and is now worth $234.5M in market value, according to CoinMarketCap.

For some time now, Toyota has been testing out blockchain technology internally. In 2020, the automaker stated that multiple divisions were investigating blockchain’s potential uses in the automotive sector.

Despite other corporate giants going into non-fungible token initiatives, crypto payments, and metaverse integrations throughout the hype cycle of 2021 and the beginning of 2022, the carmaker has yet to make any significant inroads into the technology since then.

Toyota’s exploration into blockchain technology and possible Web3 integration would take a big step forward if the company sponsored the hackathon. As announced, Toyota is turning to Web3 to assist its ambition of enhancing its operations, and this online hackathon is the first move in that direction.

Japanese officials are keen to speed up the country’s traditionally lengthy decision-making process and kickstart the country’s Web3 program. The Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry has established a Web3 Policy Office. In November, the nation’s digital ministry stated that it would establish a DAO to investigate Web3 technologies.