Fireblocks integrates Astar to bring DeFi to over 650 banks

• Fireblocks’ integration with Astar Network could bring crypto and DeFi to over 650 banks.
• Institutional investors across banks, exchanges, OTCs and hedge funds will leverage Fireblocks’ technology to easily and securely access crypto on Astar.
• An event to celebrate the integration attracted over 200 guests, including executives at VCs and Web3 founders.

Fireblocks, an enterprise-grade platform for institutional adoption of digital assets, has integrated with Astar Network, an EVM and WebAssembly (Wasm) compatible smart contracts platform.

The collaboration could see more than 650 banks and institutional investors use Fireblocks’ technology to access and manage their digital assets, boosting institutional adoption of DeFi on Astar, the two platforms said in a press release.

Banks, OTCs, exchanges and hedge funds also have an opportunity to leverage Fireblock’s MPC-based wallet infrastructure to access Astar’s assets, including on leading Astar-based DeFi protocol ArthSwap.

“We are excited to add Astar to the Fireblocks Network and support the growth of Japan’s leading smart contract platform,” said Stephen Richardson, Managing Director, Financial Markets and Head of APAC at Fireblocks.

Multichain access to dApps

With Astar offering a multichain, interoperable environment, the integration with Fireblocks allows users to tap into decentralized applications (dApps) on Ethereum and Polkadot ecosystems. Banks and institutional investors looking to diversify with digital assets will also access functionality such as trading, swaps and lending of digital assets on the Astar platform.

“Fireblocks is a leading platform catering to institutional investors. We’re looking forward to leveraging this integration to enhance adoption while giving institutions looking to build on Astar a secure and robust way to safeguard their digital assets,” Maarten Henskens, CEO of Astar Foundation, said in a statement.

Astar, Fireblocks and bitbank celebrated the integration during the WebX event in Tokyo, with more than 200 guests attending.  

The event attracted executives of global enterprises, VCs and Web3 founders, with discussions around blockchain-powered decentralized protocols.