DataStax launches Astra Block to support Web3 applications

Published on feb 11, 2023

It will be available as part of the company’s Astra DB NoSQL database-as-a-service, which is based on the Ethereum blockchain.

Earlier this week, DataStax announced the launch of a new cloud-based application building service, called Astra Block.

Web3 is a decentralized version of the internet where content is registered on blockchains, tokenized, or managed on peer-to-peer networks.

Based on the Ethereum blockchain, Astra Block can be used to create smart contracts and will be available as part of the company’s NoSQL database-as-a-service (DBaaS) based on Apache Cassandra.

Using the new service, developers will be able to stream enhanced data from the Ethereum blockchain to build or scale Web3 experiences virtually on Astra DB.

According to DataStax, applications can be built to analyze any transaction in the blockchain history for insights.

Market research firm Gartner estimates that by 2025, at least 25% of enterprises will interact with customers via Web3.

In Astra Block, the data used to create applications is decoded, enhanced and stored in a human-readable format, accessible through standard Cassandra Query Language (CQL) queries.

The company says that Astra Block can decode and store application data in a human-readable format, and that the data can be accessed by using standard Cassandra Query Language (CQL) database queries.

Astra Block applications can also benefit from the change data capture (CDC) and streaming features of Astra DB, according to DataStax.

The company launched its Astra Streaming service in June last year in order to assist enterprises in becoming cloud-native and finding efficiencies in their existing infrastructure.

Through the free tier of Astra DB, a version of Astra Block is available that includes a partial blockchain data set of 20GB. The paid tier of Astra DB – based on pay-as-you-go usage and standard Astra DB pricing – includes the ability to clone the entire blockchain, updated as new blocks are added. DataStax will expand Astra Block to other blockchains based on user demand.