StarkNet Review: Stub Layer 2 Solution On Ethereum

March 27, 2023 - Around 8 mins mins to read

StarkNet is a novel Layer 2 solution featuring zkRollup technology gaining traction in the StarkWare ecosystem and is also receiving attention from the community. Let’s learn details about this project with Coincu through this StarkNet Review article.

StarkNet Review: Stub Layer 2 Solution On Ethereum

What is StarkNet?

StarkNet is a layer 2 Ethereum solution that is part of the zk-Rollup solution. Because of StarkNet’s dependency on the STARK system – StarkWare’s technological development – any dApp may run, function, and expand endlessly without jeopardizing Ethereum’s capacity to aggregate and protect. Smart Contracts may therefore be built and launched on StarkNet by STARK developers.

The Cairo programming language is used to write the StarkNet contract and its operating system, which allows for the deployment and scaling of dApps or smart contracts independent of their business logic.

Since June 2020, StarkNet has been running on the Ethereum Mainnet. More than 50 million transactions were resolved on Ethereum’s Private and Public Testnets prior to the Mainnet release. StarkNet enables any Dapp to function at an infinite scale while guaranteeing Ethereum’s security.

StarkNet is also one of StarkWare’s two most visible products, providing as a Layer 2 solution for the Ethereum Blockchain using the zk-rollup architecture. Now, the StarkNet Review article will explore how the project works.

How does it work?

As compared to Optimistic Rollup technology, zk-Rollups is praised for its faster transaction validation procedure. In the medium and long term, Zk-Rollups are regarded as the main scaling option on the Ethereum network, as opposed to Optimistic Rollups, which are only viable in the short run.

What is StarkWare?

Eli Ben-Sasson, the co-founder of STARK & ZCash, created Starkware, also known as StarkWare Industries, in January 2018. StarkWare improves blockchain scalability and privacy by deploying and verifying zero-knowledge proofs using STARK technology.

Products of StarkWare

Cairo, SHARP, VeeDo, StarkEx, and StarkNet are among the highlighted products of Starkware.

Cairo is the computational programming language shared by StarkEx and StarkNet. Cairo will be used by all protocols and dapps created on Starkex and Starknet.
SHARP is a system that enables you to gather a collection of (different) Cairo Programs to construct a proof for all of them, then post that proof on Ethereum to be confirmed by a STARK validator, lowering transaction gas prices.
VeeDo is a trustless randomization feature that can be verified using STARK technology (roughly translated as trustless lottery); it is comparable to Chainlink’s VDF.
StarkNet and StarkEx: Starkex is a trading-specific variant of Starknet, while Starknet is the complete version – permissionless decentralized ZK-Rollup.

Outstanding Features of StarkNet

Cairo programming language

This programming language enables developers to grow and deploy dApps or smart contracts in any sector. Cairo will be used by all protocols and dApps created on Starkex and Starknet.

The ability to extend

This is also StarkNet’s most spectacular and excellent feature. Scales while retaining Layer 1 Ethereum security by creating STARK proofs off-chain and then validating those proofs on-chain.

Developer Assistance

Developers may use StarkNet contracts to launch enterprises (StarkNet Contracts). Developers may use this to complete their projects smoothly.

Possibility to combine

StarkNet enables aggregation, allowing projects on the Ethereum network to effortlessly engage and connect with one another.

The zk-Rollup technique

This is a novel technology that is valued higher than existing Layer 2 solutions. With this technology, connecting Layer 1 and Layer 2 is simple and straightforward, and contact time across projects is reduced.

StarkNet Ecosystem

DEX

Starkswap: an AMM DEX built and developed on the network.
Jediswap: is the first AMM application on Starknet.
mySwap: is the top 1 AMM on the net today, similar to StarkSwap. MySwap is the place to provide trading – swap, add liquidity – pool to make profit. Currently, the floor is still in the testing phase.
Zigzag: A DEX that operates on an orderbook mechanism.
ZKX: is a perpetual exchange.
ZKEX: is a multichain L2 Orderbook AMM-DEX with unlimited access and liquidity on connected blockchains.

Lending

The lending sector is an essential component of any ecosystem for increasing the efficiency of capital in the system. Having loan activity will allow for the creation of new applications in the future, such as derivatives or farm leverage, in this fledgling ecosystem. Lending projects in this ecosystem include:

zkLend: A StarkNet money-market lending experiment. Currently, no project product has been delivered to users, nor has a testnet been established.
Aave
Maker DAO
Curve Zero

Infrastructure

StarkNet’s infrastructure is presently being built and serves apps effectively. Bridges are being built, as well as infrastructure for application development, since the Cairo programming language makes it impossible for the number of apps and developers to scale to StarkNet.

Among the infrastructure initiatives on the StarkNet ecosystem are:

Suez, Qasr, Kubri, and other bridges are in the development and testnet stages.
Since there are numerous chart visualizers working on the system, there is already an explorer on the ecosystem that facilitates monitoring transactions as well as information in the system.
Metamask is the most popular wallet for storing assets and interacting with system apps.
DAO Infrastructures:
- Snapshot and Zorro Protocol are infrastructure applications for DAO voting in the works.
- Bibliotheca is a specialized infrastructure for the Ethereum-based NFT project Loot.

Gaming/NFT

The project’s gaming/NFT initiatives include:

Dope Wars, Influence, Realms, Game of Blocks, Eykar, bitmapbox, Phi Φ, and The Ninth are some of the StarkNet gaming projects.
NFT marketplace:
- Oasis is the first NFT Market project on StarkNet, and it is now testingnet.
- Mint Square, a platform for NFT issuance on StarkNet, is currently in the testnet stage.
- NFTflow is a liquidity provider for NFTs.
- Briq is a program that assists in the development of NFT on StarkNet.
Game development platform: On StarkNet, ImmutableX is a game development platform. Since it is the primary game platform on StarkWare, this platform gets a lot of market attention.

Other projects

Yield aggregator: At present, Fuji DAO is the first and only yield aggregator initiative.
ZkX – Derivatives is a project that deals with derivatives. At this moment, no more details regarding the project are available.
Launchpad: ZkPad – A launchpad project. The project is still in the works.
Betting: iBetYou – A betting project.

STRK token

STRK just deployed on the Ethereum Mainnet on November 16, 2022. Currently, the information and the token sale to the community have not been announced. None of the TRK tokens will be tradable until further notice by the StarkNet Foundation.

Key metrics

Token Name: StarkNet.
Ticker: STRK.
Blockchain: Ethereum.
Token Standard: Updating.
Contract: Updating.
Token Type: Utility, Governance.
Total Supply: Updating.
Circulating Supply: Updating.

Token Allocation

Foundation: 10%
Community Provisions: 9%
Community Rebates: 9%
Grants: 12%
Donations: 2%
Unallocated: 8.1%
Investors: 17.0%
Core Contributors: 32.9%

Use case

STRK can be used for staking, payment of transaction fees on the network, and governance.

Roadmap

StarkWare is constructing StarkNet in four stages:

Step 0 – Foundations (complete)
Step I – Planet: a compilation of an app
Step II – Constellations: a compilation of many applications
Step III – Universe: hierarchical compilation

Step 0 – Foundations

StarkWare has completed the development of a number of critical platforms that will serve as stepping stones for StarkNet, including the Cairo programming language, Zero-Knowledge Proof STARK (ZK-STARK) technology, and the StarkEx Layer-2 scaling solution.

Step I – Planet

This is the stage at which dApp developers may create and deploy their own scalable apps on the network.

Step II: Constellations

Several apps operating on the same StarkNet instance and accessing the same shared state are supported. It enables application compatibility while lowering transaction costs to achieve economic efficiency.

Step III – Universe

The last phase in the development process is to decentralize network operations.

Moreover, in the near future, StarkNet will concentrate on enhancing the performance of upgrading factors:

Validity Rollups are a kind of block limitation. L1 Transaction Parallelization: Swap Transaction Execution
Cairo-VM now has a new Rust implementation: To improve virtual machine performance.
Reimplementing the Sequencer in Rust: Taking use of Cairo without requiring a Python-Rust link.

Core team

Eli Ben-Sason: Eli is the co-founder of StarkWare and the company’s Chairman of the Board of Directors. Eli is the Co-Founder of Zcash Corporation and was engaged in the creation of FRI and Zerocash.

Uri Kolodny: Uri is the Co-Founder and CEO of StarkWare, as well as a member of the Board of Directors. Uri co-founded many internet firms, including OmniGuide and Mondria.

Michael Riabzev is a StarkWare co-founder and chief architect. He received his PhD in computer science from the Technion Israel University of Technology, where he worked on the creation and implementation of the zk-STARK system. He has 14 years of expertise in software development, including time spent at Intel and IBM research laboratories.

Alessandro Chiesa is a StarkWare co-founder and chief scientist. He is a co-inventor of the Zerocash protocol and a co-founder of Zcash.

Moreover, StarkWare’s team consists of 40 employees who are brilliant and experienced blockchain developers.

Conclusion of StarkNet Review

StarkNet is now in the ecosystem’s early phases, with the most basic DeFi apps only starting to be built and not yet deployed – the most interesting DEXs are in the testnet stage.

The ecosystem is still in its early stages since the projects are just in the testnet stage and require time to enhance the user experience. Nonetheless, it has significant development potential since this ecosystem’s product portfolio is incredibly diversified, encompassing DeFi, Wallet, Infrastructure, Gaming/NFT, and so on. Hopefully the StarkNet Review article has helped you understand more about the project.

DISCLAIMER: The Information on this website is provided as general market commentary and does not constitute investment advice. We encourage you to do your own research before investing.

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