StarkWare: Exploring the Innovative Path of StarkEx and StarkNet

StarkWare was co-founded by Professor Eli Ben-Sasson from the Israel Institute of Technology, one of the joint inventors of zk SNARK and zk STARK, to provide solutions based on STARK technology for the blockchain industry. The company currently develops two main products: StarkEx and StarkNet.

StarkEx

StarkEx is a specific application Layer-2 scaling engine based on Ethereum, designed to address the scalability issues of Layer-1 blockchain networks. It achieves fast, low-cost transactions using the STARK proof system, while not compromising on security, privacy, and self-custody.

StarkEx provides a series of application processes for achieving low-cost off-chain computation, packaging multiple transactions into a single STARK proof, which is then verified on-chain, thereby reducing the average gas cost per transaction. It has been successfully deployed in several applications, such as dYdX, Immutable, Sorare, and others.

StarkNet

StarkNet is a permissionless decentralized validity rollup network that operates as an L2 network on Ethereum. It enables any dApp to achieve unlimited scalable computation without compromising Ethereum's composability and security.

StarkNet contracts and operating systems are written in the Cairo language, supporting the deployment and expansion of any use case. As a decentralized layer two network solution, StarkNet aims to provide higher scalability and performance for dApps.

Cairo is a programming language designed specifically for StarkNet, aimed at simplifying the development and deployment of smart contracts. By using Cairo, developers can easily build highly scalable applications for various use cases.

Account Abstraction

StarkNet provides account abstraction features, allowing for greater flexibility in account management. Users can program account functionalities through account contracts, such as:

• Determine the meaning of a valid signature
• Pay transaction fees with different tokens
• Design a custom replay protection mechanism

StarkNet account contracts must include two functions: validate and execute, to ensure that only the account owner can initiate transactions and to charge for the resources used.

Token Economics

StarkNet plans to issue a native token with a total supply of 10 billion. The tokens will be used for:

• Pay transaction fees
• Staking to provide network services
• Participate in governance

The token distribution is as follows:

• 17% - StarkWare investors
• 32.9% - Core Contributors
• 50.1% - Granted to the foundation for community supplies, rebates, research and development funding, etc.

All tokens allocated to core contributors and investors will have a 4-year lock-up period, with a 1-year cliff and linear release.

Summary

StarkWare is one of the leading companies in the zk rollups field, with its products StarkEx and StarkNet providing powerful scalability solutions for Ethereum. The company has a strong team and investor support, with a valuation of 8 billion USD. Although there is still room for improvement in ecological development, StarkNet is moving towards higher TPS and better user experience.