With the airdrop distribution of Arb, in addition to OP, the four L2 carriages currently include StarkWare and ZKSync. Among them, StarkWare has the lowest attention compared to the others, but the project financing amount is the highest. , and that’s why StarkNet is valued by capital but not appreciated by users. Let’s take a systematic look at StarkWare.
1. Project background
(1) Why does ETH need to expand?
The current Ethereum is a monolithic blockchain: it provides its own security, performs its own transactions, and maintains its own data availability. However, this traditional type of blockchain, one that provides itself with layers of security, execution, and data availability, has inherent limitations due to its “catch-all” nature. These limitations will bring higher transaction costs to users. This is because the scarce block space of the Ethereum execution layer, coupled with the growing demand for network usage, leads to network congestion and drives up transaction costs.
(2) What are the main expansion plans?
The current expansion methods are mainly divided into: on-chain expansion and off-chain expansion.
● On-chain expansion: refers to any direct modification to the blockchain in order to increase its throughput (i.e., the number of transactions that can be processed per second).
● Off-chain expansion: refers to any innovative way to provide external execution for underlying chains such as Ethereum. People call these innovations "Layer 2" (L2 for short), which means placing the execution of transactions on a second-layer network outside of Ethereum, thereby optimizing the performance of Ethereum L1.
According to these two methods, the current expansion solutions mainly include: RollupsRollup, Validiums, Volitions, side chains, state channels, and Plasma.
RollupsRollup is the most common solution. It executes transactions on its own optimized execution layer and publishes transaction data to Ethereum (and possibly other L1s public chains in the future). In this way, the Rollups chain directly inherits the security guarantees of Ethereum L1.
There are currently two types of Rollups: ZK-Rollups and Optimistic Rollups.
There are two main players in the ZK-Rollups technology field: zkSync and StarkWare.
2. Project Introduction
StarkWare is the project with the strongest team in the zk series expansion plan. The co-founder Eli Ben-Sasson is the world's top cryptography scientist and the co-inventor of zkSNARK and zkSTARK. The co-founder and CEO Uri Kolodny graduated from Heber I majored in computer science in college and am also a serial entrepreneur. StarkWare is currently valued at $8 billion.
StarkWare currently develops two products: StarkEx for ToB and StarkNet for ToC. StarkEx is an independent licensed Validity-Rollup (validity proof) that sells customized technology engine services StarkEx and charges service fees directly from customers with expansion needs. Currently, it has served dYdX, ImmutableX, Sorare, DeversiFi, rhino.fi, and ApeX , Myria and other customers; StarkNet is a permissionless decentralized zk-Rollup open to everyone. It uses the zkSTARK certification system and supports independent deployment of dApps.
The basic smart contract language used by StarkNet is not Solidity, but the Turing-complete zero-knowledge proof system language Cairo, which itself is not compatible with EVM. The team has been seeking zkEVM compatibility. At the end of October, StarkWare announced the launch of zkEVM (named "Kakarot") based on Cairo. However, the actual development is still in the early stages and has not been implemented.
Additionally, Ethereum development team Nethermind is building a Solidity-Cairo “compiler” that will allow projects written in Solidity to “one-click” translate their codebases to Cairo. It is reported that this "compiler" is still under development, and once effective, it will enable StarkNet to achieve a similar level of EVM compatibility as zkSync 2.0. Nethermind has been working on code translation and previously launched the Uniswap Warp version on the StarkNet network.
3. Token Economic Model
(1) Initial distribution of tokens
StarkWare has minted 10 billion tokens off-chain. It is important to note: these StarkNet tokens do not represent equity in StarkWare, nor provide any participation rights to StarkWare or grant any claim rights to StarkWare. The circulating supply of tokens will increase over time as the protocol mints new tokens, according to a schedule that will be determined later by the community. Therefore, circulating supply may not remain fixed.
The specific allocation is:
In order to align the long-term incentives of core contributors and investors with the interests of the StarkNet community and follow the conventions of the decentralized ecosystem, all tokens allocated to core contributors and investors will have a 4-year linear release period and a one-year lock-in period.
(2) Tokens have usage scenarios
The StarkNet token will be the mechanism for operating the network (fees), maintaining and protecting the network (consensus participation), and determining its value and strategic goals (governance).
● Transaction fees: Currently, fees in StarkNet are paid in ETH. But going forward, the project expects fees to be paid exclusively using native StarkNet tokens. To support a good user experience, automated and decentralized on-chain mechanisms will allow users to pay fees in ETH.
● Staking: Certain services that are critical to the activity and security of StarkNet may require staking of StarkNet tokens. These services may include ordering, reaching interim L2 consensus until L1 finality is reached, STARK attestation services, and data availability provisioning. These services are expected to be decentralized by 2023.
● Governance: Proposals to improve StarkNet will require a minimum token holding threshold. Voting, either directly or through delegation, is required for all changes to the protocol that are critical to the liveness, security, and maintenance of StarkNet. For example, all major updates to the StarkNet operating system require token holder approval.
4. Project Financing
● StarkWare completed a Series B financing worth $75 million on 2021-03-24. Participating investors in this round of financing include DCVC and Wing VC. A total of 2 investors participated in the round.
● StarkWare completed a Series C financing worth $50 million on November 16, 2021, with a valuation of $2,000,000,000. Participating investors in this round of financing include Alameda Research and Founders Fund. A total of 2 investors participated in the round.
● StarkWare completed a Series D financing worth $100 million on 2022-05-25, with a valuation of $8,000,000,000. Participating investors in this round of financing include Greenoaks Capital, Coatue Management, Tiger Global, etc. A total of six investors participated in the round.
5. Related links
● Official website: https://starkware.co/
● Twitter: https://twitter.com/StarkWareLtd
● github：https://github.com/starkware-libs/
6. Airdrop
The interaction about this type of project is not the interaction of the project itself, but the interaction of the project ecology.
StarkWare ecological project summary website: https://www.starknet-ecosystem.com/
Project coverage includes: cross-chain bridge, DAO, DID, GameFi, governance, infrastructure, NFT, payment, wallet, security facilities, etc.
The general interaction logic is to look at what the project does: cross the cross-chain bridge; for wallet projects, register a wallet and interact with wallet functions; DAO participates in project voting; DID registers domain names, etc. Interaction means just experiencing the functions of the project. Once the project is launched on the main network, you can interact with it with real money. If the project is still on the test network, you can use test coins for testing.
Since the total number of projects has exceeded 100+, on the premise of paying attention to all projects, we have compiled an interactive summary of selected ecological projects for everyone:
Table source file: StarkNet Ecological Selected Projects
（https://docs.qq.com/sheet/DSUF6UHZQSk5DaXZ3?tab=BB08J2）