Starknet as a blockchain is an Ethereum layer-2 scaling solution that uses a zero-knowledge rollup based on StarkWare Industry’s trustless “STARK” proof, which in full details is known as the Scalable, Transparent Argument of Knowledge Blockchain, scaling Ethereum.
Starknet is one of many layer-2 scaling solutions (L2s) for Ethereum. There are multiple approaches to increasing transaction speeds and decrease costs, but one of the most popular has become zk-rollups.
However, Starknet’s innovation is called the Scalable, Transparent Argument of Knowledge (STARK). A zk-STARK uses two components—sequencers and provers—to mathematically validate transactions, create a STARK proof, and then communicate with smart contracts on Ethereum’s mainnet to formally record transactions. Starknet also uses its own coding language called Cairo, unlike the general coding language of Ethereum called Solidity, which is intended to make development more accessible to programmers.
The Development of Starknet
Starknet was developed by StarkWare Industries, an Israeli tech company founded in 2018 by Eli Ben-Sasson, Uri Kolodny, Michael Riabzev, and Alessandro Chiesa.
StarkWare ultimately aiming to help scale Ethereum, decided to build its own permissionless L2, and that effort culminated in the publishing of Starknet’s genesis block in November 2021. They created a native coin named (STRK), which began trading and became publicly available in February 2024.
How Starknet Processes Transactions
Due to the purpose of blockchain is to make all interactions decentralized and trustless, off-chain processing must be validated in a similarly trustless way. Starknet accomplishes this by using a Scalable, Transparent Argument of Knowledge (STARK) proof, which was first introduced in 2018.
The Two Main Components of Starknet
Sequencers: The sequencer process transactions and validate it,before it will be released to the Mainnet.
Provers: They organize blocks in groups and process them in parallel, which makes the process faster.
The zk-STARK mechanism involves sequencers and provers who are responsible for ensuring off-chain computation is verifiably accurate, and “bad’ data does not reach the Ethereum mainnet.
Fundamentals on how to start trading on Starknet Blockchain coming next up.