About StarkWare
StarkWare, founded in 2018, is currently building a scaling solution for Ethereum using ZK-STARK (Zero-Knowledge Scalable Transparent Arguments of Knowledge) validity proofs.
StarkWare’s Vision: Bring massive scalability to Ethereum while preserving L1 security, permissionless interactions, and decentralization.
Founding team
The StarkWare team consists of cryptographers and scientists, and the core members include Eli Ben-Sasson, Uri Koldony, Michael Raibzev, and Alessandro Chiesa.
Co-founder and CEO Uri Kolodny has a B.Sc in Computer Science from the Hebrew University, and an MBA from MIT Sloan. Uri is a serial entrepreneur, who has co-founded several tech companies, including OmniGuide (an MIT spinoff developing optical fibers for endoscopic surgery) and Mondria (a developer of tools for the visualization of big data). Previously, Uri also served as an EIR (entrepreneur in residence) with two Israeli VC firms and as an analyst at McKinsey, making himself excel at dealing with VC firms.
Other core members: Eli Ben-Sasson is a graduate of Technion — Israel Institute of Technology (Albert Einstein served as President of the first Technion Society); Prior to founding StarkWare, co-founder and chief scientist Alessandro Chiesa served as the co-author of the Zerocash protocol and the co-founder of Zcash.
StarkNet
Powered by the ZK-STARKs invented by StarkWare, StarkNet is a decentralized and permissionless L2 ZK-Rollup running on Ethereum. Featuring Turing completeness, it provides EVM compatibility via Solidity -> Cairo Compiler. StarkNet is based on the Turing-complete Cairo language and supports general computation on Ethereum. On StarkNet, developers develop and deploy applications, users initiate and execute transactions, and nodes keep the network fully functioning to get incentives. All transactions on StarkNet are periodically batched into a STARK proof for verification on the Ethereum network.
To learn more about the technologies of StarkWare, please refer to our previous article:
A review of StarkNet-based projects
Applications
Starknet.id（https://goerli.app.starknet.id/）
Starknet.id is the first on-chain identity project on StarkNet. It links the users’ identity information on platforms such as Twitter, Discord, and Github to their StarkNet addresses through free NFT minting. The project has hinted on Twitter that users could get rewarded through certain on-chain and off-chain behaviors. Linking SNS identity information to addresses is an approach also used in Eykar, a GameFi project on StarkNet. That said, Starknet.id remains in its infancy, with a small user community and merely 3,000+ followers on Twitter.
StarkNet Name Service (https://starknames.vercel.app/)
StarkNet Name Service is an award-winning project (the StarkNet hackathon) that resembles Ethereum’s ENS, and its registration process is also similar to that of ENS: Users can directly search for the preferred domain name on the website and then get registered.
StarkGate (https://starkgate.starknet.io/terms)
StarkGate is the official cross-chain bridge developed by StarkWare, the team behind StarkNet. The project now only has an alpha version.
Stark Board (https://www.starkboard.io/)
Stark Board, a data website on StarkNet, aims to visualize data related to the StarkNet ecosystem, such as transaction history, TVL, number of users, nodes, etc. Users can click the button in the picture below to apply to become an OG, get connected to their wallet, offer signature permission, and then repost tweets. However, Stark Board is still in the closed beta stage, and many statistics are now not available.
GameFi
Eykar
Eykar is a multiplayer online game that integrates elements such as role-playing and sandbox simulation. The project, yet to be launched, is not that popular, with about 2,000 followers on Discord.
DeFi
Astraly (https://testnet.astraly.xyz/)
Astraly is a token distribution and community-building platform where users can buy and stake ASTR tokens to receive lottery tickets that allow them to invest in the listed projects. Like Ethereum’s JuiceBox, the project can also help users with crowdfunding. Astraly has built a relatively more popular community, with 31,700 followers on Twitter.
Serity (https://alpha.serity.finance/)
Serity is an asset synthesis protocol. On Serity, after connecting their wallet, users set a cap on contract interaction and then synthesize crypto assets. Right now, Serity only has an alpha version and is not yet available. This infant project comes with a small community, with just over 2,000 Twitter followers.
CurveZero
Curvezero is a fixed-rate loan protocol built on StarkNet that recently launched its public testnet. At the moment, the project has not set up any Discord channel, and users need to DM the official Twitter account if they encountered any problem during testing. This early-stage project has over 2,000 Twitter followers, including KOLs like Cao Yin.
According to the official announcement, CurveZero will airdrop 10% of the token supply to AAVE and COMP users, though the details of the airdrop are unclear.
Magnetyfi (https://app.magnety.finance/create)
Magnetyfi is an asset management protocol allowing anyone to create and manage funds on StarkNet. The project helps trading experts earn more profits by providing trading strategies for more retail users. Meanwhile, retail users could jack up their returns through more professional financial services. Magnetyfi now enjoys decent popularity, and a lot of people participated in the test, hoping to get airdrop tokens. With about 17,000 Twitter followers and over 20,000 Discord followers, Magnetyfi is one of the most-watched projects on StarkNet.
ZKX (https://zkx.fi/)
ZKX is a permissionless protocol for derivatives built on StarkNet, with a decentralized order book and a unique way to offer complex financial instruments as swaps. Here are the features of the protocol:
1) ZKX allows users to vote for the objects of derivatives transactions through its DAO and provides trading incentives for the community;
2) Decentralized Limit Order Book (DLOB): The node network provides price feedback directly to exchanges to improve the efficiency of individual and institutional traders;
3) ZKX uses Adaptive Balancing Rate to balance the order book;
3) Swap Liquidity Mining。
The node network consists of two basic parts: Decentralized Limit Order Book (DLOB) and Data Provider Service (DPS). DPS gives ZKX flexibility regarding the data it can bring, the type of assets it can procure, and the prices it can have. This also adds scalability to the system because all matches within the order book happen much faster than possible on-chain. That said, all fundamental checks are still within the L2 of StarkNet, and the order book will always be validated within the framework of ZK-rollups and ZK-proofs. This means that you can benefit from fast execution and flexibility while enjoying known security and privacy.
About incentives: To ensure that users receive rewards based on their trading behaviors, ZKX developed the High Tide algorithm, which analyzes trading behaviors during each season and gives a score to each user according to the consistency of the user’s trading, the duration of trades, volume, and overall participation. Based on that score, users will receive the rewards that are set for that particular swap at the end of the season. Any DAO, protocol, or investor from the community that wants to list an asset can provide any ERC-20 reward of their choice to incentivize liquidity to flow in for that particular perpetual swap. Therefore, ZKX is an open system where anyone can release a swap and offer rewards to trade that swap through DAO governance.
Overall, the StarkNet ecosystem offers a wide range of projects that cover many blockchain categories. Yet most of these projects remain in an early stage, and the user experience still needs a lot of improvement. Migrated from dYdX, ZKX is one of the decentralized derivatives projects favored by emerging institutional investors and officially backed by StarkWare, which means that it could evolve into a hit project in the StarkWare ecosystem.
