StarkNet is at the forefront of technology due to its unique features such as zk-STARK technology and custom development environment. This gives StarkNet an advantage in handling high throughput, low cost, and privacy protection. Therefore, StarkNet is expected to become a leader in Layer 2 solutions and attract more developers and users.
StarkNet is a Layer 2 solution designed to alleviate network congestion on the Ethereum network by increasing throughput and reducing transaction fees. It uses zero-knowledge proofs (zk-STARK) technology to achieve scalability and privacy. With StarkNet, developers can build, deploy, and run high-performance smart contracts in a decentralized environment without worrying about high transaction fees or the security of smart contracts, especially for scenarios that require high performance and low transaction fees, such as DeFi, NFT, and GameFi.
The StarkNet ecosystem provides developers with many interesting development directions. By leveraging the flexibility and advanced features of the Cairo language, developers can build innovative applications. Additionally, developers can take advantage of StarkNet's high throughput transaction capabilities and customization features to achieve high-performance and personalized application development. Furthermore, the ZK-EVM project based on StarkNet provides developers with more choices, allowing them to deploy and run smart contracts in a more secure and efficient environment.
The advantages of the custom development environment
StarkNet adopts unique technical features such as zk-STARK technology, custom development language Cairo, and virtual machine Cairo-VM. The custom development environment brings higher performance, better security, and richer functionality. Developers can use the Cairo programming language and STARKs verification mechanism to build secure and reliable smart contracts while enjoying high-performance transaction processing. Although there may be some friction, this friction is temporary, and developers can gradually adapt and benefit from it.
StarkNet adopts the custom development language Cairo and virtual machine Cairo-VM, which is different from the approach of other Layer 2 solutions borrowing Ethereum components. Cairo is a custom programming language of the StarkWare ecosystem. The StarkWare ecosystem has optimized itself, while other Layer 2 projects have focused more on optimizing Ethereum. Although this choice sacrifices the network effect of being fully compatible with Ethereum, it is difficult to argue against the rationality of this design choice, especially now that the author has clearly seen that Cairo's own network effect has reached "escape velocity."
In the future development, these technical features and innovations will bring potential value. As the importance of privacy protection and data security continues to grow, StarkNet's powerful privacy protection mechanism will attract more users and applications. At the same time, StarkNet's scalability and decentralization make it an effective solution for high throughput and security requirements. With the development of the blockchain ecosystem and the growing demand, the technical features of StarkNet in providing high performance, security, and privacy protection will give it great potential value and stand out in the competition.
Source: Bing Ventures
Projects under construction in the ecosystem
The core of StarkNet's application ecosystem is to build decentralized applications based on zero-knowledge proof technology with high performance, low cost, and privacy protection. StarkNet's advantages lie in its ability to provide high throughput, low transaction costs, and privacy protection, which makes StarkNet widely applicable in decentralized exchanges, NFT markets, and other fields. Here are some StarkNet ecosystem projects worth paying attention to:
DeFi:
JediSwap is a permissionless and composable AMM protocol built by the Mesh Finance community. The project has been launched on the StarkNet mainnet, with a current total value locked (TVL) of approximately $5 million. JediSwap received a grant of 150,000 STARK. JediSwap is highly innovative on StarkNet as a permissionless and composable AMM protocol, providing a more flexible and decentralized trading experience. As it has been launched and attracted a certain TVL, it has the potential market influence and contributes to the DeFi applications in the StarkNet ecosystem.
Morphine is a DeFi lending protocol with use cases including passive lending and active lending. The protocol allows users to provide liquidity and earn income through primary and advanced strategies, and provides active lending functionality, allowing users to borrow 15 times the collateral and access LSD, LP, ERC4626, and set up automation. Morphine is highly innovative on StarkNet, offering diverse lending strategies and features. Its flexibility and automation are attractive to DeFi users. The project has the potential to make an impact in the market and contribute to the development of the StarkNet ecosystem.
Orbiter Finance is a cross-chain solution, with its infrastructure Orbiter Bridge allowing asset transfers between various Rollups such as StarkNet and zkSync. Orbiter Finance is also developing zkProver, an intermediate layer that aggregates transactions using zero-knowledge technology and increases TPS and cross-Rollup transaction volume. Orbiter Finance's cross-chain solution is innovative on StarkNet and provides convenience for asset transfers between StarkNet and other Rollups. The development of this project contributes to building multi-chain interoperability and scalability and contributes to the development of StarkNet.
DeversiFi: DeversiFi is a decentralized exchange that aims to achieve faster and more secure transactions through StarkNet while maintaining connectivity to Ethereum.
NFT/Gaming/Metaverse:
Realms (Bibliotheca DAO) started as a Loot derivative project and is currently a large-scale multiplayer on-chain game on StarkNet. Realms received a score from the StarkNet Foundation, totaling 150,000 STARK. Realms, as a multiplayer on-chain game, provides an innovative gaming experience on StarkNet. The score and STARK rewards it received demonstrate its importance and contribution to the StarkNet ecosystem.
RYG.Labs is an NFT creative agency that is building interactive dynamic NFTs and providing NFT marketing solutions. RYG.Labs builds interactive dynamic NFTs on StarkNet and provides NFT marketing solutions, which is innovative in the NFT field. Its presence on StarkNet provides more choices for the NFT market and contributes to the development of the StarkNet ecosystem.
The Ninth is a metaverse game on StarkNet, with gameplay including land purchase, upgrading, and staking. The Ninth, as a metaverse game based on StarkNet, offers diverse gameplay and interactive experiences. Its innovation in the gaming and metaverse fields has potential market influence and contributes to the development of the StarkNet ecosystem.
Other Web3 Innovations:
Argent X: The first wallet supporting StarkNet launched by Argent, which utilizes native StarkNet accounts abstraction to implement multisig and mnemonic-less, while achieving lower transaction fees and faster confirmation times.
Bravvos: Committed to providing a seamless Web2.0 user experience, available on iOS, Android, and various browsers.
Carbonable is a carbon tracking system based on StarkNet, which has completed seed round financing and attracted investment from multiple venture capital firms. Carbonable's carbon tracking system is innovative on StarkNet and can help track and manage carbon emissions. The development of this project is significant for environmental protection and sustainable development and plays a role in promoting the StarkNet ecosystem.
Dolven Labs is a DAO-based ecosystem Catalyst and also a center for permissionless DeFi tools in the StarkNet ecosystem. They have also built projects like Starknet Social and StarkGuardians. Dolven Labs plays an important role in the StarkNet ecosystem, providing permissionless DeFi tools and other related projects. Its innovation and contribution to the DeFi and social networking fields have a positive impact on the development of StarkNet.
Herodotus is building a cross-chain data access solution with storage proofs, allowing smart contracts on StarkNet to access Ethereum on-chain data without trust. Herodotus' cross-chain data access solution is important for achieving interoperability between StarkNet and Ethereum. The development of this project helps expand the functionality of StarkNet and provides broader data access capabilities for the blockchain ecosystem.
Overall, the success of StarkNet's application ecosystem relies on technological advantages, developer support, application scenarios, and ecosystem support. The development of StarkNet also requires widespread community support. If StarkNet can attract more developers, investors, and users, and gain more attention and recognition, its ecosystem potential will be even greater.
Source: StarkNet
Growing pains and prospects
One of the biggest challenges and bottlenecks that StarkNet's application ecosystem may face in the future is competition, as there are many other Layer 2 scaling solutions striving to develop and even have advantages over StarkNet in certain aspects. Therefore, continuous innovation and improvement are needed to attract more developers and users. Another potential challenge is network effects. As StarkNet is a relatively new technology, it requires the participation of a large number of developers and users to establish a strong network effect, so effective marketing and promotion are needed.
Another challenge that StarkNet faces is ensuring the sustainability of the ecosystem. With the emergence of competitors and technological advancements, StarkNet needs to continuously innovate and provide attractive features to maintain user loyalty and attractiveness. At the same time, StarkNet also needs to build solid relationships with developers and partners to promote the development and growth of the ecosystem. Other challenges include:
The adoption of the Cairo language limits developer involvement: Since Cairo is a completely new language, developers need to learn and adapt to this new programming language. This may be an additional learning curve for many developers, limiting their ability to participate in the StarkNet ecosystem. In comparison, Ethereum's EVM has a broader developer community, making it easier for developers to get started and quickly build applications.
High throughput and low transaction costs are only advantageous in specific use cases: Although StarkNet demonstrates the advantages of high throughput and low transaction costs in specific use cases, these advantages may not be important for all application scenarios. For some applications, especially those that do not require processing a large number of transactions, these advantages may not be significant. Therefore, the widespread adoption of StarkNet in various industries may require more validation and evidence.
In my opinion, StarkNet is technology-driven and has a clear positioning of its business model. They focus on providing solutions that users truly need, rather than just pursuing flashy new technologies. We also see some developers starting to flock to Cairo and STARK, seeing their potential and scalable solutions. Some projects are developing zkEVM based on StarkNet, such as Warp and Kakarot. These projects deploy zkEVM on StarkNet, further showcasing the strengths of Cairo and StarkNet. Based on this, we believe that StarkNet has greater potential in areas such as full-chain games, contract wallets, cross-chain communication, and on-chain AI, as its technical features and innovations bring key advantages to these areas.
In the field of full-chain games, StarkNet's high throughput and low transaction costs make it an ideal choice for full-chain games. By bundling multiple L2 transactions into one transaction on Ethereum, StarkNet can distribute transaction costs among other transactions in the same batch, reducing costs. Additionally, StarkNet's high performance and low communication requirements improve network operation speed and increase network throughput, providing better production efficiency and user experience for full-chain games.
In the field of contract wallets, StarkNet's native account abstraction allows contract wallets to achieve functionality similar to hardware wallets. Contract wallets enable the encryption chip/module of a mobile phone to directly sign transactions, achieving hardware-level security. Additionally, StarkNet's programmable signature verification allows optimization at the wallet layer through techniques such as signature transcription, improving the performance and security of contract wallets.
In terms of cross-chain communication, StarkNet's decentralized nature and security design make it a reliable cross-chain communication solution. By using zero-knowledge proofs, StarkNet can verify and prove without revealing transaction details, protecting data privacy and security. This provides higher trust and security for cross-chain communication, facilitating data exchange and interoperability between different chains.
In the field of on-chain AI, StarkNet's technical features allow off-chain execution of computations and on-chain verification of generated proofs. This enables AI and machine learning models to perform computations on-chain without exposing sensitive data and model details. StarkNet's zero-knowledge proof functionality can be used to verify the correctness of AI computations, increasing user trust in the results. This opens up new possibilities for on-chain AI applications such as games, oracles, automated trading, anti-whale, KYC, and more.
For the future of the StarkNet ecosystem, it can be foreseen that with continuous technological development and innovation, StarkNet has the potential to remain competitive in expansion and development. However, it needs to address challenges such as ensuring sustainability, comparing with competitors, and attracting user growth. Through continuous innovation and close collaboration with developers and users, StarkNet may continue to evolve and bring diversified application scenarios to the Ethereum ecosystem.
Source: StarkNet