StarkWare’s new open-source ZK Prover is supposed to be blazingly fast and aims to bring down transaction costs for end users.
StarkWare Unveils Stwo Prover
On Thursday, at ETHDenver, StarkWare made waves with its latest revelation: an open-source cryptographic prover poised to revolutionize transaction speeds on the StarkNet blockchain. Dubbed Stwo, this prover harnesses zero-knowledge (zk) technology to slash proving latency, promising accelerated transactions. By generating faster proofs, Stwo will reduce StarkWare’s processing costs, ultimately resulting in lower user fees.
Oren Katz, StarkWare's COO, emphasized Stwo's transformative potential for Ethereum's scalability. He said,
“Stwo will bring new possibilities for scaling. And they’ll be available for everyone, given that it will be open-source from Day 1.”
Benefits for Starknet and Beyond
Essential for layer-2 networks, provers generate proofs vital for cross-network linkage and security reinforcement. StarkWare's previous prover, Stone, was open-sourced in August, paving the way for Stwo. Named for its fusion of Stone and Two, Stwo's open-source framework allows universal accessibility and scrutiny of its codebase.
Stwo's open accessibility extends to developers, facilitating the implementation of Stark-based systems. Starknet and its app chains stand to benefit significantly, as Stwo's deployment promises reduced latency and processing costs, translating to lower user fees.
Katz said,
“The prover is the magic wand of STARK technology. It plays a key role in scaling Ethereum. The implementation of Circle STARK in Stwo will help supercharge Ethereum scaling by more efficiently generating proofs.”
Empowering ZK-Proofs
Zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs) enable users to validate information without disclosing sensitive data. As the fourth largest layer 2, StarkWare's Starknet ZK-rollup boasts a $1.33 billion TVL and underscores the growing significance of such protocols in the crypto landscape. In terms of TVL, Starkent is the ZK rollup, closely followed by zkSync Era, which has a TVL of $868 million. With Starknet positioned as a leading ZK rollup, StarkWare's commitment to open-sourcing its entire stack aligns with its vision for a decentralized, permissionless layer-2 blockchain network.
Expanding Possibilities with Circle STARKS
The announcement of Stwo comes just a week after StarkWare's recent collaboration with Polygon on Circle STARKS. The latter seeks to enhance transaction efficiency and cost-effectiveness for zero-knowledge rollups. Katz emphasized the swift transition from theoretical breakthrough to practical application, saying,
“It’s especially exciting that just a week after the new Circle STARK protocol was announced as a theoretical breakthrough, this protocol is already springing to life with the development of this blazingly fast prover.”
Disclaimer: This article is provided for informational purposes only. It is not offered or intended to be used as legal, tax, investment, financial, or other advice.
