StarkWare aims to bring mass adoption to Bitcoin and Ethereum through ZK technology with a $1 million research fund.
StarkWare, supported by a $1 million research fund and employing zero-knowledge (ZK) technology, has declared audacious goals to popularize Bitcoin.
The objective of the initiative is to concurrently scale Bitcoin and Ethereum through the utilization of ZK technology, more precisely Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge (STARK).
“We aren’t Ethereum maxis; we are scaling maxis.”
The announcement by StarkWare seeks to advance the vision of Satoshi Nakamoto by facilitating routine micropayments and developing a scalable solution to facilitate Bitcoin transactions on a global scale.
In a press release, StarkWare CEO and co-inventor of cheat-proof ZK cryptography Eli Ben-Sasson stated, “Bitcoin is mighty today, but it is still a fraction of what it can be.”
“Crypto can clean up the digital world and finance. It can deliver integrity to money and rebalance power in our society, taking it away from Big Tech and restoring it to sovereign individuals […] therefore, we need a vision that showcases this. No such vision is complete without scaling the chain that started this great project.”
Ben-Sasson, in an interview, discussed the consequences of implementing STARK scaling on Bitcoin:
“It’s about mass scale, period. Those enthusiastic about Bitcoin already know that the BTC vision is so great that it needs to spread, and the chain should be in mass use […] It’s about enabling Bitcoin, with all its values intact and loyal to Satoshi’s vision.”
Presently, the Bitcoin community is deliberating on OP_CAT, a technical proposal. Approval would potentially facilitate the implementation of STARK scaling on the Bitcoin blockchain.
StarkWare, according to Ben-Sasson, supports OP_CAT because the OP_CAT Bitcoin soft fork is “the safest path for Bitcoin to scale.”
“[If it isn’t approved], there are some solutions we’re exploring to deliver STARK scale without OP_CAT; I don’t want to say much about them now, but they could provide the basis of a workaround.”
In response to Ben-Sasson’s inquiry regarding the time required to implement the technology for testing and widespread use following OP_CAT approval, he stated:
“Within six months of approval, quite possibly even quicker. Background — StarkWare got the very first L2, StarkEx, on Ethereum, and back then, it had sounded like science fiction.”
StarkWare’s most recent declaration follows the organization’s recent release of the ZKThreads scaling framework.
The framework, according to StarkWare’s chief of product/market strategy Louis Guthmann, can enhance the scalability of decentralized applications and prevent trapped funds. This may eliminate the possibility of another FTX-Alameda catastrophe.