StarkWare, a leading blockchain technology company, has recently unveiled Stwo, an open-source prover that utilizes zero-knowledge (ZK) technology. The main objective of Stwo is to enhance the speed of generating cryptographic proofs and reduce transaction fees for end-users.
Stwo will serve as a prover on the Starknet platform, allowing for the compression of transactions through the creation of faster proofs. By doing so, StarkWare’s operational costs will be minimized, leading to lower fees for users. This exciting development was shared in a press release on February 29th.
Oren Katz, the Chief Operating Officer of StarkWare, expressed his optimism about the potential of Stwo. He emphasized that developers interested in implementing Stark-based systems can freely access and utilize the open-source codebase of Stwo. As time goes on, both Starknet and Starknet app chains will automatically benefit from the advantages of Stwo, resulting in reduced latency and processing costs, ultimately leading to lower fees for users.
Katz further explained the significance of the prover in the context of STARK technology and the scaling of Ethereum. He referred to it as the “magic wand” of STARK technology and highlighted its crucial role in Ethereum’s scalability. The implementation of Circle STARK in Stwo will significantly enhance Ethereum’s scaling capabilities by generating proofs more efficiently.
Zero-knowledge proofs (ZK-proofs) are cryptographic protocols that enable users to prove specific information to others without disclosing the information itself. As of now, StarkWare’s Starknet ZK-rollup ranks as the fourth-largest layer 2, with a total value locked (TVL) of $1.33 billion, according to L2Beat data. Starknet is currently the largest ZK-rollup by TVL, followed by zkSync Era with $868 million.
StarkWare has expressed its commitment to fully open-sourcing the Starknet stack in the future, aligning with their vision of a decentralized and permissionless layer-2 blockchain network.
There has been a growing interest in privacy-preserving technologies based on ZK-proofs. One notable example is the Humanity Protocol, backed by Animoca, which recently introduced a ZK-powered biometric palm recognition technology for Web3 identity verification. This innovative solution offers a less invasive alternative to iris scans for biometric verification purposes.
Humanity Protocol received funding from over 20 venture capitalist firms on February 28th, including reputable companies like Hashed, CMCC, Cypher Capital, Foresight Ventures, and Mechanism Capital.
In related news, the US government made headlines by moving $922 million worth of seized Bitcoin after the cryptocurrency’s price surpassed $60,000. This development underscores the increasing adoption and recognition of Bitcoin by various entities.