StarkNet, the decentralized and scalable layer-2 solution for Ethereum, has reached a new milestone in its growth and adoption. According to the latest data from DeFi Llama, StarkNet’s total value locked (TVL) has surpassed $100 million, making it one of the largest layer-2 platforms in terms of assets secured.
StarkNet’s TVL has increased by more than 10x since its launch on mainnet in November 2021, when it had around $9 million locked. The rapid growth of StarkNet’s TVL can be attributed to several factors, including the launch of new applications and integrations, the improvement of user experience and developer tools, and the enhancement of network performance and security.
Some of the notable applications and integrations that have contributed to StarkNet’s TVL growth are:
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The launch of StarkEx 3.0, which introduced Cairo-based smart contracts and enabled developers to deploy any DeFi application on StarkNet. The integration of several popular DeFi protocols, such as dYdX, Immutable X, Paraswap, and SushiSwap, which leveraged StarkNet’s scalability and security to offer better user experience and lower fees.
The improvement of StarkNet’s performance and reliability, which achieved record throughput of over 9,000 transactions per second (TPS) and reduced latency to less than 10 minutes. StarkNet’s impressive metrics demonstrate the potential of its technology, which is based on zero-knowledge proofs (ZKPs). ZKPs are cryptographic techniques that allow users to prove the validity of their transactions without revealing any sensitive information. This enables StarkNet to process thousands of transactions off-chain and batch them into a single proof that is verified on Ethereum, thus reducing congestion and costs.
StarkNet’s vision is to become a fully decentralized and permissionless layer-2 network that supports any DeFi application. To achieve this goal, StarkNet is working on several initiatives, such as:
The launch of Planets, which are independent shards that can run different applications and communicate with each other via cross-shard messages. The transition to a decentralized governance model, which will allow the community to propose and vote on upgrades and parameters of the network.
The development of a rich ecosystem of tools and libraries, which will make it easier for developers and users to interact with StarkNet. StarkNet is one of the most promising projects in the layer-2 space, as it offers a scalable and secure solution for Ethereum’s scalability challenges. With its TVL surpassing $100 million and its performance reaching new heights, StarkNet is proving that ZKPs are the future of DeFi.
Paraswap, the popular decentralized aggregator for token swaps, which integrated with StarkNet in January 2022, offering users lower fees and faster transactions. DeversiFi, the decentralized exchange for professional traders, which announced its upcoming migration to StarkNet in February 2022, promising to deliver high-speed and low-cost trading with full self-custody.
In addition to attracting more applications and users, StarkNet has also improved its user experience and developer tools, making it easier and more convenient to interact with the platform. Some of the recent improvements are:
The launch of Cairo Playground, a web-based IDE for developing smart contracts in Cairo, the native programming language of StarkNet. The release of Cairo Lang Server, a VS Code extension that provides syntax highlighting, auto-completion, and error checking for Cairo code.
The introduction of StarkNet Bridge, a cross-chain bridge that allows users to transfer assets between Ethereum and StarkNet with minimal friction. The support of EIP-712 signatures, a standard that enables users to sign messages with their Ethereum wallets without exposing their private keys.
Finally, StarkNet has also enhanced its network performance and security, delivering faster and more reliable transactions with lower latency. Some of the recent enhancements are: The upgrade to Alpha 3, the latest version of StarkNet’s protocol, which increased the throughput from 3K to 9K transactions per second (TPS) and reduced the latency from 30 minutes to 10 minutes.
The deployment of Cairo Prover Service (CPS), a decentralized network of providers that generate zero-knowledge proofs for StarkNet’s transactions, ensures their validity and finality. The implementation of Validium mode, a configuration that allows applications to store their state data off-chain, reducing the gas costs and increasing the scalability.