StarkWare to open-source prover technology for Ethereum Layer 2 network

Ethereum scaling project StarkWare plans to open-source the StarkNet Prover in an effort to make the technology publicly available and increase the transparency of its code.

The prover is a crucial component of the StarkNet, a widely adopted Layer 2 scaling network for Ethereum based on the ZK-STARKs technology. The prover is responsible for generating cryptographic proofs to compress transactions and improve the efficiency of Layer 2 scaling.

The open-sourcing of the StarkNet Prover will allow for more individuals to review the code, helping to detect bugs and increase transparency. This move may also be viewed as a positive step toward greater decentralization of the StarkNet, the team said.

Eli Ben-Sasson, co-founder of StarkWare and co-inventor of ZK-STARKs, commented on the open-sourcing, saying, "This marks a significant step for scaling Ethereum and cryptography, as STARK technology becomes a publicly available resource."

StarkNet was launched on the Ethereum mainnet in November 2021 in alpha stage, and since then the StarkWare team has gradually open-sourced elements of the StarkNet stack, including the Cairo 1.0 programming language, Papyrus client software and the StarkNet sequencer. Today's decision will mark the completion of open-sourcing the full StarkNet software stack once implemented in near future, the team said.