Starknet introduces parallel execution for transactions in latest upgrade

Starknet has introduced a mechanism to execute multiple transactions simultaneously on its Layer 2 chain.

This feature, termed “parallel execution,” was part of today's upgrade to version 0.13.2. Alongside parallel execution, the upgrade also included a “block packing” feature, which aims to optimize block space usage by densely packing transactions within each block.

“L2s today are like minimarkets with a single checkout, as our sequencers can only handle one transaction at a time,” said Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of Starknet core contributor StarkWare and board member at the Starknet Foundation. “We’re becoming the first ‘megastore L2’ – overhauling our sequencer so that numerous checkout lanes simultaneously handle countless transactions.

Starknet developers noted that this upgrade is also intended to reduce confirmation times, lowering them from the current range of 10-80 seconds to about 2 seconds, as noted on the testnet.

Starknet is an Ethereum Layer 2 scaling solution that uses a zero-knowledge rollup based on “STARK” proofs conceptualized by its core developer, StarkWare.

Starknet has recently experienced a notable decrease in daily active users (DAUs), which have fallen by nearly 90% since the beginning of the year — from approximately 60,000 to about 6,000 currently, The Block's Data Dashboard shows.

7-day moving average of daily active addresses on Starknet | Source: The Block

The Block's data shows that daily transaction volumes on Starknet have also significantly dropped. Concurrently, Starknet’s competitor, zkSync, has seen a similar reduction in active addresses, while other networks like Linea and Scroll have observed increases in active addresses over the same period.