Mapping out StarkNet's ecosystem

The rise in popularity of NFT and DeFi markets has left the base Ethereum layer congested at times – with transaction costs sometimes reaching triple-digit dollar amounts. With Ethereum 2.0 still being in development, this has opened an opportunity for other stakeholders in the sector to offer their version of a more scalable layer-1 solution like Solana or Avalanche. Another angle to solve the scalability problem are layer-2 scaling solutions. More specifically, we decided to examine StarkWare and their project StarkNet. StarkNet is a decentralized, permissionless, and censorship-resistant Zero-Knowledge rollup (ZK-Rollup) that utilizes STARK proofs and is verified on Ethereum's main net layer. You can find a deeper dive into the technical aspects of StarkWare solutions here.

StarkWare, an Israel-based company, was founded in 2018 by Eli Ben-Sasson, Uri Kolodny, Michael Riabzev, and Alessandro Chiesa. The team has raised over $173 million in their financing deals and is currently raising another $100 million in their Series D offering. StarkWare's Series C round valued the company at $2 billion, whereas the new round, which has yet to be closed, is reportedly valuing the firm at a $6 billion valuation.