starkware

According to The Block, StarkWare has deployed its next-generation open-source S-two prover on the Starknet mainnet, which the company claims is currently the fastest and most privacy-preserving proof system in production.This upgrade replaces the network's previous proof component, now generating validity proofs for each block, reducing proof time and lowering verification costs, while increasing throughput and scalability without sacrificing trustlessness. S-two (short for "STARK Two") generates zero-knowledge proofs at a speed 10 times faster than the previous system, making previously uneconomical workloads such as real-time transaction engines and zero-knowledge machine learning inference possible by lowering proof costs and increasing block capacity.

ChainCatcher news, Starkware announced on the X platform that it is currently preparing to release the new version Starknet v0.14.1, which will support faster block closures during low activity periods and will deploy the BLAKE hash function (SNIP-34). It is expected to go live on the testnet on November 11 and on the mainnet on November 25.

ChainCatcher news, StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson recently shared his insights on "whether Bitcoin is a currency" on social media. He believes the answer is both yes and no: yes, because Bitcoin has value, gains trust, and is not controlled by the government; no, because its value is difficult to fully realize and it has not yet become a mainstream payment method in everyday economic activities.Ben-Sasson predicts that in the future, Bitcoin will ultimately be used as a currency.

ChainCatcher news, StarkWare has announced the launch of the Delegation Program, aimed at helping to secure the network by authorizing validators (especially smaller validators) and earning rewards in the process, thereby supporting the decentralization of Starknet.As part of this program, StarkWare will gradually delegate millions of STRK to eligible validators to expand the staking pool, improve staking distribution, encourage new validators to participate, and enhance the overall decentralization of the network, with the initial registration period open until July 1, 2025.

ChainCatcher news, according to The Block, Vitalik and Kakarot supported by StarkWare announced the development of an independent Ethereum zero-knowledge proof (ZK) stack, aiming to achieve real-time Layer 1 block proofs by the end of 2025. Kakarot is built on the Cairo language and uses the STARK system, avoiding reliance on existing mainstream ZK technology stacks, with the goal of enhancing the diversity and system resilience of Ethereum ZK verification, contributing to the goal of full ZK implementation for Ethereum by 2028.

ChainCatcher news, StarkWare, the protocol contributor and development company behind Starknet, announced that it has established a "strategic Bitcoin reserve," and will hold more funds in the form of BTC in the future. StarkWare was valued at $8 billion in its last funding round and is a core contributor to Ethereum's Layer 2 Starknet. Over the past few years, the company has invested more time and resources into Bitcoin research. Currently, StarkWare has not disclosed specific details about how much Bitcoin it holds or plans to acquire.

ChainCatcher message, StarkWare posted on the X platform stating that the dApp zkLend built on Starknet was attacked by hackers. The StarkWare team immediately initiated a coordinated response and took the following steps:Alerted the zkLend team to suspicious activities.Worked closely with cybersecurity firms to investigate the incident.Confirmed that the vulnerability does not involve a flaw in Starknet's core technology, but rather an irreparable application-specific issue.

ChainCatcher news, StarkWare announced that computer science professor Moni Naor has joined its scientific committee as a chief researcher. At StarkWare, he will primarily focus on topics such as Bitcoin cryptography and the decentralization of Starknet.StarkWare stated that Moni has made pioneering contributions to computer science, including groundbreaking research on public key systems resistant to chosen ciphertext attacks, non-malleable cryptography, visual cryptography, and innovative methods for verifying human users (leading to the concept of CAPTCHAs). The first mention of proof of work was proposed by him together with Cynthia Dwork.

ChainCatcher news, StarkWare team member 0d1n fr33 stated that thanks to the on-chain collaborative Telegram game BEAST SLAYERS, the transaction volume on Starknet has reached its highest level since the airdrop.According to Dune data, the number of transactions on Starknet reached 370,000 on October 7, setting a new high since March 15 of this year.

ChainCatcher news, the head of the StarkWare ecosystem posted on the X platform stating that Fractal Bitcoin may have security issues.RPC credentials are hard-coded and cannot be configured via environment variables, and the RPC server is openly exposed and vulnerable to attacks;Allowing RPC connections from any IP address is also very dangerous, exposing users' nodes to potential attacks from anywhere;Certain settings allowing ZeroMQ connections from any IP pose security risks; removing connection limits may lead to resource exhaustion;Official GitHub organizations or repositories are difficult to identify, etc.

ChainCatcher message, StarkWare co-founder and CEO Eli Ben-Sasson posted on the X platform stating, "The biggest problem with cryptocurrency: it is a man's world, lacking sufficient female participation."

ChainCatcher message, StarkWare announced a partnership with sCrypt to build a PoC bridge design using OP_CAT and ZK magic, exploring the construction of a bridge between Bitcoin and L2 specifications.

ChainCatcher news, StarkWare will collaborate with Cosmos contributor Informal Systems to integrate the Cosmos-based IBC protocol on Starknet. This integration will enable Starknet to connect to any IBC-compatible chain, including all chains within the Cosmos ecosystem and other compatible chains outside the system. This integration aims to achieve two main goals for Starknet: to enhance decentralization and interoperability by exploring the Tendermint consensus algorithm and the IBC protocol.

ChainCatcher news, according to CoinDesk, StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson stated at the ETHCC summit in Brussels, Belgium, that the Layer 2 network Starknet will open staking on its ecosystem by the end of 2024.Ben-Sasson submitted a Starknet Improvement Proposal to the community, suggesting that users can choose whether to become stakers, with rewards proportional to the amount of staked STRK tokens. If the proposal is approved by the community, a staking testnet on Starknet will be launched soon, and it will enter the mainnet in the last quarter of 2024.

ChainCatcher news, StarkWare co-founder and CEO Eli Ben Sasson shared his personal views on the Starknet Provisions airdrop plan in a blog post.Starknet is a validity rollup that scales Ethereum through the STARKs cryptographic protocol. On February 14, 2024, the Starknet Foundation announced the first round of the Provisions plan, allocating up to 700 million STRK tokens, with a claim period ending on June 20, during which 500 million tokens were claimed. Eli emphasized that while there may be inaccuracies in the allocation method, there is still a commitment to distribute tokens to those who genuinely care about and support Starknet's long-term vision. There are still 400 million STRK tokens to be allocated in the future, and he hopes to hear more thoughts from people inside and outside the ecosystem regarding the token distribution mechanism.

ChainCatcher news, according to Chainwire, the Web3 retail platform Bring announced the completion of a $1.1 million SAFE round of financing, with participation from Starkware.It is reported that Bring currently supports cashback for purchases of fashion, electronics, health and beauty, travel services, and other products at 450 retailers. Web3 wallets and exchanges have integrated Bring's white-label solution to provide cashback services to users.

ChainCatcher news, according to Cointelegraph, zkSync developer Matter Labs has filed trademark applications for "ZK" in 9 countries, claiming that the term "zero knowledge" is the company's exclusive intellectual property. This move has sparked widespread discontent in the crypto industry.In response, industry leaders including Polygon co-founder Sandeep Nailwal and Brendan Farmer, StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson, Polyhedra Network co-founder and zkBridge inventor Tiancheng Xie, as well as Turing Award winner and co-inventor of ZK-proofs Shafi Goldwasser, signed an open letter calling for Matter Labs to withdraw the trademark application, stating that it is an "oppressive act."StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson directly stated that Matter Labs' attempt to trademark ZK technology is an "absurd act of intellectual property hijacking."Currently, Matter Labs has not responded to this matter.

ChainCatcher news, StarkWare announces the launch of a new initiative to drive innovation in the Starknet ecosystem, with an initial budget of 5 million STRK.The initiative aims to attract and retain top talent, promote development and innovation, enhance community education and enjoyment, and ensure accountability and reward contributions.