How to Use Layer-2 Solutions to Save on Ethereum Fees: StarkWare
Over 7,000 decentralized applications (dapps) are currently operating on the Ethereum (ETH) network. However, the Ethereum network was not originally designed for such a workload. Ethereum dapps have suffered from the chain’s scalability issues, which have caused transaction speeds to slow down and gas fees to skyrocket.
Layer-2 scaling solutions are being deployed to address these issues. Starkware is one of the most promising ones.
StarkWare, founded in January 2018 by Eli Ben-Sasson, Uri Kolodny, Michael Riabzev, and Alessandro Chiesa, is a developer of layer-2 scaling services that allows for high throughput and reduced transaction fees on layer-1 blockchains.
Layer 1 (L1) is the base protocol (the Ethereum blockchain), while Layer 2 (L2) is any protocol built on top of Ethereum.
In addition to improving scalability, Starkware also brings increased privacy to Ethereum using its STARK technology, which includes products like StarkEx and StarkNet.
StarkEx is a layer-2 scaling engine built with Cairo and SHARP that helps scale cryptoasset exchanges and non-fungible token (NFT) platforms via ZK-Rollups (Zero-Knowledge Rollups). It can handle spot and derivative trading, payments, and NFTs minting. DiversiFi, dYdX, Sorare,and Immutable X have all deployed StarkEx on their platforms.
According to Starkware's website, StarkEx has USD 1.1bn in total value locked (TVL), settling USD 426bn worth of trades and facilitating about 123m transactions. These transactions were processed for minimal fees.
StarkNet is a decentralized and trustless layer-2 STARK-based ZK-Rollup that allows developers to create and run smart contracts on its platform. Decentralized applications can be deployed independently on StarkNet just like on Ethereum for
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