Starkware commits to open source its ‘magic wand’ Starknet Prover

Ethereum layer 2 scaling solution StarkWare announced plans to unfastened root its proprietary Starknet Prover nether the Apache 2.0 license, which has processed 327 cardinal transactions and minted 95 cardinal nonfungible tokens (NFTs) to date. 

The prover is the important motor Starkware uses to rotation up hundreds of thousands of transactions and compress them into a tiny cryptographic impervious written connected the Ethereum blockchain.

“We deliberation of the Prover arsenic the magic wand of Stark technology. It wondrously generates the proofs that let unimaginable scaling,” said Eli Ben-Sasson, president and co-founder of Starkware.

Eli Ben-Sasson presenting astatine the Starkware sessions 2023. Source: Cointelegraph

Starkware has faced disapproval from the crypto assemblage and competing solutions specified arsenic ZK Sync and Polygon for holding onto the IP down its tech, which contradicts blockchain’s unfastened root and interoperable ethics.

Making the prover unfastened root nether the Apache 2.0 licence volition alteration immoderate different task oregon web — oregon adjacent games oregon database developers — to marque usage of the technology, edit the codification and customize it. The tech was released successful 2020 and is already being utilized by ImmutableX, Sorare and dYdX.

A sneak peek of the Starkware sessions 2023. Source: Cointelegraph

Avihu Levy, Starkware’s caput of product, was reluctant to perpetrate to a clip framework for open-sourcing the prover but said it would hap aft the token motorboat and decentralization of Starknet itself. He agreed, however, that it would beryllium imaginable this year.

“We privation to determination guardant with a decentralized, permissionless web and that means that you request to person this captious constituent retired there,” helium revealed speaking to Cointelegraph.

Levy said the determination to unfastened root the prover showed Starkware was progressively assured astir its exertion and said it would besides alteration projects to beryllium much assured astir utilizing it arsenic a important portion of their protocols.

“In StarkEx, it’s sometimes considered vendor lock-up oregon lock-in. So the committedness wasn’t conscionable a concern committedness it was a exertion committedness to StarkEx,” helium explained.

“This is simply a beardown awesome that you volition person everything you request to tally it yourself autarkic of Starkware.”

Starkware has already open-sourced its programming connection and EVM competitor Cairo 1.0, Papyrus Full node and is successful the process of open-sourcing its caller sequencer.

Related: StarkNet overhauls Cairo programming connection to thrust developer adoption

Ben-Sasson launched the Starkware Sessions league successful Tel Aviv connected Sunday, which organizers said was the largest furniture 2 league held truthful far.

“This is simply a landmark infinitesimal for scaling Ethereum,” helium told astir 500 developers and guests. “It volition enactment Stark exertion successful its rightful place, arsenic a nationalist bully which volition beryllium utilized to payment everyone."