TL;DR
- StarkWare has announced an initiative to scale Bitcoin and Ethereum using zero-knowledge (ZK) technology, backed by a $1 million research fund. The initiative aligns with Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision of enabling everyday micropayments.
- The Bitcoin community is considering a technical proposal known as OP_CAT. If approved, it could enable potential STARK scaling on the Bitcoin blockchain. StarkWare supports OP_CAT and describes it as “the safest path for Bitcoin to scale.”
- StarkWare recently introduced a new scaling framework, ZKThreads, which could prevent trapped funds and enhance the scalability of decentralized applications.
StarkWare, a leading blockchain technology company, has announced a bold initiative to bring Bitcoin to the masses. Backed by a $1 million research fund, the company aims to use zero-knowledge (ZK) technology to scale Bitcoin and Ethereum simultaneously.
The initiative is centered around Scalable Transparent Argument of Knowledge (STARK) cryptography, a form of ZK technology. StarkWare’s announcement aligns with Satoshi Nakamoto’s vision of enabling everyday micropayments and creating a scalable solution to support global Bitcoin transactions.
StarkNet, a recognized permissionless and decentralized rollup for Ethereum, will serve as the cornerstone for the scaling solution of Bitcoin and Ethereum. Rollups function by consolidating hundreds of thousands of transactions off-chain, and then validating them on-chain at a significantly reduced cost.
StarkWare CEO and co-inventor of cheat-proof ZK cryptography, Eli Ben-Sasson, stated in a press release, “Bitcoin today is mighty, but still a fraction of what it can be.”
Boasting a valuation of $8 billion from its latest funding round, StarkNet declared that it initiated trials of zero-knowledge proofs on Bitcoin back in March. This followed their pledge to release their technology under an open-source license.
The Potential of OP_CAT
The Bitcoin community is currently considering a technical proposal known as OP_CAT. If approved, it could pave the way for potential STARK scaling on the BTC blockchain. Ben-Sasson expressed StarkWare’s support for OP_CAT, describing the OP_CAT Bitcoin soft fork as “the safest path for Bitcoin to scale.”
Introducing ZKThreads
This announcement follows StarkWare’s recent introduction of a new scaling framework, ZKThreads. Louis Guthmann, head of product/market strategy at StarkWare, believes that the framework can prevent trapped funds and enhance the scalability of decentralized applications, potentially preventing a recurrence of incidents like the FTX-Alameda collapse.
StarkWare’s ambitious plans demonstrate the potential of ZK technology to unlock and benefit Bitcoin and the broader blockchain community. As the company seeks to promote research into OP_CAT, the future of Bitcoin could be on the brink of a significant transformation.
