StarkNet roundup #54
Weekly summary of all things StarkNet
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Welcome to the 54th edition of my weekly comprehensive StarkNet summary. The previous update can be found here. 👇🏻
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Let’s get into this week’s news! 💪
Protocol & dev tool updates
@StarkWareLtd - Cairo 1.0-Alpha.3 — Just released - Added new language features that will be supported in Starknet alpha v0.11.0, expected in two weeks
@StarkWareLtd - Next week we will upgrade Starknet Goerli to SHARP 4.0 - Starknet Goerli will mirror mainnet with bigger blocks, but blocktime will remain the same
@lavanetxyz - We're launching our testnet by giving developers on @cosmos, @Starknet, @JunoNetwork, @osmosiszone, @ethereum, and others access to the Lava Network - Lava is building a decentralized, omnichain RPC network
@apibara_web3 - Apibara : Open-Source on-chain data streaming platform - You can now register for a free Apibara account to create an API key and start streaming on-chain data in minutes
New version of starknet-hardhat-plugin (v0.7.3) has been released
Media highlights
@0xNurstar - @mottylen from @myBraavos tells us what AA & the Hardware Signer mean to the StarkNet Users - Audio clip
@argentHQ - New week, new issue of Last week in Starknet - @argentHQ publishes its latest newsletter edition
@crypto_gurkha - STARKNET DEV INSIGHTS: Henri enlightens us on Regenesis and Cairo 1.0 - @crypto_gurkha interviews @henrlihenrli in his new video
@crypto_gurkha - Cutting-Edge Starknet Tech: Meet the Genius Devs Behind SpaceShard on Walk The Talk! - @crypto_gurkha interviews @0xSpaceShard in his new video
@0xNurstar - StarkNet Twitter Space Jam #13 - Some of the best StarkNet-Related Twitter Spaces/Podcasts/Videos of the Week
@zkLendIntern - Another week, another weekly #Starknet update thread - Starknet weekly news recap by @zkLendIntern
@AppBlockchain - Applied Blockchain podcast #02 - Adi invites David Engel, Head of Business Development at StarkWare - @adi_benari speaks with @davidengel79 in the latest @AppBlockchain podcast episode
@StarkNetEco - Announcing "Le Monde de Starknet" - A weekly roundup of the most important news and updates in the world of Starknet, curated by the insightful @0xNurstar
@Orbiter_Finance - Deep Dive in Argent X - Twitter space between @Orbiter_Finance and @argentHQ
@StarkNetAfrica - Discussion on Hashstack's approach to Undercollateralized Loans - Twitter space between @StarkNetAfrica and @0xHashstack
@OnlyDust_xyz - What’s a Hackers Building? - @danilowhk2, open-source developer & contributor to the #Starknet ecosystem, share his experience during Tel Aviv event
Ecosystem Highlights
@myBraavos - Braavos Multi-Signer is live on Testnet - Protect your account with 2 keys from 2 different devices for ultimate security
@myBraavos - The 3rd stage of the “Braavos Helmets” NFT campaign is underway, and we've got something truly special for you - Read this thread to know more about it (ends of the campaign 28th February)
@BertBlancheton - Our team is growing! We're searching for a new team member to join us in creating unique content and managing our social media presence - @myBraavos is hiring a Senior content and social media manager
@myBraavos - Catch up on the latest highlights with your 2-minute Braavos Bi-weekly Recap - @myBraavos publishes its latest bi-weekly recap
@mySwapxyz - We've launched our first educational mission in collaboration with Braavos Community program - You can join in on @myBraavos' Crew3
@chainlink - Chainlink Price Feeds are now available on #StarkNet Testnet - You can see in the thread which Starknet projects already use their services
@odin_free - Updated Starknet ecosystem map - 20+ additions
@Cointelegraph - Announcing #9 of Cointelegraph’s Top 100 influencers in Crypto and Blockchain - Our leader @EliBenSasson figured #9 on @Cointelegraph top 100 influencers in crypto and blockchain
@zkxprotocol - Welcome to the final chapter of ZKX Yakuza-SZN 1 - @zkxprotocol details its contributor campaign and the story behind it
@zklend - The First Triple Starknet Collaboration: zkLend x Ducks Everywhere x briq - @zklend announces its new project to thank its community
@matchbox_dao - Network State Hackathon Demo Day Finalist Review - Here is the review article of all finalist projects, you can find more details of each project in the article
@FibrousFinance - Fibrous v2 public Testnet is now live on StarkNet Goerli Testnet - This is the final public testnet of @FibrousFinance
@StarknetSocial - Our StarkNet Social Testnet is now live - A new testnet lands on Starknet
@nostrafinance - Here’s a recap of last week’s events - @nostrafinance publishes its last week's recap
@zkLendIntern - Here’s a primer on @DucksEverywher2 x @briqNFT latest collab
@0xSafeGate - Introducing SafeGate, the self-custodial MPC wallet designed to provide institutional grade security to all
@BrineFinance - Sprint Season 02 is here - @BrineFinance launches its Crew3 phase 2 with some prizes to be win
Ecosystem stats
@odin_free - StarkEx made 6M txn last week, more than all other L2s combined
@StarkscanCo - @Starknet Mainnet Weekly Roundup 2 - Feb 20th - Feb 26th - TVL: $6.94M (+4%) - TPS: 0.14 (+7%) - Volume: $770K (-12%) - Active Accounts: 3.83K (-1%)
@OrbiterResearch - The TOP 5 dapps ranked by new users in 7 days on Starknet - @MintSquareNFT, @10KSwap, @mySwapxyz, @JediSwap and @Starknet_id
StarkNet Community & Shamans Highlights
StarkNet Workshop #10: First steps to contribute to Kakarot ZKEVM
Starknet Decentralized Protocol - The Buffer Problem
This post deals with a fundamental design problem for blockchain protocols with proofs 5: the buffer problem. We’ll start by separating it into proactive and reactive problems. Next we’ll discuss their relationship, ending with some thoughts on how to resolve each of them.
Easy and hard buffer problems
The buffer problem: there may be consensus on blocks which are not profitable to prove, resulting in abandoned jobs (“holes” in the forest of jobs).
The name comes from the flow ‘users → consensus → proofs’ in which the consensus layer acts as a buffer between users and provers. Let us distinguish between two challenges underlying the buffer problem.
Proactive buffer problem (prevent most holes): prevent consensus on blocks that underpay provers.
Reactive buffer problem (plug all holes): promote consensus on unprofitable blocks to L1 state updates (without forking the consensus).
In practice, the reactive buffer problem may arise due to volatile exchange rates between the token and the fiat used by provers. Specifically, a block may be profitable to prove when it reaches consensus but become unprofitable at a later point in time if the reward depreciates.
An effective proactive solution reduces the scope of the reactive problem: better proactive pricing means fewer unprofitable blocks to deal with.
Possible solutions
For the proactive buffer problem, ensure provers earn enough money. The scope of the solution depends on the payment:
If provers are paid around market price then mild fluctuations may provoke the reactive problem.
If provers are overpaid (using minting) then only extreme events will disrupt proving.
To discover the market price one can use an algorithmic base fee. The base fee can be set as a lower bound on the prover resource price. (Think 1559 minus tips and minus burn rule.) Overpayment can use static (hardcoded) prices or rely on a price discovery mechanism (e.g base fee). For example, the base fee may be 1 token per unit of resource and the protocol may issue a 10x overpayment of 10 tokens.
For the reactive buffer problem, do two things for pending underpaid jobs:
Gradually increase rewards using minting,
Disincentivize collusion to game the reward mechanism (e.g by competition or by carefully setting rewards).
We do not expect a proactive solution to entirely prevent the reactive problem. However, a profitable proving business may incentivize provers to occasionally prove unprofitable blocks at a loss for the sake of maintaining the steady flow of profitable jobs.
Heavily discussed StarkNet Improvement Proposals
Starknet Decentralized Protocol - The Buffer Problem
Delegate Profile Thread
Delegate Onboarding announcement
Regenesis state migration - Current suggestion
Starknet Decentralized Protocol - Introduction
StarkNet Decentralized Protocol - Candidate for Leader Elections
Starknet Decentralized Protocol - Consensus
Starknet Decentralized Protocol - Proofs in the Protocol
Starknet Decentralized Protocol - Checkpoints for Fast Finality
Starknet Decentralization Day Summary
[SNIP] Naming convention: ‘Starknet’, not ‘StarkNet’
Useful links & articles
@myBraavos - Account Abstraction 101: Why? How? What? - Discover how this game-changing technology is making crypto wallets much more secure and user-friendly
@Starknet_OG - The Real yield narrative - If you wan to learn what is it & which Starknet project build with this mechanism , you are at the perfect place
@HakInsights - Here are the 5 StarkNet projects you should pay attention to in 2023
@zkLend - Have you been following our social media channels? - Here's a quick overview so you know which to follow depending on what you're looking for
@LootRealms - How to design a balanced game that provides a fun & engaging experience for players, and how we’re doing it with Realms: Eternum - Video recording
@DCbuild3r - An introduction to Zero-knowledge Machine Learning (ZKML)
@TheEverai - Not bullish on @Starknet yet? You will be by the end of this thread - Why @TheEverai is bullish about Starknet
@StarkNetEco - Today we dive into the science behind ZK-Rollups and STARKs - Here is an explanation thread about this
@ReveloIntel - How are ZKX and Crew3 Growing The Crypto Ecosystem?
@StarkNetAfrica - Today we will be taking a detailed look into @0xHashstack, a permissionless and decentralized zk-native money market protocol enabling undercollateralized loans - Starknet Ecosystem Deep Dive thread #8
@Starknet_OG - A new Starknet project has just released its #testnet and announced its #airdrop eligibility criteria - If you want to know what the criteria are and how to qualify yourself for the @StarknetSocial airdrop in 5 minutes of reading, read this thread
@lordOfAFew - Building Economically Sustainable, Hyperstructures Through On-Chain Games
@sphinxdex - What are the benefits of building on @Starknet ?
@scaling_x - Let's check out each acronym letter to see how zk-STARKs work
Developer resources
@antiyro - I'm going to share with you several interesting github repos from #Starknet - This is a dynamic thread that will be updated regularly
@dimahledba - Playing with @CairoLang x @substrate_io, let me introduce you Kaioshin, a substrate based Starknet sequencer written in Rust - Demo of the execution of a Cairo fibonacci program in a substrate pallet
@CptArtur - Creating an Android Application With Starknet-JVM and Jetpack Compose
@dimahledba - Guide on how to port a crate to be no-std compatible. We are progressively converting all crypto rust libs to no-std, starting with #Starknet ecosystem - Check out the guide
@0xSpaceShard - Fork the StrakNet state to your local Devnet - Starknet devnet forking
@henrlihenrli - We recorded a lot of videos these past 3 months - Wanna check them out? Click on the link
@trialityorg - Our alpha release of Challenge Questions is ready for the community - Head over to https://triality.org/challenges and solve existing questions or start making questions for others
@p_e - I'm releasing a minimal Cairo 1.0 template so you can try the language or start migrating your project right now
@amanusk_ - What to start learning Cairo 1.0 and can't bring yourself to open VScode? - @amanusk_ meshed together a VIM syntax highlight file for Cairo and Rust
@ClassLambda - As you know, we're working on Lambdaworks, an open and developer-friendly source library for people interested in learning how to do SNARKs and other cryptographic stuff - Let’s see how it goes on this thread
@fedeunleashed - We're working on a simple cairo-rs tendermint based sequencer MVP - In the next few days they will release a blog post explaining what and why they're doing it
@ClassLambda - We got a new STARK blogpost. We're writing all the docs and code that we can do to help others
@0xGreg_ - Introduction to Horus — Part 1 - Horus has the potential to have a outsized impact on the @starknet security landscape by making Formal Verification accessible to non-experts
Dates and Events
@StarkNetAfrica - StarkNet Nairobi Bootcamp - A 2-weeks Cairo class and a hackathon at the completion of the class - Date : Date: 27th Feb - 10th March
@LouthingE - StarkNet Paris Meetup #7 (Special edition with the Starkware crew) - Date : March 1st 2023 between 18:00 and 23:00 CET
@StarknetHouse - Announcing STARKDenver. Organized by @StarkWareLtd, @StarknetHouse, @topology_gg, @nethermindeth & @argentHQ - Date : March 3, 2023, 12PM - 5PM MST
@wearefiniam - We'll have an awesome day with a Starknet 101 workshop https://lu.ma/qaq0oxp3 to get some new frens onboard - Date : Wednesday, March 15th, 2023 in Porto
@0xWiktoria - Glad to inform you guys that the first Starknet meetup will take place in Warsaw in the next few weeks - Date : TBA
You can check out all of the past updates here.
None of the content of this newsletter is financial advice. Always do your own research.
Thank you for reading, and see you next week. ⏳
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