Ethereum L2 Starknet aims to decentralize the core parts of the measurement network.

Ethereum's layer-2 scale network Starknet has outlined plans to improve three major components of its zero-knowledge (ZK) proof-of-concept package solution.

Speaking exclusively to Cointelegraph, Starknet product manager and blockchain researcher Ilya Volok outlined the company's desire to address certain centralized elements of the protocol to prevent censorship and make the system more robust.

Starknet works as an authentic aggregator using ZK-proof technology to wrap transactions, cryptographic proofs provided to Ethereum to achieve layer-2 security and finality of transactions.

According to Volok, the Starknet protocol remains dependent on StarkWare to create L2 blocks, compute proofs, and initiate Layer-1 state updates to the Ethereum blockchain.

“In this sense, network operation is centralized. This temporary state, until full decentralization, is not necessarily a bad thing. Although Starkware runs the network, it can't steal money and can't do any fraudulent state transfers because they need to run the validator on Ethereum, Volk explained.

While Starkware remains a “centralized gateway” to the Starknet, Volok added that the protocol is “100% trustworthy” and cannot tamper with transactions or data, as the Ethereum layer-1 blockchain acts as a filter.

The only realistic way that Starknet can be “infallible” is by either being idle about not transferring evidence to Ethereum, or by censoring certain parties from including transactions or confirmations.

“For example, if the series decides to avoid trading with a particular party, they are free to do so. As long as the things that others are trying to promote are correct,” he said.

For Starknet, the latter assumption is part of the main reason for decentralizing parts of the protocol, which is to combat two major causes of censorship in consensus-based systems.

Deliberate censorship is a consideration, but “non-robust” systems with a single point of failure risk decentralization, where all network participants are “censored” if this central point causes a network or system outage.

“We want to solve both of these problems, and we think the obvious solution to both is to have as many people working on Starknet as possible.”

Decentralizing these various components of the Starknet system will be difficult on various levels. This decentralizes block production through a consensus protocol, decentralizes the process of computing validations for blocks and updates the L1 state to the authentication layer.

“I want to emphasize that decentralizing each of them is critical because as long as even one of them is centralized, they won't be very effective,” Volok added, before addressing the respective challenges of each entity.

Decentralization of block production is straightforward as all blockchains are based on a consensus protocol and a Sybil-resistant mechanism. Meanwhile, Starknet Prover's decentralization requires a more innovative approach.

“As far as I know, we're the first package that has a really complete and realistic solution,” Volok said. ZK-rollups also demonstrate how competitive ZK-rollups integrate all transactions into proofs and post them on Ethereum, which in turn transfers its own decentralization to rollup solutions.

However, these systems all rely on central entities to create and verify blocks, meaning that these layer 2s are “equivalently centralized.” It's another Volk talk about whether end-users are concerned about the philosophical implications of L2s' centralized components.

“People who appreciate decentralization realize that it provides more security, so we share those values ​​for business reasons more than we think people will like.”

Volok added that Starknet is in the process of testing and implementing these decentralized mechanics across the network. This can be done through a series of interconnected testnets to test the functionality of different components simultaneously.

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