Starkware Launches $1M Research Fund for ZK Bitcoin Scaling
Backed by $1 million in research funding, Starkware has announced ambitious plans to use zero-knowledge (ZK) technology to make Bitcoin widely available.
The initiative seeks to scale Bitcoin and Ethereum simultaneously using ZK technology—specifically, the Scalable Open Argument of Knowledge (STARK) cryptography.
“We are not Ethereum maxis; We are growing Maxis.
StarkWare's announcement aims to advance Satoshi Nakamoto's vision of enabling everyday micropayments and creating a scalable solution to support global Bitcoin (BTC) transactions.
Related: Are ZK-proofs the key to Europe's new digital ID rules?
Bringing ZK Tech to Bitcoin
“Bitcoin is very powerful today, but it's still a fraction of what it could be,” said Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO of StarkWare and co-creator of the fraudulent ZK cryptocurrency, in a press release shared with Cointelegraph.
“Crypto can clean up the digital world and finance. It can bring integrity to money and balance power in our society, taking it away from Big Tech and back to sovereign individuals.” […] So we need a vision that shows this. Such a vision would not be complete without including the chain that started this great project.
Related: Material Labs Drops ZK Trademark Apps After Industry Backlash
Starkware CEO Q&A
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Ben-Sasson spoke about the impact of deploying the STARK scale on Bitcoin:
“About mass scale, period. Those who are enthusiastic about Bitcoin already know that the vision of BTC is so big that it needs to be distributed and the chain needs to be widely used. […] It is to enable Bitcoin with all its values intact and true to Satoshi's vision.
The Bitcoin community is currently weighing a technical proposal known as OP_CAT. If approved, it will open the door for STARK scaling on the BTC blockchain.
Ben-Sasson said StarkWare supports OP_CAT because the team considers OP_CAT Bitcoin soft fork “the most secure way to scale Bitcoin.”
Related: StarkWare's ZKThreads solution can prevent FTX-like currency lock-ups.
OP_CAT is out of the bag.
Speaking to Cointelegraph, Ben-Sasson speculated about the OP_CAT proposal:
“[If it isn’t approved]There are solutions we are looking into to provide STARK scaling without OP_CAT. I don't want to say too much about them now, but they may offer solutions.
When asked how quickly the technology could be rolled out for testing and mainstream use on the OP_CAT approval issue, Ben-Sasson told Cointelegraph:
“Within an acceptable period of six months, as soon as possible. Background – Starkware acquired the first L2, StarkEx, on Ethereum, and after that, it looked like science fiction.
This latest announcement by Starkware follows the company's recent introduction of its new scalable architecture called ZKThreads.
Louis Guttman, head of product/market strategy at Starkware, said the framework could prevent tying funds and improve the proliferation of decentralized applications. This avoids a repeat of the FTX-Alameda failure.
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