StarkNet and StarkWare: Scaling Ethereum with Proof Technology. What @StarkWareLtd is Building StarkWare is a company founded in 2018. They develop cryptographic proof technology called STARKs (Scalable Transparent Arguments of Knowledge). They currently have two main products: 1. StarkEx – a scaling engine for specific applications (NFTs, trading, etc.). It is more permissionless. 2. StarkNet – a permissionless layer-2 network built on Ethereum. It allows any developer to deploy smart contracts; it uses STARK proof technology to scale Ethereum. They also built and maintain Cairo, a programming language for writing contracts compatible with their proof system. --- What @Starknet is Building StarkNet is a Validity Rollup (ZK-Rollup) on Ethereum. It processes transactions off-chain, generates proofs, and then submits these proofs to Ethereum. This enables many transactions to be conducted at a lower cost and with higher security. It uses STARK proofs (from StarkWare) to verify the integrity of off-chain operations. Features include: • Native account abstraction (accounts are flexible and programmable) • Composability (smart contracts on StarkNet can easily interact with each other) • StarkNet has low fees and fast transaction speeds compared to all operations on Ethereum Layer-1. Network metrics: ~7,000 daily active accounts; ~206 million total transactions; ~$411 million in total value locked (TVL) (as of mid-2025). They also released the SN Stack, allowing others to build application chains (custom chains) using the same technology stack behind StarkNet. ___ The Relationship between StarkWare and StarkNet StarkWare builds and maintains the core technologies: STARK proofs, StarkEx, StarkNet, and Cairo. StarkNet is part of the StarkWare product line. StarkEx is available to select dApps; StarkNet is open to everyone. StarkWare researches, releases, and improves core cryptographic systems (such as new prover systems), which then improve or extend the functionality of StarkNet and StarkEx. --- How this will help you (and others) You can build applications with transaction costs far lower than on Ethereum mainnet. This enables smaller, more frequent interactions. You gain stronger security (because proofs happen off-chain, but verification on Ethereum ensures correctness) while avoiding high fees. Your application or service can scale: more users, more transactions, without exploding costs. If you're writing smart contracts, you can use Cairo. Learning it gives you access to this scalability layer. You have the choice: build simple applications first, then leverage more advanced features (account abstraction, appchains) as needed. For users: Cheaper fees, faster speeds