StarkWare, a solutions protocol that currently utilizes Zero-Knowledge for scaling solutions, is set to take its solutions to the next level by developing its Layer 3 network protocol.
As of now, the DeFi sector’s solutions for ether scaling problems utilize only layer 1 and Layer 2 networks. Starkware’s attempt at developing the L3 network will be a pioneering innovation in the crypto DeFi sector.
Starkware, in its blog post on December 21, revealed its ambitious upgrade from layer 2 to layer 3. The firm that already utilizes Zero-Knowledge (ZK) rollups is now planning to leverage its previous success in developing a Layer 3 infrastructure.
Starkware’s Zero-knowledge Solutions and Layer 3 Networks
The Zero-knowledge protocol, otherwise known as ZK proof rollups, is a scaling solution that allows integrated Blockchain to confirm transactions performed on the network without the requirement of detailed proof of transaction by the different nodes in the network.
Zk rollups offer very little transaction costs, otherwise known as gas fees, and a faster transaction speed than its preceding layer 1 networks.
The layer 3 network in the works, according to StarkWare, will offer up to a million times fees reduction compared to Layer 1 networks. The Hybrid solution that the digital firm will ultimately develop will process and store relevant data off the Blockchain.
StarkWare further revealed that it is aware that most crypto-related activities for Ethereum will still be done on various layer 2 solutions in the meantime because of the ridiculous gas fees that Layer 1 protocols offer and the cumbersome processing framework it utilizes that ultimately slows down the network’s execution speed.
‘We will go ahead with developing the new generation of solution protocols L3 network protocols in other to serve targeted applications and services that will require the advantageous qualities the innovation offers’, a StarkWare spokesperson said.
Layer 3 network protocols will link with layer 2 network protocols just as the preceding L2s linked with the initial L1s. This complex relationship between old and new network protocols facilitates the easier transition from old to new and significantly increases the system’s efficiency as supposed to the radical overhaul for newer protocol upgrades.
StarkWare will build its Layer 3 network on its Layer 2 StarkNet Layer 2 ZK platform to provide “Super-Scalability,” further decreasing ether network gas fees.
Ethereum Super-Scaling
StarkWare has explained that frameworks to provide proofs to L2 and L2 systems can be similarly utilized and retrofitted to provide the relevant proof needed by L3 networks.
StarkWare co-founder and President Eli Ben-Sasson cited the example of Validium, a hybrid scaling solution that maintains its fretwork data off the ether Blockchain network. Validium similarly utilizes zk rollups to certify transactions which can also provide targeted data models for L3 network protocols.
The digital firm added that since it is possible for L2 protocols to achieve a theoretical gas fee reduction of 1000x over L1s, then relatedly, L3 can theoretically yield a million times reduction while still maintaining the security the previous models provide.
