If you missed the airdrop of Arbtrium valued at 1.2 billion USD last time, you must seize the opportunity with Starkware valued at 8 billion USD this time. Starkware is the largest layer 2 roll-up project in 2023.

What is Layer 2?

The explanation of Layer 2 roll-up technology is very complex, and if we want to explain it in detail, it requires knowledge of cryptography, virtual machines, and various computer knowledge. Simply put, Layer 2 splits some of the tasks originally performed on the Ethereum main chain to the second layer, which is off-chain processing.

In the article “Arbitrum VS Optimism, which one is worth investing in?”, it describes the problem faced by Ethereum as a first-generation smart contract: as more and more projects are on Ethereum, blockchain data needs to be updated every time, and the more projects there are, the slower it becomes. This is unacceptable in transactions, especially in Internet transactions. Imagine queuing for an hour to withdraw $100 from the bank. Therefore, Layer 2 actually plays the role of an ATM: users deposit and withdraw on the ATM, and funds are placed in the bank. Layer 2 is mainly responsible for processing transactions, executing calculations, and placing the results and assets of transactions on Layer 1.

Layer 2 Roll-Up is called Ethereum’s scalability solution, which can greatly alleviate the traffic congestion of the Ethereum mainnet, improve transaction speed, and reduce transaction costs. In theory, Layer 2 Roll-Up can increase transaction speed by 100 times. The biggest problem, apart from security, is mainly the criticism of centralization. Centralization is also considered to be the biggest risk area where human factors generate risks. There are currently two relatively large technologies for Layer 2 Roll-Up, one is ZK Roll-Up, and the other is Optimistic Roll-Up.

The trilemma of blockchain

Scalability, decentralization, and security are the trilemma of blockchain. All known attacks on blockchains, including the collapse of Luna, are caused by a problem in one of the trilemma. All blockchains can only achieve two of them, but they must sacrifice the third to achieve the other two.

For example, Bitcoin is currently the most decentralized and secure cryptocurrency, but this also leads to scalability issues. Due to the BRC-20 explosion on the Bitcoin network, transaction fees for paying miners have increased and the processing speed has slowed down. Transactions may take up to 48 hours to process if the miner fee is too low.

ZK Roll Up uses zero-knowledge proofs for verification, which means that the verifier (who generates the transaction result) provides a series of evidence to prove that the transaction is genuine, without revealing the details of the transaction. For example, the verifier may prove to the verifier that they have learned how to multiply 99, and the verifier may ask for the answers to two multiplication problems. If the verifier answers both correctly, it is considered genuine. If one answer is incorrect, it is considered false.

ZK Roll Up Issues

1. Zero-knowledge proofs are not like the Bitcoin network, which operates on a majority-rules mechanism. The centralization is relatively high.
2. Additionally, ZK Roll Up requires verifiers to continuously ask questions to compute that the verifier knows the answers. Compared to Optimistic Roll Up, which directly verifies the Ethereum mainnet, Ethereum network is much faster. However, on layer 2, it is resource-intensive and requires high EVM requirements to maintain high speeds. This is also why ZK Roll Up cannot achieve decentralization, as a large portion of the distributed ledger hardware consists of ordinary user computers or just a graphics card.
3. The development cost is relatively high, especially for StarkWare. StarkWare has its own programming language, which adds a learning curve when developing on StarkWare.

What is StarkWare Coin?

StarkWare and ZKsync are both ZK Roll Up projects. The ARB and OP tokens mentioned in “Arbitrum VS Optimism” are OP Roll. Interested users can read and learn more about this article.

ZK stands for Zero Knowledge proof, while OP stands for Optimistic, referring to optimization at the existing level. So, OP Roll sacrifices scalability for decentralization. This is why ZK Roll Up is 10 times faster in TPS than OP Roll Up and why StarkWare has a valuation 8 times higher than Arbitrum.

StarkWare Token Price Prediction

The total supply of StarkWare tokens is 10 billion (same as Arbitrum’s total supply), with a starting price of $0.8. 17% is allocated to StarkWare investors, 32.9% to core contributors, and 51% to the foundation. The highest theoretical price on exchanges will be $80, with the lowest at $8.

Due to the current hype in the overall market shifting from Layer 2 to BRC-20, the amount of funding for pumping is also very high. It will be difficult for StarkWare tokens to reach the highest price of $80 on the exchange, possibly only around $20, there will be selling pressure.

StarkWare Token Airdrop Guide

StarkWare tokens will not officially launch on the StarkNet mainnet until September, so there is a high probability that there will be an airdrop, similar to what happened with Arbitrum. Participating in the airdrop could yield anywhere from 100 to 3000 tokens. If calculated at the value of $8, the STARK airdrop tokens could yield around $1000. This is a low-risk opportunity for retail investors to experience the benefits of Layer 2.

Because the airdrop is only speculation and the details of the airdrop have not been released. Therefore, the following airdrop guide does not represent the official stance and there may be no airdrop from the official side in the end. In addition, the gas fee for transferring ETH to layer 2 is very high, with interaction costs reaching up to 100U. It is recommended to transfer at least 0.07 ETH to the Argent wallet across chains and avoid performing the following operations during peak hours.

1. Register for the Argent wallet (required) because Metamask wallet does not support the relevant technology of StarkWare. The wallet can be downloaded and installed at: https://www.argent.xyz/argent-x/
2. Transfer Ethereum to the Argent wallet through the StarkWare official website. Address: https://starkgate.starknet.io. It is also possible to purchase directly on the official website. It is recommended to use transfer, such as using Metamask to do the transfer on the official website. Why must the official website be used instead of direct transfer? Because cross-chain transfer is required. The first interaction here is cross-chain transfer of ETH, with a cost of 18U.
3. Access the Argent wallet. After completing the cross-chain transfer, the ETH will be found in the Argent wallet. Interact on the three DEXs supported by StarkWare to convert ETH to USDC or convert USDC back to ETH. It is recommended to only swap ETH for USDC once. Because the cost of swapping is relatively high due to current network jam, one swap requires about 18 USD of ETH as gas fee, and it may reach 40USD during peak hours. The total cost was 54U, or need try on another time. The three DEXs include:
   Myswap: https://www.myswap.xyz/
   10kswap: https://10kswap.com/
   Jediswap: https://app.jediswap.xyz/
4. Buy an NFT on the StarkNet NFT exchange or mint one. It is recommended to buy a 1U NFT to experience it. https://mintsquare.io/starknet
5. Buy a domain name on StarkNet: https://www.starknet.id/ at a cost of 20USD.

This article does not constitute investment advice and does not represent the position of any asset party. Investing in cryptocurrencies is a high-risk activity, and users should do their own research (DYOR).