Blockchains aim to achieve three core attributes: security, decentralization, and scalability. In the blockchain world, a well-known trilemma is that achieving only two concurrently in a given system is possible, inevitably requiring a compromise on the third.
Ethereum places a higher emphasis on security and decentralization, impacting its scalability. Growth in Ethereum users leads to slow transaction speeds and high gas prices, hindering Ethereum’s widespread adoption.
How can we make Ethereum scalable without undermining its security and decentralization? This is where the Starknet Validity Rollup comes in. Combining Ethereum and Starknet achieves massive scalability.
Starknet achieves scale by shifting transaction processing off the Ethereum Mainnet (what we call off-chain) while retaining a summary of the transactions onchain. Transactions are grouped in batches into blocks, processed off-chain, and then summarized into a single on-chain transaction. Since transactions occur off-chain, it’s vital to ensure the integrity of the transactions and their execution without re-executing them. Starknet addresses this by employing STARK (Scalable, Transparent Argument of Knowledge) proofs for verifiable computation. Starknet then transmits only essential information about the block and the proof to Ethereum, where it is verified with minimal computational effort.
