Frenemies: Battle of the ZK-Rollups

zkSync vs Starknet

Introduction

Welcome back to another Layer 2 Deep Dive. We’ve been very bullish on the innovation that has been occurring in L2 land – particularly with ZK-Rollups. In the last article, I laid out all of the details surrounding ZK-Rollups, and whether or not they’re better than Optimistic Rollups. Today, I’d like to dive deeper into the ecosystem. In order to do that, I’ll be comparing two of the biggest projects that use ZK-Rollups, zkSync and StarkNet. 

Both projects have major things in store to help push the space forward. Even though both projects are in the same ecosystem, they are currently in the midst of a friendly competition for ZK-Rollup dominance. Which one will ultimately prevail? Will there even be a winner? Let’s answer those questions now.

zkSync

• zkSync is a ZK-Rollup created by Matter Labs. It is a programmable rollup that is used for low-cost payments on the Ethereum mainnet. In today’s iteration of zkSync 1.0, users are able to perform atomic swaps, limit orders and have native L2 NFT support through the zkSync wallet. 

• zkSync first went into production during the summer of 2020.

• Transactions that occur within or out of zkSync are impervious to L1 censorship due to the requirement of zero knowledge proofs. Therefore, funds or assets aren’t susceptible to a DOS attack. 

angelfish.eth @0xangelfish

Cryptography is magical 🧚 A $0.30 transaction with the exact same security as a $10 transaction on Eth The goal of cryptography has always been to protect, elevate & empower the small Some may abandon Eth, but @zksync + @ethereum will never abandon, forget or leave you behind

Patrick McCorry 🦇🔊🌋 @stonecoldpat0

Watching the stream of small donations on Gitcoin, from thousands of contributors via ZkSync, is a perfect example of why rollups are a winning approach

• zkSync 2.0, which will roll out sometime in the first half of next year, will expand on the current functionality and will be smart contract friendly (programmable). Users will be able to write contracts in different programming languages such as Rust, Zinc, or use existing Solidity code.

• zkSync 1.0 currently supports multiple tokens. You can find an exhaustive list in this link. (This link is to be used for educational purposes only. This is NOT alpha or an early tip on what you should be buying.)

• zkSync uses the SNARK verification method to verify transactions. If you are unfamiliar with what zk-SNARKS are, here is a brief explanation:

Source: Z.Cash

• It has been unofficially confirmed that zkSync will have a native token. However, details around the release date are still unknown. It is believed that there will eventually be an airdrop. Thus, I would advise interacting with the zkSync wallet just in case there is.

yams @yamstered

okay so for those looking to participate in zksync ecosystem in the hopes of earning some responsibility, here’s a guide. 1. Connect to zksync and deposit some ETH

wallet.zksync.iozkSync WalletA crypto wallet & gateway to layer-2 zkSync Rollup. zkSync is a trustless, secure, user-centric protocol for scaling payments and smart contracts on Ethereum

• The token will likely be used as a staking token to become a validator once zkSync reaches full decentralization.

StarkNet

• StarkNet is a ZK-Rollup created by StarkWare. StarkNet is very similar to zkSync in its approach to transaction validation and instant withdrawals. However, StarkNet uses ZK-STARK.

• ZK-STARK stands for Zero Knowledge, Scalable, Transparent, Argument Of Knowledge.

Source: StarkWare

• ZK-STARKs are also allegedly quantum-resistant… I say allegedly because none of us know what is truly quantum-resistant until quantum computing comes into full fruition.

• For all of my techies that are interested in learning more about the ins and outs of ZK-STARK, you can check out the Short Primer here and the full academic paper here.

• All of StarkNet’s smart contracts are written in StarkWare’s custom programming language, Cairo. Unfortunately, this means that StarkWare does not natively support EVM. However, Nethermind’s Warp team is developing a transpiler for Solidity to Cairo conversions, to be released in the very near future. This means that developers will not have to go through the trouble of writing Cairo contracts if they were already written using Solidity.

• StarkNet already has a few early stage products that are being built/deployed on it:

odin-free.eth🎡 @odin_free

Built / Deployed on StarkNet

• Besides, StarkNet, Starkware has developed a more use case-specific scalability solution that is currently live on the Ethereum mainnet, StarkEx. StarkEx already supports major projects like:

  • Sorare

  • Immutable X

  • Deversifi

  • dYdX

• I’m sure everyone’s main question is, what’s the difference between StarkNet and StarkEx?

Source: StarkWare

• For those who are confused by the use of the term “composability”, it means that applications will have the ability to build on top of each other and interconnect.

• Eventually, all StarkEx applications will have the ability to port over to StarkNet and experience the advantages of composability and full decentralization.

Comparison

• When it comes to zkSync and StarkNet there are many similarities, but there are also enough differences for us to compare the two:

• zkSync 2.0 will feature zkPorter mode, which increases scaling to 100k TPS. This is where zkSync may have a leg up on StarkNet, because I have not found mentions of any solution in StarkWare’s ecosystem that can match the TPS of zkPorters.

Marco @Be1garat

@Nima1007 @likebeckett @zksync Centralization in validium instead is a big issue as it will open a huge political risk and censorship risk That's why we are planning zkPorter with a very high degree of decentralisation on the data availability side

link.medium.comzkPorter: a breakthrough in L2 scalingA mass migration to Layer 2 is about to take place. As protocols move from the Ethereum base layer to optimistic rollups and EVM-compatible zkRollups, many hope we’ll finally make on-chain fees…

• As of now, zkSync’s TVL isn’t touching StarkWare’s TVL with a 50-foot pole. This is due to the strong adoption of dYdX, Immutable X, and DeversiFi, which are built on StarkEx. If you compare zkSync with StarkNet, however, zkSync is in the lead, with StarkNet just having launched a couple of days ago.

Source: L2 Beat

• zkSync currently sits at a TVL of $57.50M, which is a respectable number – and the demand for zkSync seems to be growing fast.

Matter Labs @the_matter_labs

We are receiving overwhelming interest for NFTs on @zksync from the gaming companies and big brands. But @the_matter_labs is laser focused on the core tech and can't offer custom integrations / SaaS / SLAs / etc. Who wants to step in? dm @Be1garat

• The usage has also been on a huge upward trajectory.

Beresnev Serge @keriat

#zksync usage growing exponentially. And this is just the beginning of the #layer2 domination, only a couple of #zk implementations out of the numerous announced went live past quarter. Thrilled with the @argentHQ ongoing release: obviously number will be multiples <1m

Chris Burniske @cburniske

.@zksync use going parabolic: https://t.co/hRYVFbULVE https://t.co/mEgUMB6Kvr

• With StarkNet being brand-new, it’s going to be exciting to see who will actually build on it. Here is a list of projects that are officially planning to deploy on StarkNet.

• Lastly, just to throw a little icing on the cake, we know that with the highest likelihood a token is coming for zkSync. There has been no such evidence for StarkNet or StarkEx as of now.

Conclusion

• When it comes to these two rollups, I’m not sure if you can go wrong with either one. I currently find myself being excited about both rollups. Ultimately, this is about pushing the industry forward as a whole.

• Besides, we’re seeing projects like ZigZag and Argent partner with both solutions. This beckons the question, if other projects aren’t choosing a winner this early in the game, why should we?

ZigZag Exchange @ZigZagExchange

Proposal: Bring MIM onto StarkNet through ZigZag Exchange

forum.abracadabra.moneyProposal: Bring MIM onto StarkNet through ZigZag ExchangeIntroduction ZigZag is a decentralised order book exchange powered by ZK-Rollups. We are launching on StarkNet as the first and only DEX and will launch on zkSync 2.0 once it goes live. Our vision is not to launch a mediocre DEX, instead, we are aiming to bring the usability of centralised exchange…

ZigZag Exchange @ZigZagExchange

Two important zkSync updates are live: 1) The one-time zkSync account activation fee, after depositing on wallet.zksync.io, can now be paid in USDT & USDC, but ONLY on trade.zigzag.exchange 2) The PubKey bug 👇 is fixed We launch on StarkNet mainnet later this week!

ZigZag Exchange @ZigZagExchange

The @zksync team has identified an issue for us where some users have to activate their zkSync account multiple times, resulting in deducted fees (ChangePubKey). We will push a fix the upcoming days. Please, do not reject network switch! Thank you for building with us @zksync🙏

Argent @argentHQ

We're excited to introduce Argent X, the first wallet for StarkNet. Now available in the Chrome store. It's a developer tool (for now). A big thanks to our partners @StarkWareLtd.

argent.xyzArgent X StarkNet launchArgent X: The first StarkNet wallet

Argent @argentHQ

A little taste of staking with @LidoFinance in our L2 wallet, built on @zksync. Fees: £1.88 Decentralization compromises: 0

• One very important thing to keep in mind is that both zkSync and Starknet are not yet completed. It may take months or even years before they can truly match up with Optimistic Rollups.

• This is not a bad thing though.Sometimes we must sit back and give greatness time to unfold… or should I say rollup?