Starkware Founder Eli Ben-Sasson on Blockchain Integrity and Scaling Strategy

This article explains the core innovations of blockchain technology, the scaling techniques realized by Starkware, and their social applications and future prospects, based on an interview with Starkware co-founder and cryptography pioneer Eli Ben-Sasson on the "Invested" podcast. We will organize highly specialized knowledge in an easy-to-understand manner, incorporating specific examples and quotes.

1. The Core Concept of Blockchain "Integrity"

1-1. What is Integrity?

Eli emphasizes that "the core innovation of blockchain lies in the mechanism that guarantees integrity." Integrity means that "processing is performed correctly even when no one is watching." While traditional centralized systems required "trust" in administrators, blockchain realizes the philosophy that "no one needs to trust you, because mathematics can never be broken."

1-2. Satoshi's Perspective

When asked at the beginning of the interview, "Who is Satoshi?", Eli evaluated him by saying, "Satoshi is silent now, but he was the first to demonstrate that blockchain can guarantee integrity." While Satoshi himself showed interest in transaction privacy, the "scaling via ZK proofs" that Eli proposed at the 2013 Bitcoin conference was exactly what would develop Satoshi's philosophy.

2. The Journey of Starkware and Eli Ben-Sasson

2-1. Transition from Academia to Industry

Originally a theoretical mathematician teaching at a university, Eli was captivated by the attempt to "code and implement mathematics" during his sabbatical at MIT in 2013, and presented his scaling application using ZK proofs at a Bitcoin conference. The experience of having core developers ask him, "Give us the code by tomorrow," when he had received almost no questions in academia, became the catalyst for his career change.

2-2. Starkware's B2B Products and StarkEx

Founded in 2014, Starkware's first product was "StarkEx," a SaaS platform incorporating zero-knowledge proofs for Decentralized Exchanges (DEXs) and gaming companies. Over the past five years, it has settled over $1.3 trillion in transactions on Ethereum, demonstrating industry-leading scalability. As Eli states, "it can reduce costs by 100 to 1,000 times," significantly making existing Layer 1 transactions cheaper and faster.

3. StarkNet as a Layer 2 Solution

3-1. Collaboration with Ethereum

StarkNet is an independently functioning Layer 2 blockchain that ultimately commits data to Ethereum. It envisions daily use for end-users, such as USDC or coffee payments, and provides a DApp development environment for developers. The cost benefit is a major attraction, as "running it directly on Ethereum costs tens of dollars per transaction, but on StarkNet, it is less than 1/100th of that."

3-2. Mechanism for Cost Reduction

He cites the decentralization requirement of full node participation and verification as the reason why blockchain TPS (Transactions Per Second) remains at 7-10 for Bitcoin and 20-30 for Ethereum. StarkNet "compresses" vast amounts of data using zero-knowledge proofs, completing verification in just a few milliseconds. It achieves performance where "it would be fast enough for every citizen in Israel to verify once a day on their smartphone without any issues."

4. Scaling via Zero-Knowledge Proofs (ZK Proofs)

4-1. Overview of ZK STARKs

ZK STARKs (Scalable Transparent Arguments of Knowledge) are the latest technology that eliminates the need for a "trusted setup" in public-key cryptography and provides post-quantum security. Eli says, "cryptography can be broken, but mathematical proofs cannot," positioning it as optimal for Layer 2 in terms of security as well.

4-2. Realizing Low-Cost, High-Speed Verification

ZK proofs make it possible to check data that would take weeks to verify with typical blockchain verification processes in less than a second. The meaning of 'being able to shorten the verification of all original Bitcoin blocks, which takes a week, to one second with a single STARK proof' is that you can receive the benefits of the entire network 'without trusting anyone'.

5. The Three Principles of Blockchain

Eli explains that 'Broadness' (decentralization), 'Incentivized Integrity', and 'Public Verifiability' are the pillars that support integrity.

• Decentralization: Network strength improves as the number of participating nodes increases

• Incentives: Promoting honest operation by participants through mining rewards and fee distribution

• Public Verifiability: Transparency that anyone can verify on everyday devices

6. Potential for Application to Society and Governance

6-1. The 'Integrated Web' Concept at the National Level

Using the Israeli shekel as an example, he presents a vision of distributing cryptographic keys to all citizens and conducting currency issuance and settlement on a 'nation-scale blockchain'. He argues that by eliminating excessive trust in banks and governments and balancing regulatory compliance with anonymity through ZK proofs, the existing burden of AML/KYC can be significantly reduced.

6-2. Centralization vs. True Decentralization

He states, 'We should realize true decentralized governance where everyone participates, rather than 'fake decentralization' where a few banks or states maintain the code,' and questions the social significance of blockchain through comparisons with the future of financial systems and democracy.

7. Future Outlook and Challenges

7-1. Three Major Challenges for Mass Adoption

1. Scalability: Can be solved with ZK proofs, but implementation and infrastructure development are essential

2. UX Improvement: Improving the operability of wallets and apps

3. Regulatory Environment: Legal development in each country and cooperation from the banking sector are key

7-2. The Importance of Mathematics and Quantum Resistance

Post-quantum compatible ZK STARKs are the 'optimal solution for the quantum computer era'. Beyond quantum resistance, they possess a fundamental reliability where 'mathematical proofs that guarantee fault tolerance are harder to break than institutions or organizations'.

Eli Ben-Sasson's 'blockchain technology as a demonstration of integrity' aims not just for technological innovation, but for the reconstruction of social systems and governance. The ZK Proof-based scalability pioneered by Starkware will become the foundation for future mass adoption and the creation of new social infrastructure. I look forward to watching the social implementation of this technology while keeping an eye on the latest developments.

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