Starknet is a decentralized layer 2 network that scales Ethereum. It works by using mathematics and cryptography to bundle many transactions and submit them to Ethereum as a single transaction. It operates as a Validity-Rollup (also known as a zero-knowledge rollup), generating STARK proofs off-chain and validating them on-chain. A STARK proof is a zero-knowledge proof that proves the validity of a computation without revealing any details.

Starkware is the developer behind Starknet. It is based in Israel and was founded by Technion computer science professor Eli Ben-Sasson and serial entrepreneur Uri Kolodny. StarkWare has raised at least $273 million in funding from high-profile investors including Paradigm, Sequoia and Pantera. Their latest funding round was Series D on May 25, 2022This round valued StarkWare at $8 billion.

Starknet does not natively support EVM. Cairo is Starknet's native programming language. Several teams are developing translators from Solidity and other programming languages to Cairo. These transpilers will allow EVM contracts written in Solidity to be deployed on Starknet.

Starkware has announced that Starknet will have a native token. Starknet has deployed $STRK on the Ethereum mainnet on November 16, 2022, with an initial circulating supply of 10 billion. However, none of these tokens are currently tradable.

According to the official announcement, $STRK has two main uses. It can be used to pay transaction fees on Starknet (currently transaction fees on Starknet are paid by ETH) and is pledged as a governance token to participate in Starknet’s consensus mechanism.