The 2024 Digest
Looking back at a transformative year for Starknet
Dear developer,
As we wrap up the year, it's time to reflect on just how far this community has come. 2024 has been transformative for Starknet—becoming easier, faster, and cheaper to use than ever before. These improvements have empowered the creation of some truly groundbreaking Web3 applications that are shaping the future of decentralized technology.
DevCon served as a gathering point for showcasing many of these innovations, and after much anticipation, it feels like the long-awaited STARK winter is finally here.
tl;dr
DevCon Recap
Gaming on Starknet
Starknet v0.13.3 and DA
Other Developments
Upcoming Events
#1: DevCon Recap
The Stark Space takeover at Devcon 2024, in Bangkok, was nothing short of phenomenal. It started with a Hacker House, where 15 teams spent five intense days coding away their bold visions for Web3. The winners, at a glance, were -
In addition to the hacker house, there was a host of riveting technical talks on Starknet by Netheremind, Kakarot zkEVM and StarkWare. The talks centered on future-proofing Starknet as a reliable Layer-2, and settling on the Bitcoin blockchain.
Moreover, the conference saw a myriad of fun social events like Dojo Day by Cartridge, the Realms World tournament by LootRealms and an amazing rooftop party by AVNU, LayerAkira, StarkWare and ZKLend. Starknet builders also connected with Web3 pioneers in the Asia-Pacific region (APAC) and attended a women builder’s brunch with SheFi, HerDAO and The Phoenix Guild.
#2: Gaming on Starknet
Game builders on Starknet are truly redefining the network - one bright idea at a time. They are not only informing major infrastructural improvements, but are also experimenting with new types of applications. A couple to watch out for -
Agentic Games: Recent experiments suggest that LLMs can be combined with Dojo’s on-chain gaming interface to enable novel NPC agents. You can read more on the idea here, and see it’s first example—built with Ai16z’s Eliza—here.
Mobile First Games: Starknet’s very own mobile-first games, zKube, and The Marquis, went live recently.
If you’re interested in learning about Dojo, and how you can use it to experiment with cool on-chain games, look no further than this amazing book.
#3: Starknet v0.13.3
Starknet newest network upgrade allows it to compress state diffs before being settled on L1 Ethereum. This allows the network to relay its state data to mainnet while also being economical with the block-space it uses. The upgrade also introduces new techniques for better block squashing (combining multiple L2 blocks) and data formatting on Starknet.
It is estimated that this change will yield up to 5x reduction in blob gas costs (4x from squashing + 25% from compression) and help check Starknet’s gas fees as blob usage increases on Ethereum.
Want to share your thoughts on this upgrade. You can find it on the community forum over here.
#4: Other Developments
You know how Starknet people are always correcting others - saying things like Starknet is a ‘validity rollup … not a ZK rollup … Starknet can’t do ZK‘. It is a poignant thing to say, and they are were indeed correct.
A few weeks ago, the Garaga team announced that they were able to extend ZK-SNARK verification capabilities to Starknet. Their flow is simple -
Build and compile your circuit
Generate a proof for this circuit
Publish the proof on a blockchain
Use an on-chain verifier to confirm it
The proof is generated off-chain using a well-known tool, Circom. You can find more on this here. Moreover, now Garaga can also support Noir proofs. Learn how to generate a Starknet smart contract for a Noir program here.
In other news, the Messari annual report just came out and shed light on the growth that has taken place in the Starknet ecosystem this year. You can learn more here.
#5: Upcoming Events
Want to turn your ideas for new and exciting Web3 projects into reality? In that case, you should gear up for an exhilarating online Starknet Winter Hackathon. You can expect to get guidance on the following tracks -
Gaming: Build sick on-chain games
AI Agents: Push the boundaries of what’s doable with AI & blockchain
Telegram: Create seamless blockchain user experiences
DeFi: Come up with new, more efficient solutions to decentralized finance
Community: Create fun experiences on chain
The Starknet Winter Hackathon invites a diverse audience, welcoming anyone passionate about decentralized technologies. Whether you’re a seasoned Web3 developer, a skilled Web2 builder, or a blockchain enthusiast eager to explore the cutting edge, this hackathon is for you. Registration form is here.
Summary
So now that you know what’s cooking, go ahead and give yourself a pat on the back for making this year as awesome as it was. And while you’re at it, do think about what you’re going to build at the winter hackathon!