StarkWare | Crypto

StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson argued that Bitcoin private keys get lost over time, meaning the amount of usable Bitcoin diminishes over time. Many disagree. The debate over whether Bitcoin's fixed supply cap should be lifted has resurfaced after StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson suggested Tuesday that it should replaced with a 4% annual issuance rate. In a post to X on Tuesday, Ben-Sasson said the current 21 million cap “doesn't make sense” because private keys are lost over time and “as time goes to infinity, all keys will be lost.” Crypto wallet hardware provider Ledger estimated in November that up to 4 million Bitcoin had been burned or permanently lost. Ben-Sasson said he still supports a hard upper bound on Bitcoin's supply, and that a 4% annual inflation rate roughly tracks the growth of the human population. Read more

“The crypto industry shouldn’t need wake-up calls from the White House or anyone else,” said StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson. Zero-knowledge scaling company StarkWare has released a quantum-resistant roadmap for Starknet, arguing that other chains will remain exposed if the industry is “too stubborn or stupid” to act. In an announcement on Tuesday, Starknet framed its three-phased quantum-resistant roadmap as evidence that the crypto industry has no excuse for remaining vulnerable to future quantum computing attacks.  “The tried-and-tested cryptography exists to secure every crypto key in the world, if necessary changes are made, and the only reason anyone will remain vulnerable is if heads remain buried in the sand,” said Eli Ben-Sasson, CEO at StarkWare.  Read more

“Identity checks today ask for your whole document when they only need one fact,” Starknet said. Zero-knowledge scaling company StarkWare has introduced Private KYC on Starknet, enabling users to complete know-your-customer requirements without revealing their full personal information. The system, announced Tuesday as a demo, uses STRK20 privacy features and zero-knowledge STARK proofs to let users prove specific attributes, such as being older than 18 or holding valid credentials, without revealing their full passport details or address. “Whether you need to prove you’re over 18, hold a valid credential or meet an eligibility rule, verification should only confirm the precise fact,” StarkWare said. Corporations should not collect the full identity behind it, “because every identity database becomes a liability the moment it exists.” Read more

StarkWare and Sui roll out confidential transfer systems as Zama boosts compliance efforts and Zcash’s Orchard bug highlights risks in shielded privacy models. StarkWare and Sui launched new privacy features this week that allow users to conceal transaction data without fully sacrificing auditability or regulatory oversight. StarkWare said Tuesday that it launched STRK20, a privacy framework for ERC-20 tokens on Starknet that allows users to shield balances and transaction data while providing mechanisms for disclosure under certain circumstances. Eli Ben-Sasson, co-founder and CEO of StarkWare, told Cointelegraph that "compliance-ready" does not mean STRK20 itself determines legal compliance or guarantees regulatory approval. He said the framework is built around a risk-based model in which privacy is conditional rather than absolute, with screening applied at entry into the shielded pool and viewing-key-based disclosure available under lawful request. Read more

StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson said the company will split into two units as it adopts a faster and leaner “startup mode.” Zero-knowledge scaling company StarkWare is cutting jobs and restructuring its operations as it shifts from infrastructure development toward revenue-generating products.  CEO Eli Ben-Sasson said in internal remarks that the firm will split into two business units and cut headcount to move faster and operate more efficiently, with one unit focused on applications and the other on Starknet development. Ben-Sasson said the company would adopt a “startup mode” mindset, prioritizing fewer initiatives with higher revenue potential, while warning that downsizing would affect employees across the organization. StarkWare did not disclose how many employees would be affected by the cuts. Read more

Days after unveiling a quantum-safe bitcoin method, a StarkWare researcher was tapped to lead a new applications unit as Layer-2 revenue dries up.

The lightweight zero-knowledge proof will allow Bitcoin users to verify payments without having to download the full blockchain history. StarkWare, a company specializing in zero-knowledge (ZK) technology, a way of verifying information without revealing the specific contents of that information, said it created a ZK verification of the Bitcoin (BTC) blockchain that can run on mobile devices. The proof contains all the Bitcoin block headers from the genesis block until the present, but not the full and detailed Bitcoin blockchain history, which is over 680 gigabytes in size.  Each block header includes the version number of the Bitcoin software used to mine the block, a reference to the previous block in the chain, a timestamp, the block size and the nonce — the random number the miner has to find to add the block to the ledger. Read more

StarkWare’s new Stark Two (S-two) prover lets users generate cryptographic proofs directly on their devices. Blockchain company StarkWare has unveiled zero-knowledge (ZK) prover STARK Two (S-two), enabling enhanced privacy and verification on everyday devices like phones, laptops and browsers.  The company said the new ZK prover allows users to generate complex cryptographic proofs from the client side. This means users can generate ZK-proofs directly on their devices instead of relying on a server or cloud infrastructure, opening the door for faster and more private applications across the internet.  “S-two will bring STARK proving to everyday devices, and open the door for new real-world proving use cases,” said Eli Ben-Sasson, StarkWare co-founder and CEO, adding that the tool could empower the next wave of ZK applications.  Read more