The co-founder of Starkware claimed that none of the problems that people had feared would occur during the Merge and that everything went according to plan.
Eli Ben-Sasson, the co-founder of Starkware, shared his opinions on the implementation and prospects for the future of the widely anticipated switch to proof-of-stake (PoS) on the Ethereum network.
Ben-Sasson spoke with Gareth Jenkinson at the Token2049 event and discussed the state of affairs following the Merge and how layer-2 projects like Starkware are being impacted. In addition, the CEO discussed the crypto winter as well as the adoption and interest in layer-2 technologies.
Ben-Sasson was pleased with the seamless transition and insisted that everything went according to plan as he reflected on how the Ethereum Merge was carried out. The executive gave these details:
“The most important thing is that it was executed flawlessly. Everything that was supposed to happen did happen. And none of the things that people were worried about did happen. And that’s terrific news.”
The executive also emphasized how crucial it is for the new Ethereum network to be more environmentally friendly. The carbon footprint is diminished. The major development also portends well for potential future advancements, he said.
Ben-Sasson asserts that the Merge enhances Ethereum’s capabilities as a settlement layer and as a platform for layer-2 solutions. The CEO emphasized how significant this invention is for Starkware’s products because it will allow them to scale, condense processing, and make other technological advancements.
The majority of the acceptance and interest in Starkware solutions, outside from the Ethereum Merge, are with projects that were previously successful in the layer-1 Ethereum, according to Ben-Sasson. This covers blockchain gaming, decentralized finance, and non-fungible tokens (NFTs) (DeFi). The executive also discussed his expectations for the future. He claimed:
“I expect that at some point, the ability to run much more massive computation with very low gas footprint will lead to completely new and unforeseen applications that are going to be far more important.”
The executive also expressed his conviction that, despite many people characterizing the current state of the cryptocurrency and blockchain ecosystem as a “crypto winter,” his team believes otherwise in light of everything that is going on. We perceive it as the beginning of the warm summer, he continued.