Starknet Unveils 2024 Development Roadmap, Prioritizing Parallel Execution

Starknet (STRK), the ZK-Rollup solution enhancing decentralized applications (dApps), has disclosed its 2024 roadmap focused on improving network speed and reducing transaction costs.

A highlight of Starknet’s 2024 roadmap is the introduction of "Parallel Execution" in version v0.13.2 slated for release in Q2 2024.

Starknet Unveils 2024 Development Roadmap, Prioritizing Parallel Execution

Late on March 20, 2024, Starknet (STRK), the ZK-Rollup solution designed to scale decentralized applications (dApps), revealed its 2024 roadmap with a core objective to enhance speed and reduce transaction fees across the network.

Notably within the Starknet 2024 roadmap is the introduction of "Parallel Execution" in version v0.13.2 scheduled for release in Q2 2024.

Parallel Execution is a highly anticipated feature expected to enhance transaction speeds and reduce costs on the Starknet blockchain network. Unlike the Sequential Execution method employed by Ethereum and most EVM-based blockchains like BNB Chain, Polygon, and Avalanche, where transactions are processed one at a time, Parallel Execution allows for independent transactions to be sorted and executed simultaneously. This capability is crucial for scalability, as slow transaction speeds contribute to elevated transaction fees via Mempool congestion.

Therefore, implementing Parallel Execution could significantly boost scalability with improved transaction speeds and reduced transaction costs while maintaining high compatibility with EVM. Notable blockchains leveraging Parallel Execution include Solana, Aptos, Sui, and Sei.

In addition to Parallel Execution, several other upgrades are planned for Q3 and Q4, promising substantial network improvements for Starknet:

• Q3/2024 - Version v0.13.3 Release: The project team will collaborate with blockchain research firm Nethermind to integrate Cairo Native into Starknet’s sequencer—this feature allows the sequencer to operate directly on standard hardware architecture, anticipated to expedite transaction processing, reduce latency, and increase throughput.
• Q4/2024 - Version v0.14.0 Release: Aimed at further reducing transaction fees on Starknet through three primary strategies: Introducing Volition for hybrid data storage, deploying applicative recursion to reinforce data storage proofs, and exploring data availability (DA) to minimize Starknet’s data footprint on Ethereum.

The development roadmap announcement follows just a week after Starknet completed the integration of "blobs," a new layer-2 data storage mechanism implemented following successful deployment by Dencun, resulting in reduced network transaction fees (gas fees) to between $0.01 and $0.04 USD from over $6.8 USD pre-upgrade.

According to data from L2Beat, a platform ranking layer-2 networks, Starknet ranks as the fifth-largest network by Total Value Locked (TVL) at $1.41 billion USD, trailing established Layer-2 platforms like Arbitrum One, OP Mainnet, Blast, and Base. Among ZK Rollups, Starknet leads the pack.

At the time of writing, STRK prices over the past 24 hours have seen nearly a 20% increase from $1.75 USD to around $2.1 USD, rebounding after general market adjustments on the evening of March 19, 2024, due to Bitcoin ETFs maintaining negative capital flows for the second consecutive day.

Hourly chart for STRK/USDT pair on Binance at 08:45 PM on March 20, 2024