TL;DR:
- Starknet launched v0.14.2 on mainnet, introducing native infrastructure for private transactions through in-protocol proof verification.
- The update introduces STRK20, a framework for assets with encrypted balances, and strkBTC, the first asset to operate under that scheme.
- SNIP-37 rebalances the network’s economic model by raising storage costs and reducing the base gas price on L2.
Starknet launched version v0.14.2 on its mainnet, an update that introduces the infrastructure needed to execute private transactions natively within the protocol. This change transforms the network from a high-performance rollup into a system capable of preserving the financial confidentiality of its users without relying on external solutions.
The key component of the update is SNIP-36, which defines proof verification directly at the protocol level. Until now, any application that needed to verify a STARK proof on Starknet had to do so within a smart contract, which was not feasible: these proofs contain tens of thousands of field elements and far exceed the maximum transaction size allowed on the network. The alternative of splitting proofs across multiple transactions was slow, complex, and excessively costly.
Privacy as Infrastructure
With v0.14.2, transactions can reference off-chain execution proofs directly through new fields in the Invoke V3 structure. Starknet’s consensus layer handles verification natively. This allows a user to prove they hold sufficient funds or the legal right to move an asset without exposing their total balance or their transaction history to the entire network.
The update gives rise to two central projects for the ecosystem. STRK20 is a new framework that enables any ERC-20 token on Starknet to be used privately, with encrypted balances and support for swap, staking, and transfer operations without exposing the user’s financial footprint.
strkBTC, in turn, enables private interactions with bitcoin within Starknet, allowing BTC users to operate in DeFi applications without exposing their wallet’s full history. Both projects incorporate a viewing key held by an external auditing firm, which will be able to share individual transaction information in response to valid legal and regulatory requests.
Starknet’s Economic Redesign
Version v0.14.2 also rebalances the economic model of the network through SNIP-37, which raises storage costs for state-intensive applications, while reducing the base gas price on L2. The goal is for each type of usage to pay in accordance with the actual load it generates on the network.
SNIP-13 updates StarkGate token contracts to version 3.0.0, aligning ERC-20 events with industry standards to facilitate indexing by decentralized applications. These changes also lay the groundwork for the decentralized validation phase defined in SNIP-33.
