LibraryScaling2022Design paperCorpus record
Starknet architecture: a validity rollup over Cairo
Starknet. StarkWare.
Starknet is a validity rollup whose execution is Cairo, proved to a settlement contract. The STARK convinces the contract. It does not choose the sequencer.
A reading of the project's public design document. Not a copy, not a benchmark, and not an offer.
Starknet is a validity rollup whose execution is Cairo, proved to a settlement contract. The STARK convinces the contract. It does not choose the sequencer.
- Evidence
- Primary paper
- Re-measured
- No
- Assumptions
- 3
- Records linked
- 5
01 Claim ledger
What the paper is allowed to say
Each row is a sentence already in the study. The status is the same on every row: a model claim, not a live measurement.
Claim 01 · Paper model
The defect
People say Starknet when they mean Cairo, the prover, the sequencer, or the token. Those are four objects.
Claim 02 · Paper model
The proposal
Starknet is a validity rollup whose execution is Cairo, proved to a settlement contract. The STARK convinces the contract. It does not choose the sequencer.
Claim 03 · Paper model
The mechanism
Transactions are executed in Cairo. The proof attests a Cairo transition, which is why Ethereum bytecode is not automatically this machine.
Claim 04 · Paper model
The bound
This is not a measurement of proof cost or of how often the sequencer produces a batch.
02 Three cuts
Observation, model, falsifier
A desk does not stop at the summary. Each claim is cut three ways, using only this study's own assumptions and checks. Nothing here is a new figure.
01 The defect
02 The proposal
Observation
What the study says
Starknet is a validity rollup whose execution is Cairo, proved to a settlement contract. The STARK convinces the contract. It does not choose the sequencer.
Model
What has to hold
You are reading Starknet's public architecture, not the Cairo paper and not a fee schedule.
03 The mechanism
04 The bound
Observation
What the study says
This is not a measurement of proof cost or of how often the sequencer produces a batch.
Model
What has to hold
You are reading Starknet's public architecture, not the Cairo paper and not a fee schedule.
03 Sequence
One action, as an operating tape
- 01Transactions are executed in Cairo. The proof attests a Cairo transition, which is why Ethereum bytecode is not automatically this machine.
- 02The settlement contract checks the proof and the stated roots. A sequencer signature is not a substitute for that check.
- 03Account abstraction here is a feature of the account model in the docs. It is not EIP-4337 by another name unless the docs say so.
04 Load-bearing
The argument, and where a pitch drops it
What the name has to mean
The cut
Starknet is a validity rollup whose execution is Cairo, proved to a settlement contract. The STARK convinces the contract. It does not choose the sequencer.
Why it carries weight
If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.
Where it is dropped
Cairo the language and Starknet the network can move on different schedules. Cite which one.
What actually moves
The cut
The settlement contract checks the proof and the stated roots. A sequencer signature is not a substitute for that check.
Why it carries weight
If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.
Where it is dropped
This is not a measurement of proof cost or of how often the sequencer produces a batch.
What a later deployment may change
The cut
Account abstraction here is a feature of the account model in the docs. It is not EIP-4337 by another name unless the docs say so.
Why it carries weight
If this cut is skipped, the paper's name is being used without the mechanism that makes the name mean anything.
Where it is dropped
A later client, parameter or reward formula is a different object from this paragraph.
05 Register
What has to be true
Model · Not re-measured
You are reading Starknet's public architecture, not the Cairo paper and not a fee schedule.
Model · Not re-measured
The document is the one at the source URL. A marketing page with the same brand is not this text.
Model · Not re-measured
No price, supply, yield, or adoption figure is added by this desk.
06 Divergence
What happened after the paper
A valid proof of the wrong statement is still a failure. The statement has to include the previous root and the batch.
A later client, parameter set, or reward formula is a different object. Cite this paper for the mechanism. Cite a primary release for the network. This desk has not re-run the proof.
07 Pre-mortem
What to check before you use the idea
- 0 of 3 marked on this browser. A mark is a reading note, not a pass, a rating, or a recommendation.
08 Anatomy
The paper, in the order a builder needs
The problem it names
People say Starknet when they mean Cairo, the prover, the sequencer, or the token. Those are four objects.
What the design proposes
- Transactions are executed in Cairo. The proof attests a Cairo transition, which is why Ethereum bytecode is not automatically this machine.
- The settlement contract checks the proof and the stated roots. A sequencer signature is not a substitute for that check.
- Account abstraction here is a feature of the account model in the docs. It is not EIP-4337 by another name unless the docs say so.
How the mechanism is specified
- Transactions are executed in Cairo. The proof attests a Cairo transition, which is why Ethereum bytecode is not automatically this machine.
- The settlement contract checks the proof and the stated roots. A sequencer signature is not a substitute for that check.
- Account abstraction here is a feature of the account model in the docs. It is not EIP-4337 by another name unless the docs say so.
What this page does not treat as proven
- This is not a measurement of proof cost or of how often the sequencer produces a batch.
- Cairo the language and Starknet the network can move on different schedules. Cite which one.
- A valid proof of the wrong statement is still a failure. The statement has to include the previous root and the batch.
Why the desk still reads it
Starknet is a validity rollup whose execution is Cairo, proved to a settlement contract. The STARK convinces the contract. It does not choose the sequencer.
09 Lexicon
Terms, opened into the record
- Cairo execution
- The machine the proof talks about. It is not the EVM unless a separate compiler claim is in scope.
- Sequencer
- The party that orders transactions. Ordering is not the same act as proving.
10 Repository
Every linked record on this page
Underlined words open a page that already exists: a concept, a protocol profile, a failure record, or another paper. If a word is not underlined, this desk does not have a record for it.
This is Blockchain Lab's reading of a public design paper. It is not the paper, not a copy of it, and not an offer of tokens, equity, custody or a partnership. Later network behaviour can diverge from the text. Nothing here is investment, legal or technical advice.
Research status: Design paper. Last reviewed: 1 October 2026. This is a reading of a public paper, not investment, legal or security advice.