In traditional public chain development, developers often face numerous challenges, such as high development and operation costs, complex frameworks and components, long development cycles, trade-offs between security and decentralization in token economics, and the complexity of on-chain governance models. To simplify this process, Starcoin has launched the first modular one-click chain launch platform in the Move ecosystem. The StarStack chain launch framework enables developers to quickly build blockchains, facilitating the acceleration of Web3 application deployment.
1. Chain Launch Framework StarStack
StarStack is the chain launch framework recently introduced by Starcoin, which provides a simplified, modular method of blockchain creation for rapid deployment. This technology is not only a development tool but also a complete framework that offers developers flexibility, speed, and security, enabling them to quickly launch blockchain networks that fully meet their needs.
Unlike L2 chain launch frameworks like OP and Polygon, StarStack is primarily used for building independent blockchains. The public chain after deployment is not limited by the launch platform and has a higher degree of freedom in design, allowing for flexible customization of gas, on-chain governance, VM, data availability layers, consensus mechanisms, token models, etc., enjoying the computing and storage resources of the network independently. In contrast, general L2s rely on the Ethereum network, which, while sharing Ethereum's security and decentralization, has poorer scalability. Therefore, public chains based on StarStack are application-oriented and are more suitable for teams with independent operation and maintenance capabilities.
StarStack also provides developers with powerful tool support, offering a mature toolkit designed for development, deployment, monitoring, and debugging, reducing the complexity and difficulty of development work, making it easy for teams without extensive development experience to get started.
The core idea of StarStack is to make the development of public chains as simple as deploying contracts, which captures the pain points of the application chain wave. Many applications with millions of users can transform from a smart contract into an independent public chain-level application.
At the same time, it is noteworthy that StarStack is developed based on the Move language. The Move language is also known as the safest and most flexible smart contract language, which provides more imaginative space for its one-click chain launch solution when customizing Layer 1.
2. The Modular Road of StarStack
Modularity has become a trend in the development of public chains and is one of the most important directions mentioned by StarStack. Modularity divides the blockchain into consensus layer, execution layer, data availability layer, and settlement layer, with different layers responsible for different network tasks, collaborating to ensure the stable operation of the entire public chain network.
We can think of modularization as social division of labor. For example, when manufacturing a car, different factories are responsible for producing different parts; some produce tires, some generate glass, and some produce steel frames. The same applies to blockchain. Once the blockchain is modularized, the overall efficiency and security of the network will be greatly enhanced, which is also an important topic for Ethereum's scalability.
StarStack places great emphasis on the modularization of blockchain, breaking down the complex blockchain construction process into a series of modules. Developers can freely choose and configure modules based on project requirements to achieve different functional characteristics. This design not only reduces the time for development and configuration but also ensures that projects have higher flexibility and adaptability after going live.
Similarly, StarStack divides the blockchain into consensus layer, execution layer, data availability layer, and settlement layer, with their respective functions being:
Consensus Layer: Consensus is a mechanism within the blockchain network that allows nodes to reach a common protocol or understanding, confirming which data or transactions are real and accurate. This consensus mechanism determines the order of transactions in the blockchain and how new data blocks are added to the blockchain.
Execution Layer: Execution refers to how nodes on the blockchain process transactions to transition the blockchain from one state to another. Nodes participating in consensus must use their copies of the blockchain to execute transactions and then prove them before validating the block.
Data Availability Layer: Data availability refers to a set of rules within the blockchain network that ensures transaction data is accessible and retrievable.
Specifically, when a new data block (block) is created, the nodes that generate these blocks (called block producers) are responsible for publishing or sharing the data of these blocks. This way, other nodes in the network can download and store this data. Moreover, when other nodes request this data, it must be provided.
Settlement Layer: In the blockchain, once a transaction is added to the historical record of the blockchain, it is considered final and cannot be changed or revoked. This irreversible feature is known as 'finality.' To ensure this finality of transactions, the blockchain must have mechanisms to ensure that every transaction is valid. This means that when a transaction is submitted to the blockchain, the system performs a series of checks, such as verifying the authenticity of the transaction and validating related proofs. If any disputes or contradictions arise during this process, the blockchain will also provide an arbitration mechanism to resolve these issues. Therefore, settlement functionality requires the chain to validate transactions, verify proofs, and arbitrate disputes.
StarStack offers users a convenient customization path through pre-set template configurations. Users only need to choose the desired functional modules from the templates and modify some basic parameters such as consensus type and token settings according to their needs to quickly complete the core configuration of the blockchain without starting from scratch.
In addition to modular configuration, StarStack also introduces an automated deployment process. Traditional blockchain deployment often involves cumbersome manual operations, requiring developers to sequentially complete the installation, configuration, and startup of multiple nodes. StarStack simplifies the entire process through one-click deployment scripts, allowing users to quickly complete chain deployment by running just a few scripts.
This automated deployment greatly simplifies the blockchain startup process, avoiding cumbersome manual operations, reducing the risk of errors, and making the deployment process more efficient and reliable. For developers, automated deployment means they can focus more on core business logic without being constrained by tedious technical details.
3. What scenarios is StarStack suitable for?
StarStack is a very flexible and scalable framework, making it suitable for high-frequency, low-cost scenarios such as DeFi, stablecoins, GameFi, and social applications.
For DeFi, StarStack can quickly build secure financial applications that adapt to market changes. Its modular approach simplifies the creation of DeFi platforms, ensuring the security and efficiency of transaction processing. The migration of dYdX from Starnet to Cosmos to create its application chain demonstrates that financial scenarios require greater scalability.
For the stablecoin sector, StarStack supports the construction of compliant stablecoins, providing a convenient framework for teams seeking to launch stablecoin projects.
For GameFi, using StarStack's customized settings can build GameFi infrastructure suitable for gaming environments, achieving seamless integration of blockchain and games. Additionally, StarStack includes NFT components that can turn in-game items like weapons and skins into NFT tokens, realizing a multi-token economic mechanism.
Additionally, in the social sector, although there haven't been any blockbuster products yet, existing applications show that social applications require high-frequency interactions, and content such as posts, comments, and likes can all be tokenized as NFTs, which is similar to gaming.
Summary
Currently, the StarStack framework has been initially launched. From the existing introduction and functionalities, it stands out in the Move track and requires public chains or applications entering the Move ecosystem to keep an eye on it, as it greatly reduces development difficulty. Secondly, in the independent blockchain development sector, its flexibility and customizability allow public chain development to break free from many constraints, offering stronger scalability. More features in the future will be worth looking forward to.
