1. Project information
Project name: Kakarot
Project description: Modular zkEVM built on CairoVM
Kakarot zkEVM is an Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) based on the Cairo language, which utilizes STARK proofs for provable transactions and blocks to ensure transparency and security.
CairoVM enables provable computation by leveraging polynomials and the ZK-STARK proof system. The characteristic of zkEVM is its ability to generate provable transactions and thereby produce provable blocks. Kakarot is built on CairoVM, and every transaction executed on Kakarot is provable.
Currently, Kakarot zkEVM exists as a smart contract deployed on Starknet. By exposing the Ethereum JSON-RPC client, developers can deploy any Solidity (or EVM code) on Kakarot just like on Ethereum or Polygon. Their end users can then interact with the dApp using common toolchains (Metamask, wallet connections, etc.).
Ultimately, Kakarot will provide interoperability with the native Starknet protocol as well as composability between protocols, for example, combining TVL in DeFi and user base in GameFi.
2. Financing information:
Kakarot, a modular zkEVM based on CairoVM, has completed a Pre-Seed round of financing. The specific financing amount is unknown. Vitalik Buterin, StarkWare, Node Guardians co-founder and CEO Sam Benyakoub, LambdaClass, Zama CEO Rand Hindi, Starknet co-creator Fricoben, FuzzingLabs, etc. participated cast.
On October 26, 2022, Vitalik (V God) held the ZK-EVM AMA as the SPACE speaker with STARK and Kakarot.
3. Team background:
Elias Tazartes (CEO & Co-Founder): CEO and co-founder, software engineer, developed Fullstack, and worked at BNP Paribas CIB;
Clement Walter (CTO & Co-Founder): Chief Technology Officer and Co-Founder, full-stack engineer and scientist, PhD in computer science, founder of Starksheet, former artificial intelligence engineer at IBM, chief data scientist and machine learning engineer at Sicara; https ://www.linkedin.com/in/clementwalter/details/experience/
Danilo Kim (Ecosystem & Co-Founder): Ecosystem and co-founder, other information is unknown;
Abdelhamid Bakhta (Tech Advisor): Technical consultant, Ethereum core developer, full-stack engineer, StarkNet Exploration Lead, EIP-1559 champion;
Mentor Reka (Financial Advisor): Financial advisor, co-founder of AVNU;
Gregory Edison (Core Dev): Core developer, other information is unknown;
Johann Bestowrous (Core Dev): Core developer, other information is unknown;
Miguel Casanovas (Early stage investor): Kakarot zkEVM seed round investor, ZKSync investor, StarkWare investor, LayerZero investor, EigenLayer investor, Scroll private investor, SUI seed round investor.
4. Project highlights
Ethereum Compatible: Kakarot zkEVM is fully compatible with Ethereum. Developing on Kakarot and interacting with Kakarot dApps feels the same as on Ethereum. Ultimately, Kakarot will provide interoperability with the native Starknet protocol and composability between protocols;
Scalable: By leveraging the scalability benefits of Validity Rollups, STARK, and Starkware’s CairoVM, Kakarot scales Ethereum through batches of verifiable transactions. Kakarot’s goal is to become the major zkEVM application chain provider;
Secure: Kakarot is part of the zkRollup technology stack. It inherits the security of Ethereum L1 through validity proofs. To ensure the integrity of the Kakarot Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM), Kakarot will accept the main Ethereum test suite.
5. Kakarot Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
Q: When will Kakarot be launched on the mainnet (MAINT)?
A: Kakarot is still in its early stages! As of today, Kakarot has 85% EVM opcode equivalence, 80% test coverage and ERC20/ERC721 working.
While it’s better to under-promise and over-deliver than the other way around, we expect mainnet alpha to advance in Q2/Q3 2023
Q: Is Kakarot a Starkware project?
A: Kakarot is an open source, community-driven project. Starkware is not leading the project. They don't own it. Nonetheless, Starkware has expressed great enthusiasm and interest in Kakarot (cairo written by zkEVM). Kakarot is an important project for the ecosystem and community.
Q: Is Kakarot equivalent to Arbitrum?
A: Kakarot attempts to provide the same value as a standard EVM such as Arbitrum or Polygon: the ability to write Solidity smart contracts, deploy them, and interact with them - with lower fees.
Additionally, it is especially compared to zkSync2.0 or Polygon zkEVM due to its zero-knowledge nature. Since Kakarot is written in Cairo, it is a proven general-purpose programming language that leverages STARK.
Currently, Kakarot is deployed on Starknet as a smart contract. zkEVM's execution context is isolated and embedded in Starknet. Since Starknet is a validity summary, Kakarot inherits its zero-knowledge properties.
6. Roadmap planning
Phase 1: Kakarot zkEVM on Starknet – Bringing EVM to Starknet
Kakarot will first exist in Starknet L2 as a loaded EVM, which will enable developers to deploy their Solidity (or any EVM compatible language) intelligence directly on Starknet using their familiar toolbox (Foundry, Hardhat, Wagmi, etc.) contract.
Their end users will then be able to interact with their DApp using their usual toolchain (Metamask, Wallet Connect, etc.).
The developer and user experience on Kakarot will be exactly the same as Polygon, Scroll, or Ethereum L1.
Phase 2: Kakarot x Madara – L3 zkEVM
Kakarot and Madara will be merged into a unified stack to support L3 zkEVM, as well as L4, L5, and more. Teams will be able to deploy their zkEVM application chains and leverage proofs of validity to settle transactions on Starknet.
Why L3? Why provability?
Provability can realize the following functions: off-chain calculation, or on-layer calculation and on-chain verification.
L3s that leverage proof-of-validity (like Kakarot) have an interesting but underrated property: the ability to decouple security and decentralization. Users are able to benefit from the security of Ethereum L1 without requiring the same level of decentralization.
Since the computation is done on another layer, the gas cost is much lower than L2 and the performance (TPS) will be higher. L2 is already much cheaper than L1. Rollup scalability stacks and multiplies.
To further reduce gas costs, proof verification and data availability (DA) can be separated. Starknet L2 can be used solely as a proof verification layer, while new data availability solutions such as Celestia or EigenDA can be used to publish transaction data.
Users can opt in to either option, depending on their security requirements. Publishing proofs and transaction data on Starknet is the safer option, while publishing transaction data using a DA solution is the more cost-effective option.
Phase 3: Kakarot x Madara – type 1 zkEVM
Kakarot and Madara can also be combined to enable type 1 zkEVM. Ethereum consensus rules are written in Cairo within the Madara x Kakarot full node, enabling proof of L1 consensus. Switching from Pedersen Merkle Patricia Trie (MPT) to Keccak MPT.
Kakarot will then become a type 1 zkEVM, capable of proving L1 blocks. This is a more advanced use case that depends on Ethereum's roadmap (most notably Verge). After Verge, keccak will likely be replaced by poseidon as Ethereum’s hash function of choice. This will help the zkEVM team become type 1, as the main compatibility hurdle for zkEVM is storage layout, i.e. implementing Keccak MPT in a provably and reasonably cheap way.
