Starknet moves closer to EVM compatibility with upcoming ‘Kakarot’ testnet

Starknet, a zero-knowledge layer-2 scaling solution for Ethereum, is one step closer to becoming fully Ethereum Virtual Machine (EVM) compatible, pending an August testnet launch of Kakarot, a new zkEVM.

On June 3, the Kakarot team announced it had received new backing from Ethereum co-founder Vitalik Buterin, Ledger co-founder Nicholas Bacca and Starkware.

We have powered up and entered Super Saiyan mode?. Kakarot Labs has officially been incorporated and closed a pre-seed round with top-tier investors.

Let’s unpack our vision, current standing, and the exciting future ahead.

According to Tazartes, the idea for the zkEVM was first floated during a Starkware conference in July 2022. By October, the development team was able to together for a week during a hacker house event in Lisbon, Portugal, to get cracking on the new zkEVM.

Two months and 20 days later, in December, the coding for the project was complete, ready to create a fully functional execution layer — all of which was achieved without any venture funding.

Notably, Tazartes said that Buteirn later invested in Kakarot due to his enthusiasm over a multiple-zkEVM approach to building out the Ethereum ecosystem.

“For Vitalik, the more zkEVMs the better, because as long as you have a wide diversity of architecture and diversity of approaches…then this is really good for the space as a whole.”

Tazartes shared that the testnet version of Kakarot will be launched for public use this August.

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