Interview with Sean from the Starkscan Block Explorer-By the Chinese StarkNet Community (English Version)
Enjoy this written interview with Sean from Starkscan who has built a cool Starknet native Block Explorer.
This Interview was carried out by the StarkNet Chinese Community
Let’s give them a follow here and have a look at their linktr.ee.
Introduction
How did you begin your journey in Crypto? What’s the first product you built on crypto?
I started looking at Crypto in college. When I read the bitcoin white paper, it drew my attention with its simple, elegant and powerful design. It was a new paradigm that mixed the topics of Computer Science, Economics, and Finance, which was what I was studying in college.
The first product I created was called blockchaindemo and its idea came up while I was studying how the bitcoin blockchain worked. It was a homage to the bitcoin white paper, visualized in an accessible way for anyone who wanted to understand how the blockchain worked.
The Blockchain Demo Dashboard
Starknet
Why did you choose Starknet? What excites you the most about it?
After building blockchaindemo I was focused on building a consumer product that could utilize this technology. I was intrigued by what Ethereum had to offer, but the challenges of scalability was always going to be a barrier of entry for mass adoption. Scalability had always been a challenge that has never been solved since bitcoin. I chose Starknet because I think it has the potential to solve the scalability issues that have plagued the crypto industry since its inception.
Your first product in Starknet is Aspect, a marketplace for NFTs. What’s your opinion on the NFT market. Do you think something special will happen with NFTs on L2s?
I hope so. What drew me to NFTs was the consumer angle it had. DeFi is attractive to financial audience who are looking for higher yields. NFT could have a wider audience, with community, social, and culture as its utility. However, we are seeing NFTs more financialized with no royalty and marketplace fees. I think in the long-term NFTs has to be more than financial instruments if we want to reach a wider audience. I think NFTs on L2s have a wider design space than on Ethereum, because of its lower gas fees. You are already seeing other L2s like Arbitrum (TreasureDAO), Immutable, Polygon provide more game-like experiences than Ethereum. NFTs on Ethereum are more like a store of value and it seems like that scalable chains is where NFTs will be used with utility — whether that’s in a game, online experience, or a physical representation.
Starkscan is a very good product. The explorer on Starknet is different from its equivalents on L1 in some way. Could you tell us more about Starkscan?
Yes, I think what makes Starkscan different from Etherscan is similar to what makes Starknet different from Ethereum. For example, we decode felts using Cairo code, in an EVM environment it would be solidity. We also have roll-up specific features for messages between L1 and L2, which does not exist on explorers who only focus on L1. And the final and most important difference is account abstraction. Because of native support of Account Abstraction on Starknet, the block explorer can understand Account contracts which traditional explorers do not in a EOA (Externall Owned Account) environment.
What more services or features could Starkscan integrate in the future?
There is a lot more than we think when it comes to contribute to the developer community on Starknet. Right now, we are focused on helping on the regenesis efforts as Cairo 0 contracts will need to be migrated to Cairo 1. In the future, we will continue to improving the developer experience on Starknet. We have a long roadmap with exciting features. Stay tuned!
Tech
Could you tell us a bit more on messaging with a bridge? How does it work? Are there any potential usecases?
Seeing that Starknet is a rollup blockchain, the final state will always be batched and sent to the L1 blockchain, which is Ethereum in this case. Therefore, ultimately, the source of truth on Starknet will eventually settle to L1 as the final truth. This is important when you are bridging funds between Starknet (L2) and Ethereum (L1).
When you send funds from L1 to L2, the message will come back to L1 and finalize. You will receive funds on L2 automatically because the L2 understands messages coming from L1.
When you send funds from L2 to L1, the message will go to L1, and you will have to do a manual withdraw on L1 to receive your funds. The manual withdrawal is required because L1 does not inherently understands messages coming from L2.
L1 does not understand L2 messages inherently because when Ethereum was built, it didn’t know that L2s were going to exist. However when L2s like Starknet are built, it is built as a rollup with Ethereum in mind.
What do you think about L3? Are we facing any challenge?
I think L3s are interesting but we need L2s to work well first. That means the L2 needs to have higher TPS than L1 and support newer use cases and possibilities. When L2s are stable and mature, we can start thinking about L3s. When L3s do come, we do want to support L3s who need explorers.
Future and Suggestions
What do you think about the future of crypto and L2s?
I think the future of crypto is largely dependent on regulation. The sky is the limit if regulation is on our side. It will take much longer to be adopted if regulation is against our industry.
Do you have any suggestions to newcomers and devs who are interested in Starknet but don’t know how to start yet?
My suggestion is to figure out what makes you unique, and bring that to the Starknet ecosystem.
For example, I was a professional frontend developer and I started the JS library for Starknet, and that’s how I got started.
I think my experience in front end and in design really helped me and my projects contribute to the Starknet ecosystem.
If you got curious about Starkscan, check their Twitter Account and their Website!