Cardano Innovation Starstream to Get Big Facelift, Here's What's Coming

The Cardano (ADA) blockchain is set to get an upgrade in the area of zero-knowledge (zk) and UTXO-based smart contracts. This development, shared by Sebastien Guillemot, a notable developer in the Cardano space, might signal a new era in the cryptocurrency space.

Starstream to bring zk-proofs to web browsers on Cardano

According to Guillemot, the development team is working on Starstream, a project for the Cardano ecosystem. The aim is to enable users to generate zk-proofs for smart contracts directly in web browsers and allow for scalable interactions with blockchains.

Notably, the innovation could eliminate the need for heavy backend tools. Guillemot says the team is working on optimizing the zk-proof size to make it lightweight and practical for blockchain applications. "Proofs should be about 16kbs once we get compression working," he said.

The 16 kilobyte size suggests that Cardano is striving for efficiency and could challenge Ethereum's dominance in zk innovations. The innovation will leverage Cardano's more energy-efficient proof of stake.

This is particularly exciting for developers who utilize zk rollups and browser-based dApps on UTXO blockchains. Although the Cardano development team has made a lot of progress, Guillemot says there is "still a lot of work left."

Impact on developers, fees and ADA price

Once this development goes live, it could have a positive impact on the Cardano ecosystem, as it would enhance scalability. It might enable Cardano to handle more transactions per block without relying on sequencers. This could increase the network’s throughput and make it more competitive.

Additionally, a browser-based zk proof will lower the technical barriers for developers, and Starstream might attract a broader developer base to Cardano.

Meanwhile, the target of 16 kilobytes will reduce on-chain storage needs and might lead to lower transaction fees. If this is achieved, Cardano will become more attractive for high-frequency decentralized applications (dApps).

Ultimately, if the development scales through, it could improve Cardano’s price by boosting investor confidence. As of this writing, ADA is trading at $0.8276, representing a 2.48% increase over the last 24 hours. The spike occurs as the asset attempts to reach the elusive $1 level once again.