Starknet v0.13.0 goes live on testnet

Starknet has announced that v0.13.0 is now live on testnet, adding that it comes with two crucial aspects, namely V3 transactions and transaction fee reduction. The objective is to pave the way for features that will make an appearance in the future. This includes Paymaster, Fee Market, and Volition Mode.

The idea behind V3 transactions is to enable users to leverage their STRK holdings. They will be utilized to make payments for transaction fees. Ether is the currently accepted token, and the native token will be added to that list. Notably, STRK can be used only after it becomes transferable.

STRK will be mainly used to settle L1 gas consumption. Oracles in STRK/gas will determine the accuracy of fees. The Oracle services are backed by Pragma and Switchboard, with the option to switch to manual price-setting.

Transaction fee reduction by Starknet v0.13.0 brings down the Cairo step or built-in costs by 50%. It further expands L1 data availability to 10% across the board for DA. Moreover, it introduces a 240 gas discount for every transaction and a 312 gas discount for every contract that is changed.

A 50% reduction in Cairo step and 10% L1 data availability across the board for DA is possible because of the increasing block size in the days to come. For constant and general gas discounts, estimates quote that a two-times increase from the current block size will lead to more batching of storage updates. It will justify reduced costs for users.

Moving forward, the community will be casting their votes on the new Starknet Governance Hub. Meanwhile, Starknet v0.13.0 can be experienced on the Goerli testnet.

As for the upcoming features—Fee Market, Paymaster, and Volition Mode—they are scheduled to be launched in the upgrades that will happen later. Fee Market will enable users to fight for blockspace at a time when congestion is at its peak. Needless to say, the window to do the same can also open up earlier. Users must only be willing to pay for this priority.

Volition Mode empowers users to access a more economical alternative instead of the expensive option of L1 data availability. An economical alternative includes L2 data availability.

To enable entities to pay transaction fees on behalf of the sender, Paymaster draws inspiration from Ethereum EIP-4437. It is expected to become more convenient with the assistance of native account abstraction.

STRK tokens are currently not up for sale. The community has responded positively to this development, with most members expressing enthusiasm about its new Governance Hub. Others have appreciated Starknet for its initiative simply by saying that they are number one. Many members have also welcomed the move, stating that they look forward to lower transaction costs.

Meanwhile, Starknet has introduced Starknet DeFi Landscape. It entails five elements: AMMs, DEX Aggregators, Onramps, Perpetuals, and Lending/Yield Farms.

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