StarkWare, the company behind Ethereum Layer 2 solution Starknet, has unveiled a powerful new tool for developers: Starknet AppChains — customizable rollup-based blockchains tailored for specific applications.

This move is designed to give Web3 builders more control over performance, fees, governance, and privacy — all while retaining the security and scalability benefits of Starknet’s ZK-rollup technology.

Starknet AppChains are application-specific blockchains that use the same infrastructure as Starknet but are dedicated to a single project or protocol. These chains allow projects to operate independently from the shared Starknet mainnet, eliminating issues like network congestion or fee spikes caused by unrelated dApps.

With AppChains, developers can:

• Set their own gas fees and token models.

• Choose custom governance structures.

• Add privacy features if needed.

• Control throughput for faster transactions.

This architecture opens the door for games, DeFi platforms, and large-scale consumer apps to run efficiently and securely on infrastructure they can fully customize.

Starknet is a ZK-rollup, a type of Layer 2 that offers high scalability by compressing transactions and posting them to Ethereum in batches. ZK-rollups are widely seen as the future of Ethereum scaling due to their efficiency and strong security guarantees.

By extending this model to AppChains, StarkWare enables projects to access the best of both worlds: customization and scalability, without sacrificing the underlying trustlessness of Ethereum.

This also makes AppChains a strong competitor to similar ecosystems like Polygon Supernets, Avalanche Subnets, or Cosmos Zones.

The crypto community has welcomed the move, with developers calling it a “game changer” for dApp performance and autonomy. Several projects are reportedly already testing AppChains ahead of public deployment later this year.

StarkWare CEO Eli Ben-Sasson commented:

“This is about letting builders be in full control — while still standing on Ethereum’s secure foundation. We believe AppChains are the next logical step.”

The move also aligns with a growing trend in Web3 toward modular blockchains that can be tailored to specific use cases, rather than forcing all apps onto a single chain.

As Ethereum adoption grows and network activity intensifies, Layer 2 scalability solutions are no longer optional — they’re essential. Starknet AppChains could serve as the blueprint for how apps scale without compromising UX or decentralization.

It’s yet another sign that the next generation of crypto apps will likely be built on customized Layer 2 environments, combining flexibility with security.