# Michael Riabzev

> Michael Riabzev is the Co-Founder and Chief Architect at StarkWare Industries, known for his work on the Ethereum-based Starknet and zk-STARK system.

- Canonical URL: https://iq.wiki/wiki/michael-riabzev
- Categories: People in crypto
- Tags: Founder
- Created: 2024-04-18T17:53:49.787Z
- Last updated: 2024-04-19T14:35:48.253Z
- Source: IQ.wiki — the world's largest blockchain and crypto encyclopedia (https://iq.wiki)

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**Michael Riabzev** is the Co-Founder & Chief-Architect at StarkWare Industries, the developer of the permissionless Validity-Rollup ([ZK-Rollup](https://iq.wiki/wiki/zk-rollup)) [Layer 2](https://iq.wiki/wiki/layer-2) network operating on [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum), [Starknet](https://iq.wiki/wiki/starknet). [\[1\]](#cite-id-al7j4lq5z)[\[2\]](#cite-id-5k2z5laidz)[\[3\]](#cite-id-con5nf6wxd)  
  
  
# Education  
  
Michael Riabzev attended Technion - Israel Institute of Technology where he earned a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics and Computer Science in 2014. Afterwards, he studied for a Doctor of Philosophy - PhD in Computer Science where he focused on the development of practical systems for computational integrity in zero-knowledge, culminating in the development and implementation of the zk-STARK system. [\[1\]](#cite-id-al7j4lq5z)  
  
# Career  
  
Michael Riabzev started his in 2002 career as a Systems Administrator at Afulas Community Center. In October 2004, he moved to the Israeli Intelligence Service and served as an R&D Engineer & IT Architect until October 2008. Afterward, he worked as an R&D Engineer at KCS - Knowledge Control Systems until October 2009. [\[1\]](#cite-id-al7j4lq5z)  
  
In December 2019, Riabzev joined Intel Corporation[\[7\]](#cite-id-fnedjfgq0ih) as a Research And Development Engineer and then served in the same role at IBM[\[8\]](#cite-id-y1vyzik0r5) from 2012 to 2013. He is also a Researcher PhD Student, and Development Engineer at Technion - Israel Institute of Technology. [\[1\]](#cite-id-al7j4lq5z)  
  
## StarkWare  
  
In 2018, Michael Ziabrev co-founded StarkWare alongside [Eli Ben-Sasson](https://iq.wiki/wiki/eli-ben-sasson), [Uri Kolodny](https://iq.wiki/wiki/uri-kolodny), and [Alessandro Chiesa](https://iq.wiki/wiki/alessandro-chiesa). He serves as the Chief Architect of the company. [\[4\]](#cite-id-1r8z9nnh24q)  
  
StarkWare Industries Ltd. is a [blockchain](https://iq.wiki/wiki/blockchain) technology company based in Israel, focusing on developing ZK-Rollup technology and building products to solve the challenges of the [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) network. Besides the technology infrastructure, Its main two products are StarkEx and [StarkNet](https://iq.wiki/wiki/starknet). [\[6\]](https://iq.wiki/wiki/eli-ben-sasson#cite-id-gn97hdzgri)  
  
### StarkEx  
  
StarkEx is the Validium L2 scaling engine on [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum) [mainnet](https://iq.wiki/wiki/mainnet) that is modified (tailored) to fit specific permissioned [Dapps](https://iq.wiki/wiki/decentralized-application), used for projects to deploy their ideas (mostly for trading use cases) [dYdX](https://iq.wiki/wiki/dydx), ImmutableX, DeversiFi, and many other partners. This Specific L2 is where most protocols are built on, generating real trading volume and conducting transactions. [\[5\]](#cite-id-qzz5oc6zdwm)  
  
### Starknet  
  
[Starknet](https://iq.wiki/wiki/starknet) is built based on STARK as the decentralized L2 [Zk-rollup](https://iq.wiki/wiki/zk-rollup). The layer is responsible for executing transactions while scaling without the security sacrifice of [Ethereum](https://iq.wiki/wiki/ethereum). STARK developers can write [smart contracts](https://iq.wiki/wiki/smart-contract) and run them permissionlessly on Starknet. [\[6\]](#cite-id-d0zx5rp14r)  
  
[Starknet](https://iq.wiki/wiki/starknet) aims to achieve secure low-cost transactions and high performance by using the STARK cryptographic proof system. Starknet contracts and the Starknet OS are written in Cairo, a custom-built and specialized programming language. [\[6\]](#cite-id-d0zx5rp14r)